WKU Libraries blog

Lynwood Montell spoke at the KY Library & Museum on the evening of October 29 about his newest book, Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes. An author of numerous Kentucky-related books and former faculty at WKU, Montell made his first appearance in WKU Libraries Kentucky Live! series. His tales of ghost stories in Kentucky and Tennessee are legendary, and his Halloween readings have been popular for many years.

Montell, a native of Rock Bridge in Monroe County, founded the Folk Studies Program at WKU in 1972 and taught several generations of students there between 1969 and 1999. He’s the author of 22 books with such enticing titles as: Ghosts Along the Cumberland; Killings: Folk Justice in the Upper South; and Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky.

In his newest book he recounts stories of unusual items in caskets, mournful pretenders, long-winded preachers, and even pallbearers falling into graves. They all serve to demonstrate the pivotal role played by morticians in Kentucky life and culture.

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On October 16, 2009, a panel discussion on John Brown by Drs. Glenn Lafantasie, John Hardin and Robert Dietle was conducted in Helm Library 100. This discussion was co-sponsored by the History Department and the Department of Public Library Services, Western Kentucky University. Scores of WKU students and faculty members, including some of the Libraries employees attended the discussion.

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Professor Debbie Kreitzer from the Department of Georgraphy and Geology is the first speaker in the tenth series of talks on “Far away Places with Strange Sounding Names” sponsored by the friends of WKU Libraries and the Kentucky Museum. Debbie teaches classes on World Regional Geography, the Georgraphy of North America and Geographic Information Systems. She led a Study Abroad group to Slovenia in 2007 and made a return visit in 2008. This event was held at Barnes and Noble on Thursday September 17th at 7:00 p.m.

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Mr. Guillerman spoke as part of our Kentucky Live series on Thursday, October 15th at Barnes & Noble on Campbell Lane.

Michael D. Guillerman worked for the Peabody Coal Company from 1974 to 1991. Over his long career, his jobs included belt shoveler, timberman, shooter, drill and shuttle car operator, rock duster, and finally section foreman. Now retired, he lives with his wife Marie in Union county, Kentucky.

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Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

September 26 - October 3, 2009

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. This year WKU Libraries hosted exhibits on the Cravens 4th Floor and at the ERC. The ERC display included quotations from students in Children’s and Young Adult Literature classes about how their lives had been impacted by reading some of these “challenged” books. The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections.

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On Sunday, September 13th VSA arts of Kentucky and the Kentucky Library & Museum kicked off the start of the Side by Side: VSA arts Statewide Exhibit with a reception at the Kentucky Library & Museum.

More about the exhibit.

On the evening of August 26, 2009, M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan students had a good time in the Kentucky Museum at an event dubbed as “Night at the Museum,” a marketing effort to bring more students into the facility and familiarize them with the exhibits. Attendees had a chance to take a photo with “Lincoln” and his “wife,” and had a taste of the life lived by their ancestors in the Civil War period, such as wearing the girdle, writing in cursive styles with feather pens, and reenacting the war with figurines. These photos will show you how much they enjoyed the night at the Kentucky Museum.

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On the evening of August 25, 2009, WKU Libraries launched its creative marketing event dubbed as “Snacks in the Stacks.” Food, music, and Las Vagas-style pokers brought in numerous MasterPlan students to the Helm-Cravens Library. Players who got the right line-up of the cards won different kinds of prizes, ranging from T-shirts and pizzas to iTune gift cards and iPod devices.

Marketing Coordinator Jennifer Wilson was the mastermind of the event, which was facilitated by several of the Libraries faculty and staff from the Access and Reference units. The Dean of Libraries and department heads were all at the event–an event that Provost Burch described as “impressive” when she learned of it.

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On September 27, 2009, Western Kentucky University Libraries, including the Kentucky Library & Museum, participated in the university’s M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan in the Preston Center. Several hundred students came to the Libraries’ booths to learn about these facilities and their services. Handouts with gifts of pens and cups with the Libraries’ logo were handed out during the event.

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The Kentucky Library & Museum Batik Workshop taught by Laura McGee was a wonderful success. Photos show participants using wax resist techniques and dying their silk crepe de chine scarves.