10.05.04

McCain Library Director John Kennerly, left, and OAU President Ben Stoner

Erskine's McCain Library makes room for Onward and Upward book display

It was a year in the making, but Onward and Upward (OAU), Erskine College's outdoor recreation organization, now has a display of books in McCain Library relating to the group's purpose of enjoying the outdoors.

Ben Stoner, president of OAU, said the organization "provides opportunities for students to do some things out of their comfort zones." Those activities include multiple-day camping trips, rock climbing, caving, rafting and even rappelling.

OAU is also responsible for the climbing wall at Galloway Activities Center.

McCain Library Director John Kennerly said the idea for the OAU collection was bandied about last year, but nothing came of it until Stoner contacted him earlier this year. 

"Over the summer we were able to get those titles into our catalog," Kennerly said. "We house the books for them."

Stoner said the Parents Association Council donated the money to OAU to buy the books. He said the collection includes mostly instructional and reference materials, and subjects include rope techniques, backpacking, waterfalls, hiking trails and other places to visit, how to use a compass, mountaineering and fly fishing, to name a few.

Stoner said part of OAU's purpose is to teach outdoor skills.

Kennerly said the library is happy to perform such a service for a student organization. "It brings some real focus together in one place," he said. "It'll supplement our collection real well."

Kennerly said the collection has also been added to the library's online catalog. "It's  nice having an area sort of dedicated to it," he said.

Erskine College alumnus John Lucas played a big role not only in getting the organization established, but also in the OAU collection. Lucas helped in building the shelves that the books occupy in the library.

"It was built here from the ground up," Kennerly said. "That shelf makes it even more of an attraction."

The OAU collection is similar to a collection that the library has for the Student Christian Association and other smaller collections.

Other OAU officers are Bethany Roach (vice president), Caleb Gamble (treasurer) and Becca Riley (secretary).

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