Hannah Boyer - The Stars at KLIC: Journey Story of our Staff

 

By Hannah Boyer

My academic career began at the University of Mississippi studying health and social services. To tell the truth, it. was. awful. I didn't like my classes, I didn't know what my professors expected of me, and I was balancing feeling like I knew everything with the absolute certainty I was the only person on that campus that was clueless every single day. Newsflash: I wasn’t. College can be uncomfortable!!! It’s hard to figure out!

The very first day of my sophomore year I switched my major to English Literature and fell in love with my classes, my cohort, and my college. Those next three years opened my eyes to just how big the world is, and how much there is to learn about being a part of it.

As it must, college ended. I realized my plan of taking the publishing world by storm wasn't my path at all. I was encouraged by a mentor to reach out to a local librarian, because she thought I would benefit from learning more about professional librarianship. She was right!

After that meeting, I shifted my focus to library science and began the next phase of my academic career at the University of Southern Mississippi to earn my Master of Library and Information Science degree.

Once I earned my degree, I struggled to find the "perfect job", and once again found myself asking, "What next?". I moved, took a job I didn't really care about, in a place that I realized wasn’t right for me, and wondered if all of that had been a waste of time and resources. Then, a former coworker and friend encouraged me to consider coming to Chattanooga. I took a job in a public library where I stayed until January of 2025 when I decided to switch gears to academia at Chattanooga State! 

Every step of my path here has been unexpected. It never once went the way I planned, or even necessarily the way that I wanted, but every time I trusted myself to know what was right for me (and maybe more importantly what wasn't) it all worked out.

If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who is starting the next phase of their academic/career training journey, it would be to keep going. If it's not working, try something different, and if it's still not working, rinse and repeat. There is a path for you, and college can help you see a thousand paths you may never have seen otherwise. Trust that you know what is right for you, and follow that twisty, winding journey wherever it leads. If you get lost along the way, you can always stop by the library-we’ll do our best to help navigate your way to the answers.

OMA and Park & Recreation Month!

By Liza Blair
Curator and Museum Specialist

Tap into the open-air magic of Chattanooga State’s public art.
 
Chattanooga State is home to over twenty outdoor sculptures located across a five-acre campus preserve known as the Outdoor Museum of Art (OMA).  The OMA includes sculptures that range in scale and encompass a variety of styles and materials.
 
Before the 1930’s, most public art in the United States consisted largely of memorials and war monuments.  To expand artist resources, outdoor sculpture parks were developed, giving artists new platforms to exhibit large-scale sculptures in natural environments.
  
In 2003, the OMA started and set a precedent of presenting diverse contemporary sculptures on campus for students, faculty, staff and the community at-large to enjoy.
 
In honor of Parks and Recreation month, take advantage of our collection and spend a few minutes outside, enjoying nature, and experiencing art.

Be Gardiner, Lazarus and Persephone, Cornerstones, Tennessee Pink Marble located in front of HUM

 

 

Jonathon Hils, Right Turn located at the entrance to CAT

Harold Van Houten, Leonardo's Dance, Steel and Marble located on the lawn facing pond at HUM

Verina Baxter, Circus Time in Cenchat located outside CBIH

July is Park and Recreation Month - Part Two

 

Part two of a two-part blog series on the Park and Recreation Month guide

Our KLIC staff members enjoy visiting local parks or traveling to visit cool places. Chattanooga parks including nearby Greenway Farms, Tennessee and Georgia parks, local hiking trails, the Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky Mountains, national seashores, Japan, Iceland, and many more pictures were submitted. We have staff who hike, have a rose garden, people who love beaches, people who kayak, and more. The KLIC library staff has park and recreation stories to join with the community where you belong!

Check out the video of pictures from the Library Staff! 

Visit the park and recreation guide at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/parks2025

Horses along Suck Creek Road

 

Horses near Cape Lookout National Seashore

 

Flat Top Mountain, Bledsoe County, TN

Indiana Dunes National Park

 Cat House, Hemingway Home, Key West

Cades Cove, Great Smoky Park

July is Park and Recreation Month - Part One

 

By Dwight Hunter

One of my favorite guides to work on and to update each year is this guide: Park & Recreation Month Guide. It is a fun guide to look at park and recreation resources, and to view embedded videos, and to explore links and much more. This year's theme is Build Together, Play Together. We celebrate parks and recreational venues for physical health, for mental well-being, for access to play, and for our community!

The featured park this year is Sculpture Fields at Montague Park. The 33-acre international sculpture park is located on a restored brownfield and former city landfill. Currently, the field features over 40 large-scale sculptures. Find more information at the Sculpture Fields website including a map of the sculptures, information on an app to hear the artists remarks, and much more: https://www.sculpturefields.org/

Did you know that a private 501c3 leased the land from the city for the Sculpture Fields? In 2012 Sculpture Fields received its 501c3 non-profit determination and a 40-year lease was signed with City of Chattanooga to develop Sculpture Fields on 33 acres of Montague Park. The idea of a sculpture park was envisioned in 2006 and a grassroots effort led by internationally renowned sculptor John Henry kicked off. John Henry was a professor of art for Chattanooga State.

We have new pictures submitted by the library staff. 

Part Two of this series will be about the library staff pictures!

Check out our Instagram for park and recreation posts!

In my senior year in high school, I decided to take what I thought was an easy course called Recreational Sports. It wasn't easy. I learned how to play racquetball & volleyball, how to bowl, do archery, practice rifle target shooting; and I learned slow pitch softball, trampoline tricks, rappelling, golf, and disc golf. Those recreational lessons are still with me today.

Check out past featured parks of Main Terrain Art Park, Red Clay, Standing Stone, and the Head of Sequatchie River. The Sequatchie River exits a cave at full force on its journey to the Tennessee River. Red Clay is a historic park about the last Cherokee councils. Standing Stone is located north of Cookeville. Main Terrain converted a brownfield into a downtown park off Main Street with two retention ponds to drain storm water. The park has large replicas of the bridge.

Find a park to enjoy outside! Take a picture or write a note of your visit!