WSU Retention List Stories

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.

Some books make you smile, even when the subject is serious and you should be more respectful. Within the realm of finite algebraic groups, one mathematical group is referred to as the Monster. One book on Winona State’s retention list studies the Monster, and—all kidding aside—the book’s first author is named Igor. … But does he pronounce it “Eye-gor”?

Frenkel, Igor, James Lepowsky, and Arne Meurman. Vertex Operator Algebras and the Monster. Boston: Academic Press, 1988.

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.

Winona State faculty who work on sustainability issues have requested books on a wide variety of subjects, including the global availability of water and renewable energy. Several of those titles are scarcely-held in Minnesota and are on our retention list.

Renzetti, Steven. The Economics of Water Demands. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.

Grenon, Michel. The Nuclear Apple and the Solar Orange: Alternatives in World Energy. Trans. Roger Peniston-Bird. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 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. Here is one of the stories from the Winona State share of the collection.

One might suppose that Winona State’s library would have on our retention list books about the local community and about Winona State itself. That is generally not the case. Enough other libraries in Minnesota possess books about Winona’s local history and about our university, they were not put on the list. One of the few retention books related to the community of Winona is a collection of tall tales by Jerome Christenson. The only title about the institution of Winona State on the list is a guide to the tree species found on our campus.

Christenson, Jerome. Growing up Short: A Collection of Tall Tales. Winona, MN: Winona Post, 1996.

Meyer, Bill, and Tom Grier. Campus of Trees: Winona State University. Winona, MN: Winona State University, 2010.

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 American Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer spiraled into mental illness and paranoia soon after he won the World Chess Championship in 1973. When he won the championship, he broke the Soviet chess establishment’s lock on the title, and he was celebrated in America. At that time Winona State expanded our chess collection. While the Krueger Library does not possess any titles by Fischer from the years when he barricaded himself inside his house or was hiding from US authorities in the Philippines, our retention list includes a series of rare pamphlets which record some games from his years as a child prodigy.

Patteson, Billy. Bobby Fischer: Selected Games & Openings, 1955 through 1957. Dallas: Chess Digest Magazine, 1972.

Patteson, Billy. Bobby Fischer: Selected Games & His Openings, 1958 through 1959. Dallas: Chess Digest Magazine, 1971.

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.

Because the national accreditation board for our Nursing Department has in the past counted against our review if we had out-of-date editions of nursing texts on our shelves, we have chosen to exclude most of our nursing books from the retention list. However, we did keep on the list some titles related to the history of the profession.

Mowbray, Patricia. Florence Nightingale and the Viceroys: A Campaign for the Health of the Indian People. London: Haus, 2008.