WVU Libraries

CONTACT: John Cuthbert, West Virginia and Regional History Collection 304-293-4040 ext. 4201

In honor of West Virginia’s 141 st birthday, the West Virginia University Libraries’ West Virginia and Regional History Collection will exhibit the artwork of Mountain State native Richard Kidwell Miller on Saturday, June 19.

Miller is scheduled to attend the exhibit in the James Hornor Davis Family Galleries and present a lecture. The exhibit will open at 5 p.m., and Miller’s lecture will follow at 6 p.m. The galleries are on the sixth floor of the Charles C. Wise Jr. Library, part of the Downtown Library Complex.

Miller was born in Fairmont during the Great Depression. He displayed artistic talent at a young age and earned early release from grade school each day to study at a local WPA arts center.

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Mountaineer Spirit
BY MONTE MAXWELL

WVU has taken up digital domain in the Smithsonian Institution.

Links to four WVU Libraries digital exhibits appear on a Smithsonian Institution Libraries Web site. The site, “Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web,” lists nearly 3,000 library-related exhibits from more than 25 countries. In 2003, close to 16,000 people visited the site.

“We’re honored that the Smithsonian has taken notice of our
work in the digital arena,” WVU Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said. “Electronic resources and archives quickly became commonplace in academic libraries, and we want not only to compete in the field but to make an exceptional offering.”

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Alisha Myers didn’t know what she was getting herself into last summer. An art education major at WVU, Myers, who works in the university’s newly renovated Wise Library, spent her summer in town, expecting the doldrums to seep in and take over.

The days were lazy, until the Web Services Librarian Beth Toren, who is also her supervisor, came to her with a project proposal – to help her put one of the library’s most extensive collections on the Internet.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) is the showcased author. He’s best known for his science fiction, but also wrote commentaries on the Bible and numerous books on science that could be understood by the common layman.

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Mountaineer Spirit

BEANIE, BABY—Harold Forbes, associate curator with the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, holds the beanie he wore as a WVU freshman in 1967.

See the photo and full caption (PDF).

CONTACTS: John Cuthbert, West Virginia and Regional History Collection, 304-293-3536 ext. 1318
David Master, WVU Dining Services, 304-293-2096 ext. 5

Come Feb. 7, don’t forget to sing a few bars of “Happy Birthday to U.”

That’s right: West Virginia University is turning 137 years old.

WVU Libraries will mark the occasion with a month-long exhibit featuring memorabilia from the school’s bygone days when homework was done with pencil and paper and a mouse was something that scurried across the floor. WVU’s Dining Services, meanwhile, will treat students to cupcakes and cookies on the actual birthday, which falls on a Saturday.

The library exhibit, “Some West Virginia University Firsts,” opens Monday, Feb. 2, in the J. Horner Davis Gallery 2 of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection and will remain on display throughout the month, curator John Cuthbert said. The collection is on the sixth floor of the renovated Charles C. Wise Jr. Library.

The display will include the deed to Woodburn Circle, upon which WVU was located; the first diploma issued by WVU; photographs of assorted first graduates; an oil painting of the Rev. Alexander Martin, WVU’s first president, and a copy of his inaugural speech. Also included are photos of WVU’s first buildings; a montage of early facilities no longer in existence; and mementos from the University’s early swing at sports.

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CONTACT: WVU Center for Women’s Studies 304-293-2339

West Virginia University librarian and administrator Carroll Wilkinson knows that simple curiosity will always be the key to complex learning – even in today’s high-tech classrooms, where pixels can be more common than ink pens.

And just how that basic thirst for knowledge melds with the digital age will be the subject of Wilkinson’s Wednesday (Jan. 28) talk in WVU’s Fireside Chat Series, presented by the Center for Women’s Studies.

She’ll discuss “Curiosity and Cognitive Maps: Fresh Insights into Information and Women’s Studies,” from 3:30-5 p.m., in Room 104 of WVU’s Downtown Campus Library.

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CONTACT: Monte Maxwell, WVU Libraries 304-293-4040 ext. 4004

Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov used his books to explain the complicated world of science to readers around the globe. The West Virginia University Libraries are now using the Internet to share his works with the masses.

WVU Libraries recently launched an online exhibit celebrating their Isaac Asimov Collection.

The collection, donated last year by WVU alumnus Larry Shaver, contains works by Asimov, who has been called one of the greatest science fiction writers of the 20th century. Many critics, scientists, educators and readers praised Asimov for explaining complex scientific concepts in a clear, digestible way.

“We often think of rare library books as old books,” said Beth Toren, Web services librarian. “It is exciting to see something really different: a late 20th century science fiction collection, the complete works of one author, which include many first editions, autographed copies and great visuals. The sci-fi art lends itself to a graphic display, as do the hardcover editions with their book jackets intact.”

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CONTACT: Frances O’Brien, WVU Libraries 304-293-4040 ext. 4000

Without adding another wing or more shelves, West Virginia University Libraries is about to grow its collection by about 26 million volumes.

This feat is being accomplished through joining the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc., or PALCI, a group of more than 50 academic libraries in the Keystone State with a reciprocal lending and borrowing agreement. WVU and Rutgers University were the first institutions outside of Pennsylvania to be invited to participate.

PALCI enables students, faculty and staff of a member institution to use a Web site to concurrently search the holdings of all participating colleges and universities. After finding a particular title, users can then request the book be sent to a library on their campus.

For students, faculty and staff at WVU, the agreement means quick and easy access to collections at schools such as the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, Drexel University and dozens of others.

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The invitation:

On October 2, 2003, the WVU Libraries rededicated the newly restored Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library. This is a record of Gerald Lang’s speech, remarks, and photos from the following reception.

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By Jeff Wright
Daily Athenaeum Staff Writer

After about $4 million was spent to renovate 85,755 square feet of the Charles C. Wise, Jr., Library, it has much the same look as it did more than 70 years ago.

“All the spaces in this building are deliberately sort of old fashioned and (have a) classic library look,” Dean of Libraries Frances O’Brien said.

Much attention was paid to the two reading rooms in the newly restored library, one named after James V. and Ann Pozega Milano and the other after James Robinson, O’Brien said.

“Effort was made to take them back to how they probably looked in 1931 when the library was built,” she said.

Tables and chairs from the original library are in the new one. Some of the chairs still have their 1930 inventory tags on them, O’Brien said.

Although there was a concentrated effort to make the library look like it did in the beginning of the 20th century, there was almost a back-to-the-future type of effort as well.

The original tables from the 1930 were modified to include data ports to which students can connect lap-top computers.

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CONTACT: Monte Maxwell, WVU Libraries, 304-293-4040 ext. 4004

(MEDIA: WVU will rededicate the Charles C. Wise Jr. Library at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. The event will include a brief program in the Milano Reading Room, tours of the renovated facility and an unveiling of a Wall of Honor recognizing library supporters.)

An exam fast approaches and a West Virginia University student quietly studies in the James V. and Ann Pozega Milano Reading Room. No computer is near, just a stack of books, notes and a Craftsman-style table lamp illuminating the pages.

The light is new, but the table and chair where she’s sitting are original to the Charles C. Wise Jr. Library. The addition is part of an extensive, one-year renovation project focused on preserving the traditional appearance of the 70-year-old library while making it functional for today’s students.

Based on the crowds who began flocking to the space when the doors opened in January 2003, the results have been a success.

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CONTACT: Christa Downey, Eberly College of Arts & Sciences, (304) 293-4611; 685-4023 (mobile)

A love of history and West Virginia University which has been a legacy within one Charleston family will now be memorialized through the Jack & Sheila Grimm History Library Endowment which was recently established at the WVU Foundation.

“The impact of WVU and the Department of History has been profound upon my family, and I believe it is critical that we give back so that others may also share in our experience” says Jack Grimm of his donation. The fund will assist in the acquisition of library materials to support the academic and research programs of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of History.

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Mountaineer Spirit

BY MONTE MAXWELL

Cheryl Torsney has long appreciated the works of Henry James. The professor of English has read everything James has written and turns students onto his writing. So purchasing an antique set of his works involved a little sentiment.

She knew she found a treasure and received confirmation during the Book Lovers’ Road Show held Aug. 1 in the Robinson Reading Room of the Charles C. Wise Jr. Library.

“I was surprised to learn that my set of James’s New York Edition has tripled in value since I bought it about 10 years ago,” Torsney said. “That makes it a pretty good investment.”

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The Dominion Post
BY EVELYN RYAN

Photo: Ian Benson/The Dominion Post

Book expert Jack Walsdorf evaluates some old books, including “The Indian Fairy Book,” in his hand and, from left, a 1882 volume “Daughters of America” and a 1912 brightly illustrated edition of “Just So Stories.” The WVU Libraries hosted his “Book Lovers’ Road Show” at Wise Library on Friday. More than 70 people came to have their books evaluated.

Jack Walsdorf lovingly caressed the 1882 illustrated book, “Daughters of America.”

The daughters appeared in battered condition — one side of the spike broken through, portions of the cover showing attention from silverfish.

He shook his head.

“In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In books, it’s condition, condition, condition,” he said. It would cost, he estimated, about $75 to restore the volume. And there’s no indication anyone would want to buy the volume, written by Phoebe A. Hanaford.

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Charleston Gazette

“Most everybody responds to old books,” said Frances O’Brien, dean of West Virginia University’s libraries. “Any librarian will tell you that one of the most fun things we do is introduce people to old books. They can actually hold in their hands something that was around when Ben Franklin was alive.”

But is that dusty old tome actually worth something? Would-be collectors can find out Friday when old-book guru Jack Walsdorf brings his Book Lovers’ Road Show to the James Robinson Reading Room at WVU’s Charles C. Wise Jr. Library in Morgantown.

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CONTACT: Frances O’Brien, Dean, WVU Libraries, 304-293-4040, ext. 4000

Pick up an old book at a yard sale for 25 cents and think you found a treasure? Have a cherished volume your grandfather passed on to you? Curious what they’re worth?

If it’s a signed first-edition of Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, it could net up to $1,000. Other signed volumes by Papa Hemingway could fetch between $2,000 and $3,000.

Such a find is rare, hence the lofty price tag. But similar jewels can be found on bookshelves and in boxes everywhere. Just ask Jack Walsdorf, an antiquarian book appraiser and collector, when his traveling book show hits campus.

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CONTACT: Myra Lowe, University Librarian, 304-293-4040, ext. 4041

West Virginia University Libraries – including the new Downtown Library Complex – will remain free and open to the public, officials said Wednesday (July 2).

Recent news reports and headlines were somewhat misleading on this issue.

“While it is true that escalating costs for books, journals, subscriptions and access to online databases has forced the University to charge a $50 fee for residents and a $75 fee for non-residents to check out materials, individuals can and should feel free to just walk in and use our services and most materials at no charge,” library officials said. Individuals also can use guest computers to access materials for free.

This new fee for a library card applies to the general public only. Students pay a $30 fee each semester as part of the University fee structure; faculty and staff are not charged a fee.

Photo – Bob Gay/The Dominion Post

Mark Wagner of Indiana-based Jasper Seating Company, of Indiana, loads temporary chairs from the WVU Library onto a truck for shipment after delivering a new load of seats recently. The company had loaned a large number of chairs to the library while they were building the actual order and Wagner was performing the seat swap.

Mountaineer Spirit

Faculty members traveling during the summer can call nearly 200 academic libraries across the nation home.

The Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program provides faculty from participating libraries with borrowing privileges and on-site access to the collections at some of the most important research libraries in North America.

To be eligible, one must be a full- or part-time time faculty member in good standing with the University Libraries and possess a library card and picture I.D. Eligible faculty may request a RFBP card at the access services desks at the Downtown Campus, Evansdale, Health Sciences or Law libraries. The card
is valid for one year and is renewable.

The Reciprocal Faculty Borrowing Program is sponsored by WVU along with other libraries connected online to the Online Computer Library Center in Dublin, Ohio.

For a list of participating libraries, check the Web site at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/borrowing/reciprocal.htm.

Mountaineer Spirit

BY MONTE MAXWELL

Still in high school when Henry Louis Gates visited campus to explain the complexities of politics and diversity in the new century? A night class prevented you from hearing Terence Martin Keane talk about terrorism, war and trauma? Live on the
other side of the globe?

None is a hindrance any longer to watching a Benedum series lecture. WVU Libraries have made nearly 90 Benedum Lecture Series presentations available to the public over the Internet.

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