UK Libraries Selected for ARL Fellowship Program:

Mark A. Puente, Director of ARL Diversity Programs, announced recently that “The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Diversity Programs have been awarded a $481,751 grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st-Century Librarian Program to support the Career Enhancement Program (CEP). The ARL CEP is a minority fellowship program that recruits library and information science (MLIS) students from traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups into careers in research and academic libraries.”

“The CEP partners with eight ARL member libraries to provide each program participant with a six- to twelve-week paid internship, as well as a suite of other benefits. The full, eight-month fellowship experience includes a formal mentoring program, opportunities for leadership development, and career placement assistance. Over a three-year period, funding from IMLS will support the fellowship for 32 diverse MLIS students (10–12 students per year).”

“The ARL CEP uses a cohort model, where CEP Fellows are assigned in pairs to the host libraries. The program encourages the development of a close network of peers, while at the same time providing outstanding MLIS students with practical learning experiences to complement their library school coursework.”

The other host libraries are:

• University of Arizona
• University of California, San Diego
• Columbia University
• University of Michigan
• National Library of Medicine
• North Carolina State University
• University of Washington

UK Libraries Annual Campaign to Begin July 1:

UK Libraries annual phone/mail campaign for 2012-13 will start earlier in the fiscal year than in previous years.  Students working in the Phonathon will begin contacting library donors on July 1^st inviting them to make an annual gift in support of UK Libraries.

We are very grateful for the annual support of UK Libraries donors.  This past fiscal year saw a significant increase in the number of UK alumni and friends supporting UK Libraries.  This financial support enables UK Libraries to enhance the teaching, research, and service missions of the University of Kentucky including UK Healthcare.

Crawfish Bottom Wins Award:

 Dr. Doug Boyd, Director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History received the Clay Lancaster Heritage Education Award for his scholarly work Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community, which tells the story of an extremely poor, small Frankfort community.  Crawfish Bottom was razed by urban renewal in the late 1960s to make way for the Capital Plaza.

 http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/25/2237051/trust-lounge-barn-chasers-among.html#storylink=misearch

UK Libraries Provide Information for Recent History Channel Program:

William T. Young Library Reference Services was a part of the recent Hatfields and McCoys blockbuster production on the History Channel! Laura Hall, the Periodicals, Newspapers and Microforms (PNM) supervisor, and Hayley Whitehead, a PNM student assistant, worked with the producers of the six-hour “Hatfields & McCoys” mini-series on research for a companion two-hour documentary, “America's Greatest Feud: The History of the Hatfields & McCoys.”

 Laura and Hayley provided relevant articles from newspapers from the time period, including the Louisville Courier-Journal. The premiere of the documentary was Saturday, June 2 at 4:00pm EST on the History Channel. Although a rebroadcast date has not yet been scheduled, more information about the documentary may be found at the Huntington News.net site at http://www.huntingtonnews.net/33805.

Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums Conference:

Dr. Doug Boyd, Director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, was invited to present twice at this year’s 2012 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums, Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 4-7

The international conference of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums, provides a network of support for tribal cultural institutions and programs. It is a unique event that brings together a wide variety of people who share the common goal of cultural preservation.  ATALM is a national non-profit organization that maintains a network of support for indigenous programs, provides culturally relevant programming and services, encourages collaboration among tribal and non-tribal cultural institutions, and articulates contemporary issues related to developing and sustaining the cultural sovereignty of Native Nations.  Since 2003, its programs and services have been supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mary Molinaro, Associate Dean for Library Technologies, served as Program Committee Chair for the Educause Southeast Regional Conference held May 30-June 1 in Tampa, Florida.  The conference brought together 300 professionals in Libraries and Information Technology in higher education. The conference theme this year centered on how libraries and IT can best engage with students to improve learning and scholarship, how to engage with higher education in supporting research, teaching, and service and how to engage each other to leverage expertise in both communities.

The opening keynote speaker was Dr. George Mehaffy, the Vice President of Academic Leadership and Change for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) gave the keynote presentation, "Medieval Models, Agrarian Calendars, and 21st Century Imperatives."  

CNI Conversatons:

In the latest CNI Conversations podcast (http://www.cni.org/topics/digital-preservation/digital-preservation-network-cliff-lynch-speaks-with-uvas-james-hilton/ CNI Executive Director Clifford Lynch speaks with James Hilton, Chief Information Officer at the University of Virginia, about the Digital Preservation Network (DPN), an initiative which aims to create a federated approach to preservation of academic content:

According to Hilton, "To avoid the catastrophic loss of scholarship, we must build and sustain a diverse ecosystem that can ensure the survival of scholarship in digital form for future generations.  We envision a system that is scalable, sustainable, and complementary to existing collection and preservation efforts—the Digital Preservation Network (DPN or Deepen)."

UK Libraries participated in an organizational meeting in Washington this past spring and, with funding support from the Provost’s Office, joined the DPN initiative shortly afterwards.

Ed Prichard Biography Featured on Huffington Post:

In an essay regarding the recent John Edwards trial, Don McNay compares Edwards’ ordeal to that of Edward F. Prichard Jr.  Dr. Tracy Campbell, UK Professor of History and Co-Director of UK Libraries’ Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, is the author of Short of the Glory:  The Fall and Redemption of Edward F. Prichard, Jr.  Short of the Glory: The Fall and Redemption of Edward F. Prichard, Jr. published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1998.

His newest book is a history of the St. Louis Gateway Arch, which will be published in the "Icons of America" series from Yale University Press.  His current research project examines how the United States mobilized at home in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor.

The essay can be found here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-mcnay/john-edwards-and-the-ed-p_b_1565090.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Digital Library Services and Special Collections Announce New Digitized Collections:

Sarah Dorpinghaus, Digital Projects Manager in Digital Library Services, announced three new digitized collections:

The Spencer family collection, 1878-1981 (87M16) has been partially digitized and is now available via ExploreUK:  http://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt71rn30375r/guide

The Spencer Family Collection contains diplomas, certificates, printed materials and photographs of the family and descendants of Kentuckian Benjamin F. Spencer.

Spencer family patriarch, Benjamin F. Spencer was born a slave in Kentucky in 1854. He was taught to read along with his owner's son. After emancipation, Spencer became what is believed to be the first African American to be granted a teaching certificate in what had been a slave state. After teaching for six years, Spencer left teaching and opened a boot shop

in Frankfort, Kentucky. This enterprise was maintained by Spencer family descendants into the 20th century. The Spencer family has continued the tradition of academic pursuits established by Benjamin Spencer.

The Otis Prather UK Varsity Handbook student diary (2012ua007) is now available via ExploreUK and the Kentucky Digital Library:  http://eris.uky.edu/catalog/xt7gb56d2s0d/guide  This collection is only available electronically.

Otis Prather was a freshman at the University of Kentucky during the 1924-1925 academic year.  His diary includes handwritten daily entries detailing Prather's activities, classes, movies he saw, the weather, and places he visited as a freshman student at UK. Prather's K-Book also includes a hand-written class schedule and pasted-in photographs and clippings.

The K-Book, sponsored by the YMCA and YWCA, was distributed to new UK students to help them become acquainted with school life and the campus. A small, pocket-sized bound book, it contained the academic calendar, university history information, freshman rules, school traditions, athletic schedules, school songs, and information about student clubs and government. In the 1924-1925 edition, the last 67 pages of the K-Book included one blank line per day for students to use as a diary, specifically as a prompt to "write mother about it."

The University of Kentucky general photographic prints collection is now available on ExploreUK and the Kentucky Digital Library (Beta): http://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt75736m0s6q/guide

Toni Greider Completes Successful Trip to South Africa:

Toni Greider, Director of International Programs for UK Libraries, just returned from a successful trip to South Africa.  Toni was invited to open the third annual IAALD Africa Conference in Johannesburg and then met with the information communication technology groups from Latin America, Asia,  and Europe to begin negotiations to form an Information Communication Technology Network for Africa.  She then went to Cape Town and spent time with Dr. Beth Barnes, Director of UK School of Journalism who is working on a semester long study abroad course in Cape Town.  Next, Toni visited the University of Stellenbosch Library where Yusuf Ras is a librarian.  Yusuf was a Carnegie Scholar at UK Libraries during March and April of this year.  Toni had a productive and enjoyable trip and looks forward to additional collaborations between UK Libraries and South Africa.

Fine Book Binding Exhibition:

An exhibition of artist's books and contemporary fine book bindings will be on view in Special Collections from June until August 2012.  The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday, June 8 from 4 to 6 p.m. in The Great Hall, Special Collections, Margaret I. King Building.

For more information contact Dr. James Birchfield, Curator of Books, at (859) 257-8408 or
 j.birchfield@uky.edu

Annual Giving Up for 2011-2012:

During these very difficult financial times for UK Libraries and the university I am heartened by the generosity and support we have received from UK alumni and friends.  In fact, as we approach the end of UK’s fiscal year, we have seen solid growth in the number of people giving to UK Libraries compared to last year (an increase of 17%).  I think this reflects an understanding of the importance of private giving to the success of a great public research library.

I want to thank our donors for their generosity in support of our mission to provide access to information that enables learning and the advancement of knowledge essential to teaching, research and service.  If you know someone who would like to support UK Libraries with an annual gift please refer them to the giving site on our webpage at http://www.uky.edu/GiveNow/welcome.htm?select=LI.