Ghostly apparitions will be haunting the Law Library for the remainder of October. The display features a collection of ghost stories and a graveyard of 18th Century Gothic writers. Keep your eyes peeled for the friendly ghosts all dressed up for court. Could one of them be Diefenbaker himself?
Dear Duane,
By now, you should probably know that if you try to avoid celebrating your birthday, you probably shouldn’t sneakily take the day off, because then your coworkers WILL make a big deal about it and decorate your desk while you’re away.
Happy birthday,
your coworkers
You know what to do.
It’s hard to believe it, but this year was our FIFTH year of the Annual Murray Library Mini Golf Tournament of Champions. (See Branching Out posts from 2017, 2015 and 2014 for a trip down memory lane.)
Golf is a very serious sport.
Spoiler alert: Rachel is about to score a 6 on this par 2.
It was a cold, miserable, misty, rainy +9 evening when staff members from the Murray Library and their guests gathered at Putt ‘n’ Bounce to pursue their dreams of golfing glory. Some people came prepared, wearing toques and mittens, while others, like Brittany P who came straight from work, had to find more creative ways (like blankets) to keep warm. Once they were bundled up against the weather, all of the golfers managed to have a very enjoyable round.
The title of Best Golfer had gone to Duane in 2014, 2015, and 2016, but he suffered a crushing defeat in 2017 when Marwin took first place. Since Marwin wasn’t able to attend this year, Duane thought that the prize was his. But it was not meant to be. A new winner was crowned this year, and she beat Duane by a single stroke. Congratulations to:
CATHY!
who managed to win the entire tournament her very first time playing in it.
The “Best Golfer” winner with her trophy
The title of Worst Golpher went to Laura last year. Due to a technicality (that she invented) which allows all people who worked at Murray in 2018 to come to the tournament, even if they don’t actually work here anymore, Laura was able to participate again this year. And despite the fact that Laura did get a hole in one, the two people who tied for 2018 Worst Golpher are:
LAURA AND KELLY!
The “Worst Golpher” winners with their trophy.
Congratulations to all the winners, and better luck next time to all others who participated. Full scoreboard is below:
An ongoing project in the Murray Library this summer has been to install a Public Address system. A PA system will make it easier for our staff to close the library at night, as announcements will sound throughout the building at regular intervals, letting clients know when it’s getting close to closing time and encouraging them to get outta here. That should make it quicker and easier to clear all the floors of this gigantic building before locking up at the end of the night.
All summer long, workers have been traversing the entire Murray Library, pulling wires and installing speakers on every floor of the library, in every room. It has been a long process, with lots of sounds of drilling through concrete echoing through the building. But now, they’re almost done, and the new Murray Public Address system is almost up and running.
There was one important step that needed to be completed before the PA system could be fully operational. Someone had to record the new messages that will be heard when the library closes! Two Murray staff members, Kim and Rachel, volunteered to be the voices of the library’s closing announcements.
Late last week, we headed up to room 445.1, the video/media production room on the 4th floor, where Rachel and Kim officially recorded the Murray Library’s new closing announcements. Big thanks to Chewy, who made sure we had the correct program to save the audio files in the proper format; Christine, who wrote the script; and Lara who acted as sound engineer.
So if you’re ever in the Murray Library late at night, and you hear a voice coming over the PA system telling you that the library will be closing soon, know that that voice belongs to either Rachel or Kim.
Kim and Rachel, we look forward to the grumbles that will surely come from students whenever they hear you speak, as they will probably associate your voices with the negative feelings that come with being kicked out of the library each night. Know that by memorializing your voices in 16 bit PCM 48 khz .Wav files, you have provided a valuable service to this institution.
You can see the most interesting things when you look up, when you look out. This was what the Science Library staff saw the other afternoon.
Gee, can we do that?
Thanks to the library’s dragon boat team for their exemplary effort on the river this weekend and to everyone who supported the team with donations, contributions to the bake sale, and coming down to Rotary Park to cheer us on.
As our steerer Doug coached us, there are only two finishes that matter in dragon boats – first and ‘not last’. We didn’t place first, but we also didn’t place last and everyone had a great time. More importantly, our team raised $3450 for The Children’s Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan. Congratulations everyone!
Team Bookin’ It
Did you know that the Library has a team in the 2018 FMG Saskatoon Dragon Boat Festival? Team Bookin’ It is training hard to best our campus nemesis – the University Relations Sensations (and all of the other teams) on the river and in fundraising. This year the event is raising funds for Ronald McDonald House and the Children’s Wish Foundation – two great organizations that do important work in our community and are closely connected to campus through the University Hospital and future Children’s Hospital. You can support the team and help us reach our fundraising goal of $5000 by visiting our bake sales this week:
Purchase delicious home-baked goodies by donation.
Late Addition! We also have a silent auction accompanying the bake sales. Check out the three items in person and place your bid when you pick up your baking.
If you can’t make it to a bake sale, you can also make a donation to the team online at https://rmhcsk.akaraisin.com/fmgdragonboat2018/UofSlibrary – just pick a team member (any member! all donations count toward the team total). The races are this Saturday, July 21st. Get your donations in this week and come to watch us Bookin’ It on the river at this free, family-friendly event.
Today is a very sad day in Murray, as we are losing not one, but TWO of our staff members. Megan R. begins her new job in the Health Sciences Library June 1st, and Laura H. also begins her new job in the Law Library on the same day. Although they aren’t going very far, it will still be a big change, and we’ll miss seeing them every day.
To have some fun and say good-bye, the Murray staff members decided to surprise Megan and Laura on their last Murray day with desk decorations! Each desk was lovingly decorated with balloons, streamers, pink flamingos, candy, and of course, cat memes! Many people came together to contribute a little something to the decorations. Brittany even took the time to create works of art incorporating their faces with the things that they love. Megan was transformed into a Blue Jays baseball player, and Laura was transformed into a cat.
Good-bye Megan. Good-bye Laura. We’ll miss you very much. We hope you find many excuses to drop by room 122 and visit your old coworkers. Good luck with your new jobs!
Megan’s desk
Megan walking in and seeing her desk first thing in the morning.
Laura’s desk
Surprised Laura posing with her decorated desk.
Every once in a while we have the pleasure of assisting the public at this publicly funded institution. This morning Science received a call from a senior citizen. We were the only library she found in the phone book that had Science in the title and she had a science question. There are volcanoes erupting in Hawaii – how hot is the lava? Quick fingered, our fastest typist comes back with between “700 and 1,200 degrees C”. A happy patron, thrilled that she will be able to impress her grandkids.