During final exam period on Sunday, May 11, the Library held its second "Late Night at the Library" event, staying open until 2:00 AM in the morning. In response to student requests for later hours during exams, Late Night debuted during the Fall 2007 semester, and thanks to its success, it was held again this spring. Reference and other services were limited from 11 pm to 2 am, but there was plenty of opportunity and space for students to prepare for final exams. Almost 50 students took advantage of the opportunity to study and relax in the library later into the night than usual.

The event was sponsored by the Friends of Hackney Library.

The Friends of Hackney Library and the Barton College Department of English and Modern Languages sponsored a book signing and reception featuring Barton's own Dr. James A. (Jim) Clark, writer and musician. Jim is currently the Elizabeth H. Jordan Professor of Southern Literature and Writer-in-Residence at Barton College, where he is also Director of the Barton College Creative Writing Symposium. The event was held on Tuesday, February 26 from 5:00-7:00 pm in Hackney Library, with some 75 people in attendance.

A Tennessee native, Jim is the author of several works of prose and poetry, including his latest, Notions: A Jim Clark Miscellany, a collection of prose and poems from 1983-2006. Other works include two books of poems (Dancing on Canaan's Ruins and Handiwork) and a play, The Girl With the Faraway Eye. He has also served as editor of a poetry collection, Fable in the Blood: The Selected Poems of Byron Herbert Reece, and several literary journals, including The Denver Quarterly, The Greensboro Review, and The Vanderbilt Poetry Review.

Jim received his B.A. in English from Vanderbilt University, an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and his Ph.D. in modern literature and creative writing from the University of Denver.

In addition to communicating through the written word, Jim also communicates through music, including singing and playing guitar, banjo, mountain dulcimer, and autoharp. The event also featured a performance, including songs with bandmate Katy Adams from his group's (The Near Myths) latest CD, "Words to Burn," which was released on January 28. Other CDs include Wilson and Buried Land.

Copies of Notions, "Words to Burn," and other Jim Clark works were available for purchase and signing at the event.

The Spring 2008 program featured John Hart, author of two New York Times best-sellers: his debut novel, The King of Lies, as well as his second, Down River.

The event was held on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, in Hardy Alumni Hall on the Barton College campus. A book signing and wine reception began at 6 pm, followed by dinner and the program at 7 pm.

Author Pat Conroy says Hart's debut novel "moves and reads like a book on fire" and calls Hart "an amazing new talent." The New York Times's Janet Maslin calls King of Lies a "seething, roiling, boiling North Carolina murder story [that] crossbreeds enough Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding to make for a sulfurous mix." Entertainment Weekly says, "In a top-notch debut, Hart's prose is like Raymond Chandler's, angular and hard." And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch claims the novel "pulls off the almost impossible: It makes you like a lawyer."

King of Lies has been selected as an Editor’s Pick by the Mystery Guild and as a Featured Alternate by the Doubleday Book Club, the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and Smart Reader Rewards. The book, winner of the Gumshoe Award for Best First Novel and nominated for several other awards, is also being adapted as a feature film.