Library News
Oral history cassettes are digitized
Posted on July 28th, 2020
Booth Library has recently completed a two-year project to digitize oral history interviews recorded on cassette tapes in the 1970s and 1980s. These oral history interviews can now be accessed in the Illinois Digital Archives at http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll47/search/.
The East Central Illinois Local History Oral Interviews project is a collection of 98 recorded interviews (including transcripts) with residents of East Central Illinois, particularly Coles County, as well as with important political figures and Eastern Illinois University faculty and staff.
The interviews were conducted mostly in the 1970s and 1980s by graduate students of History at EIU. Until now, the cassette tapes have been safely stored away but difficult to access in University Archives at Booth Library.
The participants in the interviews, many of them longtime residents of Coles County at the time of the interviews, represent firsthand accounts of such historical events as the Charleston-Mattoon tornado of 1917, rationing in Coles County during World War II, and insights into farming and domestic life as far back as the very early years of the 20th century. The interviews provide unique perspectives and observations from individuals who represent direct linkages to the past through their experiences.
Funding for the digitization of these cassette tapes was provided by a grant from the Illinois State Library, and the digitization project was managed at Booth Library by Bill Schultz, cataloging librarian, along with student Emily Sivia.
Post Amerikan available digitally
Posted on July 9th, 2020
Booth Library has completed the digitization of the Post Amerikan, the longest continuously published underground newspaper in America.
The Post Amerikan began publication in 1972 in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. An underground, alternative newspaper, it was run collectively by volunteers and funded by subscriptions, ads sales, and community fundraisers. The paper was published from 1972 to 2004, making its 32 years the longest continuous publication run for any underground newspaper in America.
EIU Professor Dr. Gary Fritz is leading research into the publication and is planning a documentary. Library staff members Todd Bruns, Stacey Knight-Davis and Tina Jenkins oversaw the digitization of the print editions of the Post Amerikan, on loan from the Bloomington Public Library.
To view the Post Amerikan in The Keep, EIU’s institutional repository, visit https://thekeep.eiu.edu/post_amerikan/.
Booth wins national PR awards
Posted on July 1st, 2020
Booth Library has been named the winner of two awards in the 2020 PR Xchange Awards Competition sponsored by the American Library Association.
The PR Xchange competition allows libraries of all sizes from throughout the United States to enter their best public relations materials in both print and digital categories. Entries are evaluated on content, originality, and design by a team of experts in public relations, graphic design, communications, and marketing.
Two digital entries submitted by Booth Library were named winners.
- The booklet titled Center for Student Innovation: Creating a Cross-Disciplinary Hub for Active Student Learning in Booth Library won in the Advocacy/Fundraising/Annual Reports/Strategic Plans category. This project was designed to explain the vision and plans for the creation of a Center for Student Innovation at the library. The booklet was completed by an architectural consultant and edited by Zach Newell, dean of Library Services, and Newton Key, director of the Faculty Development and Innovation Center. It can be accessed online via The Keep, EIU’s institutional repository, here.
- The documentary “To the Moon and Back” won in the Special Events and Exhibits category. The film was created in conjunction with WEIU-TV and the EIU Department of History to complement and promote the library’s spring 2019 exhibit, “On the Shoulders of Giants: The Moon and Beyond,” which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing. Andy Cougill, Booth librarian and exhibits coordinator, led development of both the exhibit and the documentary. “To the Moon and Back” serves as an oral history project, featuring interviews from several Coles County residents about their memories of the 1969 moon landing. The film is available to view online here.
The PR Xchange Awards are typically presented during the American Library Association’s annual conference; however, the in-person conference was canceled this year due to COVID-19. A virtual awards ceremony will take place at a later date. The awards program is managed by the PR Xchange Committee, part of the ALA’s Library Leadership and Management Association’s Marketing and Communications Community of Practice.
