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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University May 7, 2007 | Vol. 36 No. 33
 
Student Book Collectors Honored by Friends of the Libraries

Winners of the Student Book Collecting Contest and judges celebrated at the Awards Ceremony on April 30 at the Eisenhower Library. Front row: Betty Sweren, judge and Friends member; Jannie Lo, honorable mention, undergraduate division; Elysha Chang, second place, undergraduate division; Winston Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and judge; Richard Macksey, professor, judge and Friends member; John Buchtel, curator of rare books and judge. Back row: Priya Bhanu, first place, undergraduate division; Scott Mayausky, honorable mention, graduate division; and Brendan DeTemple and Thomas Dechand, who tied for first place in the graduate division.
Photo by Jay VanRensselaer / HIPS

By Pamela Higgins
Sheridan Libraries

Seven prizes have been awarded in the 2007 Student Book Collecting Contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Johns Hopkins University Libraries. Begun in 1993, the contest recognizes the love of books and the delight in shaping a thoughtful and focused book collection. The competition includes graduate and undergraduate divisions and is open to all students enrolled in a degree program at Johns Hopkins.

This year's contest attracted 17 entries from all academic divisions, including one from SAIS-Bologna. Participants wrote essays describing how and why their collection was assembled and submitted a bibliography of up to 50 titles. Cash awards of $1,000 and $500 were awarded to first- and second-place winners, and $250 awards went to honorable mention winners. Two students tied for first place in the graduate category.

Priya Bhanu won first place in the undergraduate category for her collection of Indian literature, "Quest for an Indian Heritage." Bhanu is a sophomore majoring in international relations and East Asian studies in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Brendan DeTemple and Thomas Dechand shared first-place honors in the graduate category. DeTemple is a doctoral candidate in the Whiting School's Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. His "Native Orchids of North America" is a reference collection for locating and photographing native orchids. Dechand's "Master's of Incompletion: S.T. Coleridge and Charles Peirce" includes primary and secondary texts by both authors. Dechand is pursuing a doctorate in intellectual history in the Krieger School.

Elysha Chang, a sophomore majoring in English and economics, took second place in the undergraduate category for "Coming of Age With Scout Tom Jones and Other Literary Figures," a collection of novels examining the formative years of the characters. A first-year SAIS student won second place in the graduate division for his collection on Ireland titled "The Green, White and Orange Collection."

Senior Jannie Lo won the honorable mention award in the undergraduate division for "A Spiritual Journey: "When the Student Is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear," a collection inspired by a high school class on world religions. Lo is completing her bachelor's degree in piano performance at the Peabody Institute. Scott Mayausky, a first-year graduate student in the Krieger School's Master of Arts in Government program, was awarded honorable mention in the graduate division. His collection of books on the lives and ideas of modern political thinkers and leaders, all inscribed by the authors, is titled "The Hands of History."

In addition to the cash awards, winners will be given a one-year honorary membership in the Friends of the Johns Hopkins Libraries. Selections from the winner's collections are on display on the main level of Homewood's Milton S. Eisenhower Library through the end of May.

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