Library Updates – Fant Memorial Library

Meaningful library collections don’t just happen. Collections require intentional development and maintenance to stay relevant, engaging, and aligned with the needs with community they serve. During a meeting with the School of Education in the Fall of 2024, a clear consensus emerged: our Juvenile Collection had grown outdated, limiting its usefulness to students and faculty. Together, we decided it was time for a refresh, starting with a comprehensive review of every item published before the year 2000.

With almost 4,000 titles identified, the scope of the project was massive. To tackle this project efficiently, we designed a workflow to assess each book not just for physical condition, but for relevance to the current curriculum, including not just Education, but also Speech-Language Pathology, and Psychology & Family Sciences.

Library faculty started the physical review process in February 2025. The review is on track to wrap up by the end of this summer. Along with identifying worn-out or outdated materials, a major goal was to identify gaps in our holdings and recommend new titles to better serve our students and faculty. Over 200 new items have been purchased to refresh the collection. These new additions place an emphasis on current trends in education, such as STEM and social-emotional learning, to provide students with relevant tools to use in their classrooms. To ensure the refreshed collection meets everyone’s needs, we sought suggestions for purchase from faculty members in various departments.

While reviewing thousands of books takes a long time, the process has been incredibly rewarding, yielding some delightful surprises along the way:

Special Collections Treasures: Eighteen unique items were identified as important additions to Special Collections. Among them is White Reindeer by Neill James, an accomplished MUW alumna.
Fun Discoveries: We encountered some fun, quirky older titles during the search, including Deep Sea Farm and It’s Magic?.

cover of book with mermaid farmer and a seahorse

cartoon bear wearing a top hat, pulling scarves out of a hat

Replacing the Classics: The review allowed us to identify and reorder fresh copies of timeless classics such as Black Beauty, Charlotte’s Web, and Frog and Toad are Friends, among others.

As an unexpected side benefit, the physical collection is now significantly more organized, making it much easier and more inviting for students and faculty to browse. From picture books to graphic novels, we have something for each level of child development. We hope to see you all perusing our rejuvenated juvenile collection.

3d printed hammer, guitar, toothbrush, and keys

You may have noticed—or even used—one of the 3D printers in the FabLab – our makerspace in Fant Memorial Library. Faculty, staff, and students can design and request items to print. We also offer guidance and tutorials to assist them in their creation process. This service comes at no cost them, so we encourage our W family to make use of our services.

Since we’ve made 3D printers a staple in Fant Library, students and employees have designed and requested items to be printed for curricular and co-curricular use. Some items of note have included cookie cutters, models of body parts and chemical bons, originally-designed buildings, and bookmarks. Recently, Jasmine Manasco, Assistant Professor in the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department, submitted a print request for a hodgepodge of tiny objects: a guitar, a hammer, a shoe, a toothbrush, and keys.

As part of the SLP program, the Speech and Hearing Center provides therapeutic care to people of all ages, including young children. The items printed will be used to encourage language development. “These items will be utilized in our on-campus speech pathology clinic to help clients of all ages address their therapeutic goals. What is so great about the 3D possibilities available from the library is how versatile these items are. Some examples of ways we will utilize these items are with pediatric clients who are working on naming objects,” says Professor Manasco. Children learn mostly through play as it supports physical and mental activity. Playing offers an engaging and memorable experience that can contain educational lessons. The purpose of printing the guitar, hammer, shoe, toothbrush, and keys is to assist children with object identification. By incorporating the printed items in therapy and learning sessions, our faculty and students are providing interactive and instructive experiences for young people in our community.

We are ecstatic that we were able to help with this project! Our campus clinics are a vital part of our community as they serve to keep us healthy and safe. We hope that this project acts as inspiration for future collaboration opportunities from other departments on campus. If you are interested in 3D printing items, please visit libguides.muw.edu/fablab/3Dprinting to access the request form. You can also contact the library to answer questions and provide assistance.

Books for child development get refresh

3D Printing for Language Development