WKU Libraries blog

Robert Dickey is the featured speaker in this month’s Kentucky Live! on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble.  Dickey attended WKU and graduated from Centre  College.  Following a stint in the marines and a hitch as a reporter for the Bowling Green Daily News he graduated from Vanderbilt Law School.  His first client was Beech Bend Park owner Charles Garvin.  In Charles Garvin’s Dynasty of Dimes he tells the history of a man who he calls an “eccentric entrepreneur” who built an amusement park “empire” in Bowling Green, Kentucky based on 10 cent admissions.  It’s a fascinating story spanning four decades, and one indelibly linked with the tourist business in South Central Kentucky.

Twenty two local children spent their fall break at the Kentucky Library & Museum Arts Day Camp. While they were aptly improving their artistic skills, the campers also recycled waste paper into new hand made paper and learned about fabric transfer by designing and creating their own t-shirts. After-campers spent time learning about Kentucky history by spending time in the A Star In Each Flag: Conflict in Kentucky exhibit.

More pics.

Author and Cultural Historian Jim Cullen discussed The American Dream and how it relates to this year’s Big Read book, The Great Gatsby. Dr. Cullen spoke to a group of about twenty at Barnes & Noble on October 12 giving a brief history of F. Scott Fitzgerald, his thoughts on “The American Dream”, how this theme flowed through Fizgerald’s novel and still resonates through American culture from Hollywood to Main Street. Dr. Cullen teaches History at the Ethical Fieldston School in New York City.

More pictures

Nancy Baird, WKU Librarian, kicked off the 2009-10 Kentucky Live lecture series at Barnes & Noble on Thursday, September 10. Baird provided a unique look into the Bowling Green area during the Civil War through the eyes of Josie Underwood, a young woman from an influential family in Bowling Green, with brief summaries from Underwood’s diary. Her diary, edited by Baird’s, is a part of the collection from the Kentucky Library & Museum.

More Photos | Podcast | Audio

On August 26, 2009, WKU Libraries kicked off the 2009-2010 academic year with Dean Binder’s presentation on the past year’s highlights, followed by departmental reports by Brian Coutts, Head of Library Public Service; Connie Foster, Head of Technical Service; and Timothy Mullin, Head of Special Collection. The kickoff meeting concluded after a presentation on Web 3.0 by Haiwang Yuan, Special Assistant to the Dean of Libraries for Web & Emerging Technologies. Lunch and snacks were provided by the Dean’s Office. Before lunch, all library employees gathered in front of the Raymond Cravens Library to had their first ever group photo taken.

More Photos

Great news! Need a fun place to escape the heat and humidity over the July 4th weekend? Take your out of town guests to the Kentucky Library & Museum. While the building is closed on July 4th, the museum galleries are open on Friday, July 3rd and Sunday, July 5th. Current exhibits include a new exhibit on the career of Dorothy Grider, a nationally recognized illustrator of children’s books who is a Bowling Green native, and ongoing exhibits on the Civil War in Kentucky and food icon Duncan Hines. Gallery hours are 9to 4 on Friday and 1 to 4 on Sunday.

An exhibit celebrating the career of children’s book illustrator Dorothy Grider opened at the Kentucky Library & Museum on July 1, 2009. Driven to become an artist from the age of eight, this Bowling Green native became Rand McNally’s most popular children’s book illustrator in the late 1940s, and her work often stood alone in coloring books, picture books, and activity publications. Illustrating more than 100 books, including six as both author and illustrator, her work is available today in more than 200 libraries around the world.

Authors and creators want to tell, to see through words, and to be seen and heard. A new exhibit “Pages from the Past to the Present” focuses on the tools used to create those symbols, and offers some rare examples of papyrus and cuneiform, and other very early illustration and printing examples. The exhibit features the work of noted Kentucky authors Robert Penn Warren, Jesse Stuart, and Janice Holt Giles and includes antique typewriters and writing instruments.

More information.

On April 24, the Kentucky Library & Museum will be the scene of a murder mystery party and auction to benefit VSA Arts of Kentucky. The mayhem begins at 6:00 p.m. Can you solve the crime?

More information.