Library Perspectives
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A Newsletter Spring 2016, Issue No. 54 of the Library Oberlin College Library Perspectives OBERLIN JOINS LEVER PRESS AS mary church terrell papers CHARTER MEMBER his past summer the Oberlin College THE LIBRARY’S Archives received an important LONGSTANDING ADVOCACY Tmanuscript collection, the papers of one for open access to of Oberlin’s most esteemed graduates, Mary scholarly publications Church Terrell. Born Mary Eliza Church took another significant in 1863 to former slaves in Memphis, step forward this year Tennessee, Terrell went on to have a when Oberlin became remarkable career as a writer, public speaker, a charter member in social activist, community organizer, the Lever Press. Lever educator, and civil rights leader. Raymond is a unique publishing Langston, a grandson of Mary Church initiative, built through Terrell, and his wife Jean, who helped to collaboration among the Amherst College preserve and oversee the papers, are the Press, the University of Michigan Press, and donors. the Oberlin Group, a consortium of eighty Terrell led a rich and interesting life, top-ranked liberal arts colleges. with opportunities afforded to few African continued on page 6 Lever Press arose out of a 2013 initiative of the Oberlin Group to study table top scribe brings more library how libraries at liberal arts colleges could content to the internet archive offer a new and compelling publishing alternative for authors of scholarly works. THE LIBRARY has are taken. Images and Lever is particularly interested in projects purchased the metadata about the that focus on interdisciplinarity, that Table Top Scribe book are uploaded engage with major social issues, and that system from the to IA via the Scribe are ideally suited for experiential learning Internet Archive software; Table Top environments by blurring the traditional (IA) and is using Scribe staff then lines between teaching and research. A it to digitize items process the raw images further goal is to develop and distribute from the college and add them to the scholarship with strong potential for and conservatory library’s collection classroom use and engagement by a broad library at IA where they readership. collections. In appear as assembled As of December 2015, nearly 40 liberal addition to books—searchable, arts college libraries, including Oberlin, have a computer downloadable, and together committed to contribute more workstation, the Assistant to the Director Bill Ruth scans pages freely accessible. than $1 million toward the work of Lever system includes a of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine The Internet Press over the next five years. Supported by V-shaped cradle Archive has been these pledges, Lever Press aims to acquire, with glass plates to hold a book in place digitizing materials for years but only develop, produce, and disseminate a total while high resolution pictures of the pages recently made the Table Top Scribe system continued on page 11 continued on page 10 1 RECENT GIFTS friends of the library THE LIBRARY gratefully acknowledges the spring 2016 programs following significant monetary gifts and gifts-in-kind. Exhibitions: Major monetary gifts: Historic Brass Instruments from the Frederick R. Selch Collection of American Music • Mimi Halpern ’60 for the Ray English History Endowed Library Fund. Monday, January 11–Friday, June 3, Lower Level, Kohl Building • Donald Oresman ’46 for the Ray English Endowed Library Fund. Book Arts Winter Term Projects in the Library: Student Papermaking and Printing Wednesday, January 27–Wednesday, February 24, Academic Commons, Mudd Center • Lloyd Frank ’47 for an endowed library fund. Mary Church Terrell: An Oberlin Graduate Who Made a Difference in our World • Kahle Austin Foundation for the Monday, February 22–Sunday, February 28, Academic Commons, Mudd Center Friends of the Library and jazz collection Celebrating 150 Years of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music digitization. Monday, May 16–Sunday, May 22, Academic Commons, Mudd Center • William Friedman ’81 for the Friends of Celebrating the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1966 and the 25th Reunion of the Class of the Library. 1991 • John Heckenlively ’68 for the Friends of Friday, May 20–Sunday, May 22, Goodrich Room, 4th Floor, Mudd Center the Library. Lectures and Other Events: • Clyde Owan ’79 for the George A. and “Stealing All Transmissions: A Secret History of The Clash,” Talk by Randal Doane, Assistant Susan P. Lanyi Endowed Library Book Dean of Studies Fund, the Friends of the Library, and the Tuesday, February 23, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 Library Special Book Fund. “Complicated Relationships: Mary Church Terrell’s Legacy for 21st-Century Activists,” • Lucy Marks ’73 and Scott Sprinzen for Symposium on the occasion of a new acquisition of Mary Church Terrell papers by the Oberlin the Friends of the Library and the Lucy College Archives Friday, February 26 –Saturday, February 27, King 106 Marks Endowed English and Classics Book Fund. “David Smith in Two Dimensions: Photography and the Matter of Sculpture,” Talk by Sarah • Paul Seebohm ’38 for the Conservatory Hamill, Assistant Professor of Art History Special Book Fund. Friday, March 11, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 • Avonelle Walker ’53 for the Friends “D. T. Suzuki and the Rise of American Buddhism,” Talk by James Dobbins, Professor of of the Library and the Conservatory Religion and East Asian Studies Library Special Book Fund. Thursday, April 7, 4:30 p.m., Moffett Auditorium, Mudd 050 • Edwin Dugger ’62 for the Conservatory The Harold Jantz Memorial Lecture by Kwame Anthony Appiah Library Special Book Fund for the Thursday, April 14, 7:30 p.m., Dye Lecture Hall, Science Center purchase of scores. Student Book Collecting Award Winners • Louisa ’80 and Peter Rozo for the Wednesday, May 4–Sunday, May 23, Academic Commons, Mudd Center Friends of the Library. Commencement/Reunion reception for Friends of the Library, alumni authors, former library student assistants, alumni librarians, and anyone else who loves libraries and books continued on page 11 Saturday, May 21, 4:30–6:00 p.m., Azariah’s Café, Mudd Center Library Perspectives friends council highlights Alan Boyd Cynthia Comer The Council approved the Acquisitions Alison Ricker Jeremy Smith THE FOLLOWING are highlights of the Friends Committee’s recommendation to spend Jennifer Starkey of the Library Council meeting held $39,108 for new resources for special Editors Saturday, November 14, 2015, outgoing President Robert Longsworth, presiding. collections and to support subjects across A newsletter for users and Friends of The financial report indicated that the curriculum (see article on page 8). the Oberlin College Library, Library 2014-15 membership contributions to the The Membership Committee reported Perspectives is issued two times a year. that regular Friends members (those who Printed from an endowed fund established Friends totaled $52,214, down slightly from by Benjamin and Emiko Custer. recent years. The ending fund balance was contribute directly to the Friends) as well as $28,110. total Friends members (which includes all continued on page 10 2 2015-2016 new friends honorary and life members Friends Council he Friends of the Library awarded Officers: honorary memberships to Barbro Robert Taylor, President T’56 and Norman Jung ’56 and a life Wendy Wasman, Vice President membership to Gabrielle Bamberger ’60 at Eric Carpenter, Secretary its annual dinner on November 14, 2015. Members: Barbro and Norman Jung have been John Elder '53 loyal supporters of the Friends since its Sebastiaan Faber inception. Norman, long-time Director of Jack Glazier the Library and Media Center at SUNY Nick Jones, Membership Committee Chair Old Westbury, served two terms on the Tom Lopez ’89 Friends Council, from 1996 to 2002. The Alan Boyd, Barbro ’56 and Norman Jung ’56 Stephanie Davis-Kahl ’94 Jungs have made a very generous planned Rod Knight Gary Kornblith gift designation to the library which will Thelma Morris '54 create an endowed discretionary fund for the Library Director. Anne McFarland '62 Gabrielle Bamberger has long worked Ex-Officio and Appointed Members: in public relations and is a member of the Scott Smith '79, Acquisitions Committee Chair Board of Trustees of The Center for Fiction Robert Longsworth, Program Committee in New York. Bamberger has offered Chair unique examples of children’s literature Alan Boyd, Interim Director of Libraries to the library’s special collections and Jessica Grim, Collection Development established a generous planned gift to the Robert Longsworth, Gabrielle Bamberger, and Librarian Oberlin College Library. • Alan Boyd Ed Vermue, Special Collections Librarian Jesse Gamoran, Student Representative friends research awards RUTH HUGHES AND HERB HENKE IN Adaptive Force in the Evolution MEMORIAM of Blue-Green Eggs in Robins: THE FRIENDS mourn the loss of Ruth Hughes A Review of Recent Work.” ’85, who was most recently a member of the Tarvin praised Galloway for Acquisitions Committee and previously “a fantastic critical review of served on the Friends Council from 1992 hypotheses and empirical studies to 1998 and as Vice President from 1995 designed to explain the function to 1998. In 2010 her friend Alice Austin of blue-green coloration of gave a collection of 100 artists’ books to the robin (and other bird) eggs.” library in her honor. The Friends hope the Galloway’s effective use ofWeb Ruth Hughes Collection will remind many of Science was the foundation of a generations of readers of Hughes’ love of semester-long effort that included books and libraries. Her energy, dynamism, Jacob Baron, Robert Longsworth, and Hazel Galloway an annotated bibliography and enthusiasm for “all things library” will be followed by an annotated outline deeply missed. SENIOR HAZEL GALLOWAY AND JUNIOR JACOB as intermediate steps toward an This year the Friends also lost a much BARON were selected as winners of the excellent paper. She continued to assess the valued Council member, Herb Henke, Friends of the Library Research Awards for relevance of literature to her project and Emeritus Professor of Music Education.