Author Archives: Jennifer Wilson

Professor Haiwang Yuan’s book, Princess Peacock: Tales from the Other Peoples of China (Libraries Unlimited, 2008), has been selected as one of the American Folklore Society Children’s Section 2009 Aesop Accolade Award recipients. Yuan serves as WKU Libraries Professor and Special Assistant to the Dean for Web & Emerging Technologies.

“This well-organized and richly documented volume is designed to give the American reader a fair view of China as a multi-ethic nation of diverse cultures…The contents of Princess Peacock provide extremely valuable material for the families of the many Chinese children adopted by Americans by introducing and reinforcing knowledge of their ethnic origins,” said the 2009 Aesop Award Committee.

More than 1,200 people participated in this year’s Christmas in Kentucky event hosted at the Kentucky Library & Museum this past Saturday, December 5. Children visited with Santa and Mrs. Claus in the Kentucky Room while others watched Mr. Magic in the Western Room. Big Red floated throughout the building greeting families while the Western Kentucky men’s vocal ensemble, The Red Shirts, sang in several locations. Other activities included ornament making, a scavenger hunt, a cake walk, theatre presentations, and talks with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln.

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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.

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The Kentucky Library & Museum is offering a Batik Silk Dying Workshop with Dr. Laura McGee on Saturday, August 15 from 10 am- 12 noon. “We always look forward to working with Laura,” says Lynne Ferguson, WKU Libraries Artist-in-Residence. “She’s a very talented artist and brings her wealth of experience to the community.”

McGee is a Modern Languages Associate Professor at WKU and has taught silk painting and dying workshops at the Kentucky Library & Museum previously. With the upcoming Batik Workshop, participants will complete the painting of an 11”x60” crepe de chine silk scarf. Crepe de chine is sometimes called the “Mercedes” of silks because it drapes so beautifully.

The Batik Workshop is a part of the Kentucky Library & Museum’s fall workshop series. The course fee is $50 and includes all the materials including one scarf. For more information or to register for the workshop, go to www.wku.edu/library/kylm/education.

WKU Libraries is hosting Erwin Woodye, Chief Librarian, from the University of Belize as part of an administrator exchange program sponsored by COBEC (Consortium for Belize Educational Cooperation). Established in the late 1980s, COBEC’s purpose is to link post-secondary educational institutions in Belize and other countries to strengthen and expand their capabilities in higher education.

When asked why he chose WKU to visit, Woodye said there were several factors including the positive response he received working with the university as well as WKU’s library science program. He hopes to collaborate with WKU Libraries in the future. “It has been a great learning experience and everyone has been so hospitable,” says Woodye. “The only thing I would recommend is that the program be longer. There’s so much to absorb; a semester would be better.”

“We have enjoyed having Erwin with us this week,” says Dr. Mike Binder, Dean of WKU Libraries. “He is here from July 21-31 to gather information and learn about our programs, operations, policies and services, some of which may find application to his library system.”

Dr. Bryan Carson, Special Assistant to the Dean of Libraries for Grants and Projects, was recently elected to a three-year term as Director-at-Large on the Board of the EPSCoR Scientific Information Group (ESIG), a national consortium of librarians that are eligible to receive National Science Foundation EBSCoR Grants. The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (known as EPSCoR) is a federal program for university researchers located in states that receive less than the median amount of federal research grant funding. Researchers in EPSCoR states have access to special grant opportunities. The purpose of ESIG is to enable libraries at EPSCoR-eligible universities to better provide scientific information to their researchers. Dr. Carson replaces Mary Beth Thompson at the University of Kentucky.

“I am looking forward to participating on the board,” says Carson. “Working with libraries from across the country is beneficial on many levels. Not only do we receive costs savings on group subscriptions, but also learn of new opportunities for accessing scientific research information that will be useful for our researchers.”