Intended to encourage students to utilize the Schauerman Library, two new posters featuring faculty were recently unveiled in the lobby.
The two faculty members chosen are Elaine Cannon, sociology professor and Elizabeth Shadish, philosophy professor.
“I can’t tell you how surprised I was to be on the list for the Read posters,” Cannon said.
“I was absolutely thrilled when I was picked. I even had a little bit of tearing because I love books and I have worked with the library for quite some time,” Shadish said.
Shadish said that she has been on the Library Advisory Committee for a long time and has also supported the library when it was going through a very difficult funding period.
“My understanding of why I was selected is because I take all my students to the library,” Cannon said.
“When Ed Martinez,(librarian) had referred to the recipients as ‘celebrities’ I saw it as an honor,” Cannon said.
The two professors in the posters are featured holding a book with the words “Read” on top of it.
“‘Black Families in White America’ by Andrew Billingsley, was the book I selected when we were asked to select a book. It was the book that guided my research dissertation,” Cannon said.
Cannon said that “The Brothers Karamozov” by Fyodor Dostoeusky is the book that Shadish chose because it’s her favorite book.
“We have actually been doing the Read program since 2005. It’s the library’s way of celebrating American Library Week. We’ve actually made it American Library Month here,” Martinez said.
“We started with ten celebrities in 2005 since that time we have added two people each year,” Martinez said.
“The reason we do this is because basically we want to remind people of the important skill that reading is, reading is what binds us all together in the academic world,” Martinez said.
Starlett Nickels, 20, business finance major, said that the Read posters work for her because it shows that teachers use the library as well as students.