Category Archives: Uncategorized

Joe Bolton

Manuscripts & Folklife Archives in the Special Collections Library has recently opened the papers of Kentucky native and poet Joe Bolton, which includes his accumulated loose poems.  Bolton’s highly biographical poetry received widespread praise and was published in three compilations:  Breckinridge County Suite, Days of Summer Gone and The Last Nostalgia, as well as in a number of literary journals.  The Last Nostalgia was published posthumously and edited by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Donald Justice.

Joseph Edward Bolton was born on December 3, 1961 in Cadiz, Kentucky, the son of Ed and Nancy (Foster) Bolton.  His parents were schoolteachers.  Bolton attended public schools in Cadiz.  He started his college studies at the University of Mississippi but transferred to Western Kentucky University (WKU) the following year.  He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from WKU, where he also received the Jeoffrey McCelvey Memorial Award and the Gordon Wilson Award.  He then matriculated at the Univeristy of Floirda (UF), where he received a Master’s in English in 1988.  He also finished all the requirements for a MFA from the University of Arizona.  He did other graduate work at the University of Houston and UF.  For a brief period he taught creative writing at UF.  Bolton committed suicide on 30 March 1990.

Besides Bolton’s poetry, the collection features Donald Justice’s research notes and correspondence related to publishing The Last Nostalgia.  Justice corresponded with Bolton’s father Ed and with one of his close college friends, Tonya Parsons, who provided information about Joe’s life while attending WKU.  The correspondence contains biograpical information about Bolton and reveals how friends and family deal with suicide.  To see a copy of the collection finding aid click here.  To search for other literary collections held by Manuscripts & Folklife Archives search TopSCHOLAR.

An Art Installation class led by WKU Associate Art Professor Kristina Arnold worked with WKU Libraries this past semester to create unique displays in the Helm-Cravens Library. Using discarded and withdrawn books, the art students designed and produced two displays. The first installed is above a line of computer stations on Cravens 4^th floor exhibiting books falling and flying across the long wall and the second, a set of “tapestries” using book pages and beeswax to produce a translucent effect as the pieces hang in the Reference Area in Helm.

Dr. Roy Norton, Canada’s Consul General for the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky visited Bowling Green on Monday, May 7 as part of a sweep through the western part of Kentucky. Headquartered in Detroit’s Renaissance Center the Consulate promotes Canadian interests-trade, investment, the environment, culture and academic relations in the region.

While here the Consul General spoke to the Chamber of Commerce, met with Congressman Brent Guthrie and was interviewed by local media for a TV special. More than 20 Canadian companies are located in this region.

DLPS Head Brian Coutts was a lunch guest of the Consul and they spoke about the Canadian Studies Program at WKU. The Consulate recently awarded a 2011-2012 Canadian Studies Library Support Program Grant in the amount of $2,502.25 to WKU Libraries.

Virginia Willis, Brian Coutts, and Maggie Green

Kentucky native Maggie Green and Georgia native Virginia Willis headlined the 9:00 a.m. session at this year’s Bookfest.

The Kentucky Fresh Cookbook

Maggie Green, Brian Coutts

Green is the owner of The Green Apron Company, a Northern Kentucky consulting firm specializing in culinary nutrition and cookbook development.  Her newest book, now into its second printing, The Kentucky Fresh Cookbook, was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2011.  She talked about organizing the more than 200 recipes by season, incorporating Kentucky-grown and produced food with lots of tips on buying everything from produce to wine and even the pros and cons of organic foods. In addition to writing her own cookbook she’s been working for the “Joy of Cooking Kitchen” since 2000 and served on the editorial staff for the 75^th Anniversary edition and answers email for their web site.  She’s recently launched a cookbook “camp” for would be authors. She writes a wonderful blog at:

http://www.greenapron.com/blog where she interviews famous cookbook authors.

Virginia Willis

Bon Appetit, Y'all

Basic to Brilliant Y'all

Virginia Willis, is a native of Evans, Georgia where she gained her love of cooking from her grandmother.

She spent three years in France and is a graduate of L’Academie de Cuisine and Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne.  Stateside she’s worked as TV Kitchen Director for Bobby Flay and later for Martha Stewart

and was the executive producer for the Discovery Channel’s Epicurious.  Moving back to Atlanta she wrote her first cookbook  Bon Appétit Y’All in 2008 followed in 2011 by Basic to Brilliant Y’All both of which have been nominated for best cookbook awards.  Virginia talked about taking 150 refined southern recipes with suggestions on how to dress them up for company.  Virginia spoke about her March trip to the Paris cookbook fair where she demonstrated her “shrimp and grits” and about a visit to the White House where chefs from around the country were invited to promote First Lady Michelle Obama’s child nutrition initiatives.  She was recently named a contributing editor of Southern Living. She teaches cooking classes around the country and shares some great recipes at: http://www.virginiawillis.wordpress.com/

DLPS Department Head Brian Coutts moderated the session.

Staff from the Office of the Dean of WKU Libraries said goodbye to their graduating student assistant Cassandra Matthews at a lunch party in the Olive Garden Restaurant on May 7, 2012.

Cassandra has been working in the Dean’s Office for the last three and a half years, specifically helping with the Southern Kentucky Book Fest project. Her work ethnic and her smile will be missed by everyone in the office.

As a token of thanks, the office staff gave her a memorabilia to take away with her: a framed poster of an artfully rendered map of the WKU campus.

Photo Album

On May 1, 2012, University Libraries held a reception to honor the upcoming retirement of Ann Brown. Ann worked for 38 years in the Department of Technical Services where she served as the Senior Catalog and Bindery Assistant. Friends, family, and co-workers joined in the celebration.

Photo Album

Jessica Mather, Folklife Archives Intern

My name is Jessica Mather, and I am a senior at WKU.  This spring, I have been working as an intern in Manuscripts & Folklife Archives in the Special Collections Library.  I have really enjoyed my time here, since I have been able to work on projects that are close to my heart.  Both sides of my family are from Warren County, and I have been interested in Kentucky history, genealogy and local architecture most of my life.  I had been to the library several times for my own research, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to work here.

One project I worked on was indexing a collection of folk songs.  I love the old songs and am interested in how the stories of the past are carried to us through these songs.  I just wish I could sing, so I could carry them on! 

Another big project I worked on was creating finding aids for folklife projects.  These projects contain oral histories, genealogies, photographs and other materials that are valuable resources for researchers and people like me.  I enjoyed learning about communities both near my home and in other parts of Kentucky.  I also got to transcribe a taped interview with a woman who worked as a teacher in a coal mining community. Wow! What an experience!  I’m glad I got to be a part of making these resources easier for people to search and discover the treasures we have here in the Kentucky Library & Museum.

DLPS Department Head Dr. Brian E. Coutts presented Best Reference 2011 to his WKU Libraries colleagues in Helm 5 on the morning of April 27, 2012. The presentation was concluded with a cake reception.

Brian Coutts discussed the best reference books of 2011.  His selections appear annually in Library Journal the oldest library trade journal founded in 1876.

Thanks to the organizers Amanda Hardin and Dewayne Stovall.

Photo Album

On the evening of April 26, 2012, WKU presented Faculty Awards at a dinner in the Regents Room on South Campus. Among the faculty members honored at the presentation were two from the Libraries. They were Nancy Richey who received the Faculty Award for Research/Creativity and Haiwang Yuan who received the Faculty Award for Public Services. Provost Dr. Gordon Emslie presided over the presentation, President Gary Ransdell gave a speech congratulating the award recipients and thanking them for their work.

The WKU Forensic Team highlighted the award presentation with their spectacular performances.

New to this year’s Faculty Award ceremony was the gift of an engraved clock to each recipient in addition to the usual certificate.

Photo Album

Kayla with Robert Penn Warren looking over her shoulder

My name is Kayla Wright; I am an English graduate student at WKU.  For the spring 2012 semester, I have been the Robert Penn Warren fellow.  Being the RPW fellow means that I’ve worked with the Robert Penn Warren collections in the manuscripts section of the Special Collections Library.

While working in the library, I’ve gone through transcripts of interviews that were conducted in order to learn more about people on whom RPW based characters.  I also worked on a finding aid for this same collection, which means I got to play detective for a little while and match up people and dates.  (Surprisingly enough, this was a lot of fun.  It strengthened my research skills, and I was always excited when I knew information matched up correctly.)

I have also been working on adding to the finding aid for RPW’s correspondence.  It’s been incredibly interesting reading correspondence between RPW and his friends and colleagues.  It is interesting to see what was going on in his life while he was writing different works.  While he was always busy working on something, I have also enjoyed reading about his family getaways to the country or to Italy.

I’ve learned a lot about Robert Penn Warren and his family; at this point, I feel as if I know them.  Overall, this has been a wonderful experience, and I have learned so much.