EIU Booth Library

Pitch Competition winners announced

Posted on March 30th, 2021

Six Eastern Illinois University students were named winners of the What’s Your Problem Pitch Competition sponsored by the Booth Library Center for Student Innovation.

The Pitch Competition invited underrepresented, undergraduate student teams to share ideas and technologies that will solve a specific problem. Each team pitched its idea of how to solve a problem that they identified and described using the resources that are currently available in or could be purchased for the library’s CSI.

The winners are:

• Rhonda Rogers and Raven Ramsey, who are majoring in Construction Management, won first place for their pitch, CSI Solutions, which presented ideas for improvements in the new CSI at Booth Library.

• Kayla Crowder and Jerimiah Boyd-Johnson, who are majoring in Political Science, won second place for their pitch, Diplomacy Lab, which presented plans to establish a Diplomacy Lab at EIU.

• Amayah Farley, who is majoring in Broadcast Journalism, won third place for her pitch, Fixing Food Insecurity, which proposed the creation of an app to benefit the planned food pantry on the EIU campus.

• Esperanza Murillo, who is majoring in Health Administration, won fourth place for her pitch, Victors App, which proposed the creation of an app to connect people who may be feeling isolated as a result of the pandemic.

All students will be awarded scholarships, and additional funds will be used to purchase technology and materials to support their innovative ideas. Funding for the pitch competition was provided by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.

The Pitch Competition was coordinated by Zach Newell, dean of Library Services; Newton Key, professor of History and director of the Faculty Development and Innovation Center; and Catherine Polydore, assistant dean of the Honors College, professor of Counseling and Higher Education, and former chair of the EIU Making Excellence Inclusive Committee.

“The judging team was amazed by the quality and creativity of the pitch competition entries,” Newell said. “Our students certainly know what hurdles and challenges our campus community is facing, and they have innovative ideas about how to solve them.”

The top three winning entries are now part of EIU’s institutional repository, The Keep, found at https://thekeep.eiu.edu/csi_pitch2021/.

The Center for Student Innovation is located on the first floor of Booth Library, on the east side of the atrium. For more information about the CSI, visit the website at https://www.eiu.edu/booth/csi/index.php.

Study rooms, meditation room open for individual use

Posted on March 23rd, 2021

Booth’s fourth-floor study rooms and meditation room are open for reservations. Typically Booth study rooms are for group work. However, they are now for individual use only.

Rooms are available by reservation only and can be reserved for up to two hours. These same regulations apply to the meditation room, as well.

Sanitizers are provided for individuals to clean surfaces. There will be a required break between reservations to allow for air filtration.

Only current EIU students with a valid Panther Card may reserve a room. Reservations can be made up to two weeks in advance.

To reserve a study room, visit https://booth.eiu.edu/studyroom. To reserve the meditation room, visit https://eiu.libcal.com/space/92746.

Edible Book Festival winners to be announced on Friday

Posted on March 9th, 2021

Booth Library is sponsoring its 11th annual Edible Book Festival as part of National Library Week. For the second year, this year’s festival is a weeklong virtual event.

Fourteen edible book creations have been entered for judging. Online voting will open at noon on Monday, April 5, and close at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 8. Winners will be announced on Friday, April 9.

Vote online for your top three favorites. Or, you may view photos of the entries in the library’s Marvin Foyer and then vote either online or via a paper ballot. The three entries that receive the most votes will win prizes.

Questions about the Edible Book Festival may be directed to Beth Heldebrandt at emheldebrandt@eiu.edu.

2021 Periodical and Standing Order Review

Posted on March 2nd, 2021

Booth Library’s annual Periodical and Standing Order Review is underway. The lists of periodicals and standing orders selected for cancellation are now available for review. This annual exercise is designed to ensure that library collections continue to meet the needs of library users. Titles are added or canceled based on input from the relevant academic departments.

Questions about the review can be addressed by individual subject librarians.