On Friday, November 11, our dear friend, colleague, and mentor, Lisa Finnegan, died peacefully at her home. When looking back at a person’s life, we often focus on their family. This would be perfect for Lisa, for she loved her family more than anything – her grandchildren, children, siblings, nieces, nephews, and parents. We also often focus on a person’s career. For Lisa, this would also be a good story to tell. She dedicated her life to education, beginning as a special education teacher before moving into school administration. She was honored to do this work and felt privileged, as she said, to have “touched the future.”

Still, those of us at Loras knew Lisa in a different context from her family and career. Her position these last six years as Acquisitions, Reserves, & Interlibrary Loan Coordinator was her “retirement job” and so we were able to experience yet another side of her. Like most things, Lisa took on her work in the Library with great enthusiasm and energy. Faculty members were amazed how she could find the most obscure items through interlibrary loan and loved the positive and personal approach she gave to something as mundane as putting a DVD on reserve. She would also go out of her way to help library users, doing things like driving over to University of Dubuque to pick up items so they could be used as soon as possible or employing her philosophy of “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission” to get around some obstacle. Her most important contribution, however, was simply being her authentic self for anyone who entered the library.

Library users saw her as a welcoming presence, smiling at everyone. She genuinely was happy to see you and her agenda was simply listening to you. This was especially true for the Library student workers and her colleagues. She knew when to bring in a little silliness and humor whether through her toys and games, one of her great stories, or dressing up as the Finals Fairy. She also looked out for those having a rough time and would leave small gifts for them to brighten their day, teach them her mantra, or just provide a listening ear. Students struggling to find balance between school and their library work were not taken to task for failing to keep up but taken under her wing. She would come to their aid, ask them if they were okay, and help them balance everything on their plates. She even looked out for their everyday needs, purchasing snacks for students because she knew that some of them didn’t have time for lunch or dinner before their library shifts. She also taught us to delight in the small things of life – like a whipped cream maker for Thursdays in the Library – but also to delight in one another through the social events she planned.

At her funeral, Father Russell Bleich emphasized Lisa’s compassionate heart. This is what she brought to all aspects of her life – her family, her career in education, and her time at Loras. This is what ties us all together and what we can carry on in remembrance of her. Well, that and the absolute joy of her infectious laughter, audible throughout the whole Library’s main floor. We shall miss that laugh.

Often overshadowed by the larger holiday that it shares a date with, Hanksgiving has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November since 2009. Similar to Thanksgiving, Hanksgiving encourages us all to gather with friends and family for a large feast, but instead of the typical turkey and fixings the meal is inspired by a Tom Hanks movie, and instead of retiring to the living room to watch football, a Tom Hanks movie marathon is shown. Other Hanksgiving traditions include:

• Everyone sharing what they are T.Hankful for. This could be a classic comedy (Dragnet), your childhood favorite (Toy Story), or something more modern (News of the World).
• Singing the holiday standard That Thing You Do 
• Keep the kids busy with a Happy Hanksgiving placemat.
• Print out a Tom Hanks facemask and act out your favorite scenes

Menu planning for Hanksgiving can be lots of fun and puns are highly encouraged. Some fan-favorite dishes are 

• Sleepless in Se-apple Pie, 
• The Polar Espresso, 
• Turner’s Hooch, 
• A Legume of Their Own, 
• Joe Versus the Jalapeño, and
• Catch Me If You Yam.

You can find more inspiration and recipes on Vulture and IMDB.

However, the most important aspect of the holiday is the movie marathon and you can check out the many movies we have in the Wilkie DVD Collection currently on display on the Library's fourth floor. Our favorites are:

A League of Their Own (Heidi)

Saving Private Ryan (Kris)

Forrest Gump (Garrett)

Philadelphia (Liz)

A Beautiful Day in the Nieghborhood (Mary)

In 1990, through a joint resolution passed by Congress and signed by President George H.W. Bush, the month of November was designated National American Indian Heritage Month. The resolution acknowledges among other things the “essential and unique contributions to our Nation, not the least of which is the contribution of most of the land which now comprises these United States.”     

This is an important acknowledgement but glosses over some difficult aspects of this “contribution” of land. When European colonization of the American began at the end of the 15^th century, there were hundreds of tribes and millions of Indigenous people living throughout the continents. However, within just a few generations of the Europeans’ arrival, scholars estimate that up 95% of these Native peoples had died and most of the remaining removed from their homes.

Yet for millennia Native peoples were stewards of this land. Even with displacement and dispossession, Indigenous communities have maintained their sense of belonging to ancestral homelands and sought to maintain their connections to the land through traditions and culture. Land acknowledgements are one aspect of these traditional customs that date back centuries in many Native communities. They are a way to express the stewardship role of the ancestors as well as the continuing relationship with the land. Today, land acknowledgements have also been adopted by non-native peoples as a way to not only acknowledge these connections, but also speak the truth about the history of these lands. Speaking words of recognition is a step in moving toward accountable and respective relationship with Indigenous communities.

Acknowledging original Indigenous peoples of the land is complex. Many places in the Americas have been home to different Native peoples over time, and many no longer live on lands to which they have ancestral ties.  Native Land Digital is a project which seeks to tell part of the story of this history through mapping. One can enter a location in the map which results in list of links to different nations’ names. By clicking on the links, one is taken to additional information about the nation, language, and treaties related to that people. For example, the map reveals Dubuque, IA is on the traditional lands of oθaakiiwaki‧hina‧ki (Sauk) & Meškwahki·aša·hina (Fox), Myaamia (Miami), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux), and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo). It is also very close to Báxoje Máyaⁿ (Ioway) and Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) territories.

To learn more about the contributions of Native peoples and their history, please visit our book display on the Library’s third floor.

The Long Night Against Procrastination began in 2010, initiated by the students and peer tutors in the Writing Center of the European University Viadrina (EUV) in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany. This first event lasted eleven hours. Peer tutors supported students throughout the night, and snacks and exercise breaks helped keep everyone active and productive. Although the initial event was relatively small, it was well covered in the media and soon other German universities held their own Long Night events. By 2013, over thirty Long Nights Against Procrastination had occurred around the world.

Besides spreading geographically, the scope of Long Night has also expanded beyond writing centers. Many are now collaborative events that bring together key academic support services for students. On Tuesday, November 15 from 7 to 11 pm, Loras College will host its first Long Night Against Procrastination in the Miller Academic Resource Center. Rather than waiting until finals week, this event will fight procrastination, helping students prepare ahead of time for the end of the semester in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Our Long Night will include faculty office hours, librarians, tutors, counseling and spiritual life support, along with study breaks, snacks, and prize drawings. Students will even have the opportunity to get a selfie with President Collins!

We are delighted to join this international phenomenon and grateful for the great collaborative making this event possible. The Library values the partnerships with the Writing Center, Academic Success, Math Lab, Counseling Services, Spiritual Life, Student Development, and faculty volunteers. We hope to see you there!