Fall Edition of Its Library Perspectives
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A Newsletter Fall 2014, Issue No. 51 of the Library Oberlin College Library Perspectives TRACY CHEVALIER TO DONATE ray english to speak at friends dinner PAPERS TO OBERLIN director in 1990, a period when networked NOVELIST TRACY CHEVALIER ’84 has decided information technologies fundamentally to donate to Oberlin the papers related to altered academic and research library all of her published novels. Author of seven resources and services. In the two and a historical novels, Chevalier is best known half decades of his tenure, the library joined for Girl with a Pearl Earring, which sold OhioLINK (the first private college to do four million copies worldwide and was made so) and it developed entirely new operational into a feature film starring Colin Firth and areas, including a sophisticated web Scarlett Johansson. She received an honorary environment, an institutional repository that doctorate from Oberlin in 2013 and was also hosts Oberlin’s scholarly and creative output, that year’s Commencement speaker. and digital collections and digital scholarship According to Chevalier, “It feels a little services. The library also collaborated strange, a little early to be committing my closely with faculty to increase use of special papers to an institution while I’m still in the collections and study of the traditional book full bloom of writing. However, if any place within the curriculum. Major upgrades to feels safe and appropriate, it’s Oberlin. My library facilities have included a new Science ay English, who will retire at the Library in 2001, the Academic Commons end of 2014-15 following 25 years as in Mudd Center in 2007, and renovation of ROberlin’s Azariah Smith Root Director the Main Library’s special collections and of Libraries, will be the featured speaker at archives reading and teaching spaces in 2012. the Friends of the Library annual dinner on English has been actively involved in Saturday, November 1. national library issues. He was a primary English has led the library through founder of the Association of College extraordinary change since becoming and Research Libraries (ACRL) scholarly continued on page 10 Serena Creary, Tracy Chevalier, and A.J. Pettit anti-slavery collection openly time as a student there was life-changing–I accessible learned how to read, to write, to think. Recently I have honored it by making it MAJOR PORTIONS OF THE OBERLIN ANTI- the anti-slavery movement; and children’s a setting for my novel The Last Runaway. SLAVERY COLLECTION are now openly literature. Settings are always special places for me. So accessible online through the Internet The collection was digitized through an if my papers and notebooks (yes, I still write Archive. Virtually all pamphlets from arrangement with Gale Cengage Learning longhand!) are not going to remain in my the collection are currently available and for inclusion in the commercial database office and attic, I want them to be at one of two additional sets of materials, primarily Slavery and Anti-Slavery, Part I: Debates over my spiritual touchstones.” books and newspapers, will be added in Slavery and Abolition (see Perspectives, Fall The papers for each of Chevalier’s novels the near future. The collection covers the 2009). Gale digitized the pamphlets using consist of handwritten and computer-printed moral, religious, economic, political, and microform masters made in the 1960s by drafts, research notebooks, correspondence legal aspects of the slavery debate; travelers’ Lost Cause Press of Louisville, Kentucky. The (both print and electronic), and wide- observations of slavery; slave narratives; contract with Gale included provisions that ranging research materials, such as photos, poetry and songs; biographies of leaders of gave the library the right to make the digital continued on page 11 continued on page 10 1 RECENT GIFTS friends of the library THE LIBRARY gratefully acknowledges 2014 the following significant planned gifts, fall programs monetary gifts, and gifts-in-kind. Exhibitions: Planned gifts: A charitable trust established by Greta ’41 Selections from the Milton J. and Mona C. Hinton Papers and Hugh Pallister has created a substantial Tuesday, September 2—Friday, December 12, Basement Level, Kohl Building endowment for the Clarence Ward Art Library. Milt Hinton on the Road The proceeds of a generous charitable Monday, September 22—Wednesday, November 26, Academic Commons, Mudd Center annuity created by John Patton ’49 have been received by the Friends of the Library. Lectures and Other Events: Major monetary gifts have been received from: “Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism,” Lecture by J. Brent Morris Jeffrey T. Long for an endowed library Monday, September 29, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 fund for art history in honor of his parents Minor B. ’48 and Sybil E. Long ’45. “Fictions of the Bad Life: The Naturalist Prostitute and Her Avatars in Latin American Clyde Owan ’79 for the George A. Literature,” Talk by Claire Solomon ’98, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies and Susan P. Lanyi Endowed Library Book Thursday, October 9, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 Fund. Friends of the Library Annual Events William G. ’64 and Alice Roe for Saturday, November 1 the Librarian’s Discretionary Fund and the 1:30 p.m. Friends Council and Membership Meeting, Goodrich Room, Mudd Center Friends of the Library. 5:45 p.m. Friends Annual Reception and Dinner, Root Room, Carnegie Virginia Luce ’63 for the Library 8:00 p.m. Featured Speaker, Ray English, Root Room, Carnegie Special Book Fund. Lucy Marks ’73 and Scott Sprinzen The Harold Jantz Memorial Lecture, “Picturing Jazz,” Gary Giddins for the Lucy Marks Endowed English and Thursday, November 20, 4:30 p.m., King 106 Classics Book Fund. Generous monetary gifts have been “Simone de Beauvoir and the Politics of Ambiguity,” Talk by Sonia Kruks, Professor of received from: Politics Karen Burgess ’72 for the Friends of Thursday, December 4, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 the Library. Jeffrey Levi ’75 for the George A. and “A Celebration of Oberlin Scholarship” Friday, December 5, 4:30 p.m., Azariah’s Café, Mudd Center Susan P. Lanyi Endowed Library Book Fund. Paulina Marks ’45 for the Friends of the Library. continued on page 9 friends update THE FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY received a total Purchases included special collections of $104,561 in gifts during the 2013-14 materials to support specific courses (most Library Perspectives academic year, including $58,406 in regular notably a Renaissance manuscript of the Ray English membership contributions and proceeds from works of the Latin poet Martial), online Cynthia Comer a substantial gift annuity created by the late research resources in multidisciplinary Megan Mitchell John Patton ’49. Membership in the Friends areas, and a variety of resources to support Alison Ricker totaled 762, including 558 regular members specific subjects, including music, the natural Editors who contributed directly to the Friends, 121 sciences, and art. members who donated to other library funds Highlights of Friends programs included A newsletter for users and Friends of or made gifts-in-kind, 27 members who were faculty book talks by Dan Styer, Professor students or recent graduates, 44 life members, of Physics; Drew Wilburn, Associate the Oberlin College Library, Library and 12 honorary members. Professor of Classics; Sheila Jager, Associate Perspectives is issued two times a year. Printed from an endowed fund estab- The Friends followed customary practice Professor of East Asian Studies; Anu lished by Benjamin and Emiko Custer. of allocating $40,000 to support acquisitions Needham, Professor of English; and a joint in subject areas across the curriculum. reading by Kazim Ali, Associate Professor continued on page 11 2 OBERLIN DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP gary giddins to deliver jantz lecture PROJECTS UNDERWAY ary Giddins, renowned jazz critic, SIX OBERLIN FACULTY MEMBERS have received author, and film director, will deliver support for projects under the grant “Digital Gthe fall 2014 Harold Jantz Memorial Collections: From Projects to Pedagogy and Lecture on Thursday, November 20. His Scholarship,” awarded by the Andrew W. lecture, held in conjunction with exhibitions Mellon Foundation to the Five Colleges of and events across campus, will focus on the Ohio in 2013. The grant provides funding subject of jazz and photography. for faculty to collaborate with librarians Giddins is the author of 11 books on and archivists in creating digital collections a variety of topics related to jazz and he and digital scholarship projects that are wrote the jazz column “Weather Bird” in the integrated into courses (see Perspectives, Fall Village Voice for thirty years. He also directed 2013). well-received films on Louis Armstrong Carol Lasser, Professor of History, will and Charlie Parker and was interviewed have students in her courses on first- and throughout Ken Burns’ 10-part PBS series second-wave American feminisms work with Jazz. primary sources in the College Archives to Among his many awards and create openly accessible archival websites for achievements, Giddins received the National from the Milton J. Hinton Photographic use by students, teachers, and scholars. The Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for his Collection, will be on display in the museum’s students will learn to select, contextualize, book Visions of Jazz, is a six-time winner Ripin Gallery; additional photographs and interpret primary documents for online of the American Society of Composers, taken by Hinton will be exhibited in the presentation. Authors and Publishers Deems Taylor Award Conservatory Lounge. Selections from the Joanne Erwin, Professor of Music for music criticism, and received a lifetime Milton J. and Mona C. Hinton Papers will be Education, is creating a website of videos of achievement award in 2003 from the Jazz on display in the Conservatory Library, the student performers demonstrating various Journalists Association. basement of the Kohl Building, and the Main techniques for playing stringed instruments.