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Library earns honor of encyclopedic proportionsLast modified at 12:59 a.m. on Sunday, November 9, 2003
Last Sunday, several folks from the library traveled to Lincoln to attend the annual meeting of the Nebraska Center for the Book.
Our library and library foundation were honored to receive this organization's Jane Geske Award in recognition of our rich tradition of service, our outreach throughout Hall County and our variety of reading and literacy services provided, particularly for our Abbott Sisters Research Center and Family Place literacy initiatives.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Jane Geske, she was a former director of the Nebraska Library Commission and a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book. You can read up on her life and accomplishments at www.nlc.state.ne.us/centennial/1900s/19601969/janepopegeske.html. And for more information on the award itself, go to www.unl.edu/NCB/programs.html.
It's equally humbling and exhilarating to now be included in the distinguished list of recipients such as the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center in Chadron (www.csc.edu/foundation/sandoz.asp), the Kripke Jewish Federation Library in Omaha (www.jewishomaha.org/library), and the John G. Neihardt Foundation and Neihardt Center in Bancroft (www.neihardt.com/center/).
This honor is of encyclopedic proportions to us partly because the Center for the Book annual meeting also included a very educational presentation by David Wishart, professor of geography at UNL and editor of the upcoming "Encyclopedia of the Great Plains." Expected out in 2004, this University of Nebraska Press publication will become a staple of our collection and should enjoy a great deal of use. Learn more about this Herculean undertaking at www.unl.edu/plains/ publications/egp.html.
For more by Wishart, turn to the book "An Unspeakable Sadness" currently in our collection. This book uses primary research materials to describe and map the dispossession process of the Otoe-Missouri, Ponca, Omaha and Pawnee Indians through the 19th century in Nebraska.
And for more about Jane Geske and the Nebraska Center for the Book, try two Nebraska treasures. The first is Lincoln City Libraries' "Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors" (www.lcl.lib.ne.us/depts/hr/front.htm). This collection started off as a single shelf in 1949 and now numbers more than 11,000 volumes.
And even though it's too late to attend, take a good look at another Nebraska literary treasure, the Nebraska Book Festival, an annual event of the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Humanities Council (http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/ncw/nbf/nebraska_book_festival.html).
This year's festival was co-sponsored by Creighton University, leading us to another literary treasure, the Nebraska Center for Writers at Creighton University (mockingbird.creighton.edu/ NCW/index.htm).
When you combine these treasures with our own local library treasure, you find how rich Nebraska's literary tradition really is. Experience for yourself the wonderful collections of state poet Bill Kloefkorn, and the collaboration between Kloefkorn and Ted Kooser in the book "Cottonwood Country."
The lists of noted authors and works go on and on, but one aspect of the book festival in particular that caught my eye was "Feathers & Verses: Creative Fun with Birds and Poems," a program intended for middle school students. I found a couple of books in our collection that will certainly lead you on a creative adventure through poetry. With the help of "Bird Songs" compiled by Gwendolyn Reed, pretty soon we'll all be "Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter" and yearning for "Spring Quiet" -- "where in the white-thorn singeth a thrush, and a robin sings in the holly-bush."
"The Hornbeam Tree and Other Poems" by Charles Norman is a beautifully illustrated celebration of the wonders and oddity of birds. As you look out your back window at the bird feeder this winter, remember the poem "The Cardinal" -- "Condescending to descend, the feeder being clear of little, chattering chickadees, he pecks genteelly, no one near."
This poetic learning adventure awaits you at our library along with many other adventures of encyclopedic proportions. In fact, we believe that every one of you are right now writing your own encyclopedia as you make learning a lifelong habit and as you share the love of reading through our services. To serve you as you pursue your own encyclopedia is the best award of all for us!
Steve Fosselman is the executive director of the Edith Abbott Memorial Library in Grand Island.
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Our library and library foundation were honored to receive this organization's Jane Geske Award in recognition of our rich tradition of service, our outreach throughout Hall County and our variety of reading and literacy services provided, particularly for our Abbott Sisters Research Center and Family Place literacy initiatives.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Jane Geske, she was a former director of the Nebraska Library Commission and a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book. You can read up on her life and accomplishments at www.nlc.state.ne.us/centennial/1900s/19601969/janepopegeske.html. And for more information on the award itself, go to www.unl.edu/NCB/programs.html.
This honor is of encyclopedic proportions to us partly because the Center for the Book annual meeting also included a very educational presentation by David Wishart, professor of geography at UNL and editor of the upcoming "Encyclopedia of the Great Plains." Expected out in 2004, this University of Nebraska Press publication will become a staple of our collection and should enjoy a great deal of use. Learn more about this Herculean undertaking at www.unl.edu/plains/ publications/egp.html.
For more by Wishart, turn to the book "An Unspeakable Sadness" currently in our collection. This book uses primary research materials to describe and map the dispossession process of the Otoe-Missouri, Ponca, Omaha and Pawnee Indians through the 19th century in Nebraska.
And for more about Jane Geske and the Nebraska Center for the Book, try two Nebraska treasures. The first is Lincoln City Libraries' "Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors" (www.lcl.lib.ne.us/depts/hr/front.htm). This collection started off as a single shelf in 1949 and now numbers more than 11,000 volumes.
And even though it's too late to attend, take a good look at another Nebraska literary treasure, the Nebraska Book Festival, an annual event of the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Humanities Council (http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/ncw/nbf/nebraska_book_festival.html).
This year's festival was co-sponsored by Creighton University, leading us to another literary treasure, the Nebraska Center for Writers at Creighton University (mockingbird.creighton.edu/ NCW/index.htm).
When you combine these treasures with our own local library treasure, you find how rich Nebraska's literary tradition really is. Experience for yourself the wonderful collections of state poet Bill Kloefkorn, and the collaboration between Kloefkorn and Ted Kooser in the book "Cottonwood Country."
The lists of noted authors and works go on and on, but one aspect of the book festival in particular that caught my eye was "Feathers & Verses: Creative Fun with Birds and Poems," a program intended for middle school students. I found a couple of books in our collection that will certainly lead you on a creative adventure through poetry. With the help of "Bird Songs" compiled by Gwendolyn Reed, pretty soon we'll all be "Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter" and yearning for "Spring Quiet" -- "where in the white-thorn singeth a thrush, and a robin sings in the holly-bush."
"The Hornbeam Tree and Other Poems" by Charles Norman is a beautifully illustrated celebration of the wonders and oddity of birds. As you look out your back window at the bird feeder this winter, remember the poem "The Cardinal" -- "Condescending to descend, the feeder being clear of little, chattering chickadees, he pecks genteelly, no one near."
This poetic learning adventure awaits you at our library along with many other adventures of encyclopedic proportions. In fact, we believe that every one of you are right now writing your own encyclopedia as you make learning a lifelong habit and as you share the love of reading through our services. To serve you as you pursue your own encyclopedia is the best award of all for us!
Steve Fosselman is the executive director of the Edith Abbott Memorial Library in Grand Island.
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| Day of rest: once upon a Sunday in Wendel's WorldLast modified at 12:58 a.m. on Sunday, November 9, 2003 |
