In Case You Missed It: Panels, Pictures, and Pizzas

It was the beginning of April, the calm before the finals season storm. Up on Frost level two, in the mezzanine gallery, LitFest posters wanted rest from their months-long tenure as promotional decoration. A golden opportunity presented itself: would Amherst College Press like to use the gallery space? ACP eagerly accepted. But what should the precious seconds of attention from Amherst students en route to their favorite bean bag be spent on? This question was pondered with due gravity. From this was born, "From Manuscript to Syllabus: The life cycle of a scholarly book," as told through old photos from the Amherst College Digital Collections.

To celebrate the exhibition, free food was used to lure Amherst students into the CHI Think Tank for an internship info session. Interns and student employees from the Mead Art Museum, Beneski Museum, The Common, Frost Archives & Special Collections, and the Archives Digitization Department shared experiences and advertised potential job openings for the next school year. With the event situated right next to the Mezzanine, surely the pizza-eaters and boba-drinkers would notice and admire ACP’s exhibit too? Thirty-five bobas and six boxes of pizza were carried up to the second floor, seating and table arrangements were over-thought, and hands were wrung as the attendees trickled in—what would the turn out be like?

Scattered across the room in rolly chairs, students filled the room with chatter and took turns telling tales of workplace adventures. Gratitude was expressed for supervisors’ leniency for a college student’s schedule; excitement circulated about Taylor Swift possibly being a reader of The Common; and compliments were paid to colleagues doing cool things, like making 3D scans of museum objects. Some upperclassmen lamented not knowing about such on-campus opportunities sooner. After a delightful and cozy hour, Instagram accounts were followed (@AmherstCollegePress, dear reader), leftover pizza shared, and goodbyes said. Perhaps a future writer of the next Community page “In Case You Missed It” was in the room, deciding to become a 2022-23 ACP intern after an evening by the mezzanine gallery…