Now that school is out it is time to rediscover reading for pleasure. You remember that? Well, the new Harry Potter doesn’t come out until July 21st, so we’ve come up with a bunch of brand new books to amuse and entertain you throughout the summer. Here are just a few you might enjoy:

Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities
by Alexandra Robbins

Wow! What an eye-opener. My undergraduate institution didn’t have sororities, so I had no idea what went on in them. I was truly shocked by this book. I highly recommend every woman considering Greek life to take a look.

Headless Males Make Great Lovers & Other Unusual Natural Histories
by Marty Crump
From the back: “From penis-gnawing slugs to tadpole-transporting frogs, Headless Males captivates readers with remarkable stories about animals and their bizarre behaviors.”

A History of the World in Six Glasses
by Tom Standage
From the back: “Standage tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola.” This books is a great excuse to drink up (soda, of course) and call it studying.

In honor of the Memorial Day holiday, Eckles Library will be closed on Monday, May 28th.

A special congratulations to three awesome Eckles employees who graduated last weekend.

Bradley Moore, Shani Levin and Cali Shaw each worked for the Gelman Library System all four years of their time at GW.  We are extra proud of these three and know they will go far!

 Look out world!

Woo Hoo! School is out and it is officially summer again!

So that the Eckles staff will have more time to sunbathe on the quad and splash around in the fountain, Eckles will begin it’s new summer hours today.

Summer Hours:
Monday-Friday - 9am to 5pm
Weekends - Closed

It looks like Finals are winding down. Every day the campus seems s little emptier. But never fear, Eckles is still here for you!

You can still get some delicious free coffee, cappucino, hot chocolate and tea until our 11pm closing time tomorrow night.

It sure was fun being open 24-hours this week.  John (your library manager) and I (your trusty outreach coordinator) worked the overnight shifts and we really enjoyed seeing your smiling faces (and sometimes sleeping faces) all night long.

 But all good things must eventually come to an end…

So Eckles will close at the usual time of 9pm tonight and will reopen at 11am tomorrow morning to resume our regular hours.

You are all going to have to sleep in your own rooms tonight.

Nathan Zapolsky!

Nathan submitted an excellent research paper titled, “Civil Disobedience and Cooperation in the African American Civil Rights Movement.” The pape and his application essay will be posted on our website soon so others can see his excellent uses of library resources.

Eckles Prize winner Nathan Zapolsky displays his trophy (middle) with finalists Nathan Williams (right) and Ashley Roberts (left) and Reference Librarian Sarah Palacios-Wilhelm (far left).

We had many fine entries which deserve recognition. Below are the names of the other finalists:

Emily Mitnick
Sara Narod
Melissa O’Brien
Ashley Roberts
Nathan Williams
McKenzie Wilson

Congratulations to everyone who submitted!

Wondering who won this year’s Eckles Prize? Are you on the edge of your seat with excitement? Boy, we are!

There were 33 excellent submissions for the prize and the competition is fierce! The Eckles Staff read all of the submissions (pfew…there were a lot!) and narrowed them down to the top seven. Those seven are currently being judged by a panel of professors, librarians and a dean.

The winner will be announced tomorrow at 4pm at Eckles Library. Join us for some coffee, cake and this exciting announcement!

Don’t miss tonight’s Midnight Snack starting at 11:30pm.  We’ll have everything you need for a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, including milk, marshmallow fluff, chocolate sauce and cookies.  And to make it even better, tonight’s snack will be held on the second floor balcony.  Didn’t know we had a second floor balcony?  You are in for a treat!

They are smiling because they are about to enjoy a delicious midnight snack!

Thanks to all of you weary finals-takers who came to Eckles tonight to enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a fluffernutter or just some chocolate milk. We hope this snack will sustain you through the long hours of studying ahead.