Last year, Athletics and the Libraries partnered to launch the initiative in which participants pledged a dollar figure per touchdown the Mountaineers scored during the 2011 season and subsequent Orange Bowl. The 63 touchdowns resulted in numerous donations for the Libraries.

“I’m pleased that our alumni and fans made the initial Touchdown Challenge a success,” Athletic Director Oliver Luck said. “As anticipation over our first season in the Big 12 continues to build, I want to encourage Mountaineers everywhere to express their enthusiasm by stepping up to support the Libraries through the Touchdown Challenge.”

The inaugural campaign coincided with Dana Holgorsen first year as Mountaineer head coach. Holgorsen finds it gratifying that his players’ hard work on the field benefited the Libraries. He believes the partnership sends a good message about the importance of academics.

“We all need to remember that those young men executing plays on the field are student-athletes,” Holgorsen said. “Just like every student here, our guys have to focus on their classes, study, and earn good grades. Students with busy schedules know the WVU Libraries can help them excel in their academic pursuits.”

It was an especially exciting season for Myra N. Lowe, Interim Dean of Libraries. A longtime Mountaineer fan, she felt a personal investment each time a player entered the end zone. She is appreciative of the collaboration and the recognition the Libraries are receiving.

“Oliver Luck understands the importance of a great library and helpful library employees,” Lowe said. “He was a record-breaking quarterback, earned first-team Academic All-American honors, led us to a win in the Peach Bowl, and graduated magna cum laude.”

The Libraries will use the funds raised through the first Challenge to add digital cameras, editing software, and other equipment to transform a study room in the Downtown Campus Library into a space where students can practice presentations. The decision was based on student comments.

The Libraries will use student feedback determine where to direct funds raised from the upcoming Touchdown Challenge.

If you’re up for the Challenge, visit www.mountaineerconnection.com/touchdownchallenge. For more information, contact Monte Maxwell, Libraries development representative: 304-293-0306.

If you ask William Shakespeare, he might encourage you to watch a few of his plays to learn about how people are guided by the four humors.

Or you could stop by the WVU Health Sciences Library. The Bard’s use of ancient medical theory is the subject of a current exhibit.

The Health Sciences Library is hosting “And there’s the humor of it”: Shakespeare and The Four Humors, a National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibit through Oct. 6.  The exhibit, consisting of six free-standing banners, is on display in the Library’s lobby.

“We’re excited to bring the Shakespeare exhibit to campus. Shakespeare has a broad appeal,” said Lori Hostuttler, Health Sciences Librarian.

The four humors date back to the ancient Greeks who theorized that an individual’s health and temperament rely on the balance of four major body fluids: blood (sanquine), phlegm (phlegmatic), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (choleric). An excess of one humor would affect the individual’s personality.

The NLM’s website for the exhibit explains that though Shakespeare’s understanding of human personality was based on the theories of his age, he created characters that are among the richest and most humanly recognizable in all of literature.

According to NLM: “The language of the four humors pervades Shakespeare’s plays, and their influence is felt above all in a belief that emotional states are physically determined. Carried by the bloodstream, the four humors bred the core passions of anger, grief, hope, and fear—the emotions conveyed so powerfully in Shakespeare‘s comedies and tragedies.”

For more information, contact Lori Hostuttler: lori.hostuttler@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-1922.

That’s where he and more than 2,000 other incoming freshmen spent part of their Saturday afternoon. Close to 1,800 students visited the Evansdale Library, and about 600 toured the Health Sciences Library.

The event, Discover! WVU Libraries, was part of the 2012 First Year Academy. Its goal was to introduce students to the particular library and the people who will help them with their academic endeavors. Depending on their major, students visited the Downtown Campus Library, the Evansdale Library, or the Health Sciences Library to learn about the services and resources they offer.

“I thought it was cool,” said Bradt, a business and economics major from Delaware. “I like how it got everyone involved. It was an interesting way to get you used to how the Library works.”

Libraries employees used games, tours, and brief presentations to make the experience fun, as well as instructive.

Students at the Downtown Campus Library learned about texting a librarian for help and got to try out the tool. They also had opportunities to win prizes for answering correctly about services and resources the various departments provide.

In the Atrium, the West Virginia and Regional History Collection assembled an exhibit on the history of the WVU Libraries. Upstairs on the sixth floor of the Charles C. Wise Library, students could visit the WVRHC to browse a Civil War exhibit.

At Evansdale, students learned how to use their smartphones to check for available computers and study rooms.

At Health Sciences, students got a preview to a new exhibit on William Shakespeare and The Four Humors.

Students also had the chance to meet and have pictures taken with Mountaineer Mascot Jonathan Kimble.

“It was hectic, but it was good to see the services the library offers,” said Allison Eckman, an English major from Lancaster, Pa.

She said she now feels more confident about coming back into the Library to work on assignments.

“When you’re actually on your own, you have to find your way around. You’re not following the crowd around,” Eckman said.

The visit paid a quick return for Jessica Hall, a pre-psychology major from Mingo County, who was back in the Library early Monday.

“This morning I had to put money on my card, and I would have had no idea where to go if it wasn’t for Saturday,” Hall said.

She also learned the layout of the Downtown Campus Library and knows where she can go when she needs assistance on a paper or project.

“Everyone was nice,” Hall said. “I feel more comfortable coming back.”

Along with becoming more astute about the Libraries, students had opportunities to register for prizes. Later this week, the Libraries will announce the winners of an iPad, a Kindle, an iPod, and gift cards.