WSU Retention List Stories

Books studying the psychological and neurological mechanisms of the human capacity for humor tend not to be a barrel of laughs. This book on the Krueger Library retention list is a case in point. For example, Dr. Ruch states, “This need to distinguish among facets of humorous and humorless personalities can be deduced from the fact that cultures typically have developed a rich vocabulary of humor-related nouns …” This observation is not a knee-slapper in English, though I am told it is much funnier in the original German.

Ruch, Willibald. The Sense of Humor: Explorations of a Personality Characteristic. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1998.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. This is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

Some of the books on WSU’s retention list deal with geological formations found in the local area. The Karst geology of the region sometimes amplifies issues with groundwater contamination.

Sweeting, Marjorie Mary. Karst Geomorphology. Benchmark papers in geology; 59. Stroudsburg, PA: Hutchinson Ross, 1981.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. This is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

This past Friday was Albert Einstein’s 146^th birthday. Einstein is so popular in academic libraries that none of our biographies of him are on the Krueger Library retention list. However, a collection of his letters with fellow Nobel-prize-winner Max Born is on our retention list.

Einstein, Albert, Max Born, and Hedwig Born. The Born-Einstein Letters: Friendship, Politics, and Physics in Uncertain Times … with Commentaries by Max Born. Houndmills, UK: Macmillan, 2005.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. This is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

Today is Pi Day, the date that is closest to the value of the mathematical constant Pi (3.14159…). Mathematicians are excited about this year. 2025 is a perfect square: it is 45 squared. The number 45 itself is a special number. It is one of the “triangular numbers.” That means that, starting at one, a sequence of natural numbers sum to it. In this case, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 45. Because of these two facts, there is a cornucopia of curious mathematical expressions that are equivalent to the number 2025, such as this one: 1³ + 2³ + 3³ + 4³ + 5³ + 6³ + 7³ +8³ + 9³ = 2025.

The last year that had these mathematical properties was the year 1296. Such a year will not come again until the year 3025. Enjoy it while you can, math nerds!

The branch of mathematics that explores triangular numbers is Number Theory. One book on the Krueger Library retention list which discusses triangular numbers is:

Rademacher, Hans. Topics in Analytic Number Theory. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1973. 

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. This is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

(Credit for pointing out to me these mathematical details goes to Paul Weiner, the retired Chair of the Math Department at St. Mary’s University, and to his number theory chums.)

We have already had several stories from the retention list which featured WSU faculty (Elizabeth Oness, Cal Fremling, Robin DeVinney, Brian Aldrich, etc.) Here are two more titles on the WSU retention list by current and former WSU faculty.

Holmes, Barbara D. Dissertation Development Strategies: A Doctoral Student Resource. Lakewood, CA: Avid Readers Publishing Group, 2010.

Daniel, Ajit K. Voices of Nations: A Comparative Analysis of Three International Radio News Editorial Orientations: Voice of America, All India Radio, and British Broadcasting Corporation. Thesis (Ph.D)--Union Institute of Cincinnati, 1995.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln share a birthday in February. Books by Charles Darwin published in his lifetime are widely held in Minnesota, but a collection of his notebooks from the voyage of the Beagle is on the Krueger Library’s retention list.

Darwin, Charles, et al. Charles Darwin’s Notebooks from the Voyage of the Beagle. Cambridge University Press, 2009. 

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

The Frozen River Film Festival ends its twentieth year today. One of the movies shown today was a documentary about the life of Robert Trivers, called “Wild Genius.” Though he suffered from schizophrenia, among his many accomplishments, Trivers worked out the mathematics of reciprocal altruism in evolutionary biology. One of his books on psychology is on the Krueger Library’s retention list.

Trivers, Robert. Deceit and Self-Deception: Fooling Yourself the Better to Fool Others. London: Allen Lane, 2011.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

It was announced today that former State Senator Bob Kierlin, founder of Fastenal, Winona's largest publicly traded company, has passed away. Senator Kierlin's book about Fastenal is on the Krueger Library retention list.

Kierlin, Robert A. The Power of Fastenal People. Poway, Calif: First Pacific, 1997.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

Until around 2010, Winona State had a French major. Emerita French professor Rosine Tanenbaum taught a course about literature written in the French language by people who were citizens of nations other than France, which is sometimes called “Francophone literature.” Librarians Joe Mount and Joe Jackson worked with her to enhance our Francophone literature collection. Some of those books are on our retention list. 

Assia Djebar was an Algerian novelist and a Muslim feminist. She was the first writer from the Maghreb to be elected to the Academie Francaise. Aime Cesaire was a poet and politician from Martinique. He was a founder of the Negritude Movement in French literature. 

Djebar, Assia. La disparition de la langue française: roman. Paris: Albin Michel, 2003. 

Césaire, Aimé, and William Shakespeare. Une Tempête: Théâtre: d’après “La Tempête” de Shakespeare: adaptation pour un théâtre nègre. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1997. 

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

None of the books written by famed educator Maria Montessori is rare enough to be on Winona State’s retention list, but a series of books about Montessori’s methods are. 

Walls, Clare Healy. At the Heart of Montessori 4: The Pre School Child. Dublin: Original Writing, 2008.

Recap: In 2022, twenty-four Minnesota libraries joined together in a commitment to retain over a half-million print books which are scarcely-held in Minnesota. It is called the Minnesota Shared Print Collection. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.