Werner Josten Performing Arts Library, Smith College

12/18/2020

Thank you to all - we made it through a difficult and tumultuous year, and came out the better for it with a lot of heavy lifting.

What great colleagues we have in the Smith College Libraries and at Smith College! And also to so many other accomplished colleagues at Smith - who are leaving or have left us for a new adventure - with whom we have so many memories.

And let's not forget our great students who have persevered. They're all looking forward to come back to campus!

Mutually looking forward to some well deserved time off and a return in 2021 - refreshed and excited for what is to come.

Part of the continuing challenge.

With best wishes to you and your loved ones,
Marlene, Janet & Micah

12/16/2020

12/04/2020

📢 Reminder!
Library materials from the Annex and Young Library will be unavailable from December 18, 2020 to January 22, 2021 while books are moved into Neilson Library. Requests can be made from these collections until December 17, 2020. December 21, 2020 is the last day to retrieve books via contactless pickup before the college closes for winter break.
Library materials from Hillyer and Josten Libraries, as well as the Five Colleges, will continue to be available through contactless pickup in Bass Hall during this time. Contactless pickup will pause over winter break and will resume on January 4, 2021. (Please note that contactless pickup will continue to be offered out of Bass Hall until a new location in Neilson library is available.)
Questions? Email [email protected] and we'll help you out 😊

11/19/2020

The late Kathryn Burnett, associate Josten Librarian and music cataloger extraordinaire is the "who" behind the Kay Bee Trail in Holyoke. Kay was a local legend outside of Smith College. Nicknamed “the trail lady,” with the KayBee Trail on Mt. Tom named in her honor. She was also the recipient of a certificate of merit for organizing, instituting, and maintaining the trail system on the Mt. Tom State Reservation awarded by The Hampshire County Commission.

Kay retired in 2003, after more than 50 years of service in the Josten Library and the Smith College Libraries.

The Kay Bee Trail in Holyoke delivers jaw-dropping mountain scenery with a side of solitude.

11/18/2020

Fostering women's leadership, with music. A tale of Henry D**e Sleeper (professor of music, 1898-1924) and a girls only summer camp on the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont. Sleeper wrote “Oh! Fairest Alma Mater,” also known as the "unsingable" Alma Mater.

Henry Sleeper, a popular music professor at Smith, founded a summer camp for girls that promoted leadership and was a haven for budding feminists.

11/17/2020

The Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow was destroyed by fire this morning.

“It looked like what a bomb must look like when it goes off,” the organization’s executive director said.

10/24/2020

FUN! FUN! FUN! First ever virtual Montage with the Smith musical groups!
https://youtu.be/ilPgeTw_-JA
Smith College - Department of Music

The Smith College Department of Music invites you to a special concert for Family Weekend to celebrate student musicians. Featuring virtual performances by t...

10/12/2020

Steve Waksman, rock historian and professor of music at Smith College, on the astonishing techniques that made Eddie Van Halan a rock god. Steve's first book was "Instruments of Desire: the Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience."
Smith College - Department of Music

A killer Eddie Van Halen solo has an air of rawness and immediacy, but what made the late pyrotechnic guitarist iconic was his ability to balance spontaneity with carefully-honed precision.

09/29/2020

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87. Last year, the liberal icon discussed opera, equality in music, and her eponymous CD with Gramophone's Deputy Editor Sarah Kirkup."

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87. Last year, the liberal icon discussed opera, equality in music, and her eponymous CD with Gramophone's Deputy Editor Sarah Kirkup