Library hopes events expand horizons
BY SARAH RAINES life@starkvilledailynews.com
On Wednesday, the Starkville Public Library will host a presentation on Mississippi Archaeology Month with Mississippi State University professor Evan Peacock — just one event the library is hosting to promote education through more than books.
Peacock's presentation, "Why Archaeology Matters — And What You Can Do To Help," will educate attendees about the archaeological heritage of Mississippi. He will bring with him displays of some archaeological artifacts and tools used during digs in the state, and some artifacts are on display now at the library.
Like Peacock's presentation this week, the library hosts events where it invites presenters to come share their experience in their field of study with the community through seminars and talks. By hosting these presentations, the library hopes to provide a face-to-face opportunity to learn.
"We hope to encourage more patrons to come to the library for all kinds of reasons, not just to check out books but to come to programs," library director Ginny Holtcamp said.
Holtcamp also hopes that, through events and presentations hosted at the library, attendees will be encouraged to do more research on the subjects on their own through websites, books and other reading materials.
After an event in July where Disney animator Andy Harkness was guest speaker, Holtcamp said the library saw an increase in books being checked out and people were signing the reserved book list for Harkness' book "Bug Zoo."
"We just hope that they'll expand their opportunities and broaden their perspectives," Holtcamp said. "We're happy to see them discover new authors, new resources and new websites that they like. Maybe the program presenter plants that little seed and off they go in a moment of discovery."
The next guest speaker after Peacock is part of the Friends of the Library's Books and Authors series.
Books and Authors is a program where the author of a book speaks at the library and gives readers the opportunity to meet him or her in person. The Oct. 12 Books and Authors event will feature John Marszalek, author of "The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: the Complete Annotated Edition."
The library also has display cases which are changed out each month with new items to go along with a theme.
September's theme was "Dawgs" and contained different MSU sports items like a football helmet, pom-poms and Sports Illustrated Magazine editions with Dak Prescott on the cover. Other display cases featured sports books and items from other college teams.
"We also had a display up on the Constitution Week in our flat case," Holtcamp said. "We had a copy of the constitution and other items that go along with it. We just try to broaden everybody's interests."
October's theme is displaying the different items Peacock will be using in his presentation, including arrowheads, archaeological tools, maps, bones and other artifacts.
Cobb Institute of Archaeology illustrator Dylan Karges and MSU graduate student Taylor Dawson put together the new displays for the cases on Saturday. One display case contains artifacts from Africa, one contains artifacts excavated by MSU at the Tel
| Page 3A