News

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) awarded a grant of $43,490 to the Ulysses S. Grant Association for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Established by Congress in 1934, NHPRC is the grant-making affiliate of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The NHPRC helps non-Federal institutions preserve and make broadly accessible other records of historical value through grants to archival institutions, manuscript repositories, and publications in multiple formats.

This grant will allow the Association to continue its work on the publication of Vols. I and II of the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant: an annotated scholarly edition in print and a complete digital edition, which will show the various drafts of the Memoirs, from first to final. The digital edition will be published with free online access.

Grant’s Memoirs, published in 1885 by Mark Twain’s own publishing house Charles L. Webster and Co., have been touted as the greatest work of nineteenth-century non-fiction literature. The best-selling Memoirs received critical praise in their day and still remain a model for contemporary presidents when they write their own presidential memoirs. President Clinton kept a copy of Grant’s Memoirs on a bookshelf near his oval office desk.

The scholarly edition will be of tremendous value to historians and those who wish to understand more completely Grant’s military career, mainly in the Mexican-American and Civil War. The annotations will have meticulous research and solid scholarship behind them.

Revealed in the drafting stages are the personal struggles Grant faced while writing his Memoirs, particularly his battle with throat cancer. Having been diagnosed with the illness shortly after beginning the Memoirs, Grant dealt with losing his voice and periods of intense physical pain and weakness. On July 16, 1885, Grant wrote to his doctor regarding the Memoirs that "There is nothing more that I should do to it now, and therefore I am not more ready to go than at this moment.” He passed away only a few days later on July 23, 1885.

The Grant Association’s goals for the Memoirs are to complete drafting and verification of the annotations for Vols. I and II and to send out both volumes for peer review by the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year. Groundwork on the digital version will continue alongside the work on the print edition.

The Grant Association greatly appreciates the continued financial support of the NHPRC so it may continue to grow the scholarship on Ulysses S. Grant and his family.

Grant Association Executive Director John F. Marszalek said, “Over the years of the Grant Association’s editorial work on the 32 volumes of the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, the NHPRC’s financial support has been crucial. Its continuing support this coming year will help ensure the first scholarly edition of the Grant Memoirs, an American classic.”

Submitted by
Angela M. Patton
Library Associate
Mississippi State University Libraries

The System Trustees and Staff of the Mid-Mississippi Regional Library System (MMRLS) held a reception Sunday, August 10, 2014 at the Attala County Library honoring eleven inductees into the newly founded Wall of Fame. Present and past staff and trustees who have made a significant contribution to local and state public librarianship were honored at this event.

The 2014 Charter Class of inductees included the late Ms. Mary E. Love, Retired Director of the Mississippi Library Commission, 1968 - 1976; Mr. Richard Greene, MMRLS Executive Director, 1976 - present; Ms. Linda Milner, Retired MMRLS Assistant Director and Attala County Librarian, 1974 - 2012; Mr. Charles “Tex” Ritter, Retired System Trustee and Attala County Trustee, 1987 – 2012; the late Ms. Laura Bowie, Retired Holmes County Trustee, 1978 - 1998 ; the late Ms. Ruth Ray Dinstel, Retired MMRLS Youth Services Coordinator and West Librarian, 1987 - 1991; the late Ms. Bonnie Freeny, Retired Carthage Librarian and Leake County Trustee, 1966 - 1985; the late Ms. Vickie “Tiny” Mears, Retired Duck Hill Librarian and Montgomery County Trustee, 1978 - 2004; Mr. William L. Fluker, System Trustee and Montgomery County Trustee, 1990 - present; the late Ms. Doris Suber, Retired Winston County Librarian, 1957 - 1983; and Ms. Doris Ward, Retired System Trustee and Winston County Trustee, 1978 - 2010.

Guests were welcomed by Mr. Richard Greene, MMRLS Executive Director and Mrs. Susan Cassagne, Executive Director of the Mississippi Library Commission. Mrs. Terry Jones, System Trustee, led the induction ceremony with biographical information on each inductee. Following the ceremony, inductees as well as family, friends and library staff shared memories of the honorees.

Picture by: Pam Chadick, Acquisitions Coordinator, Mid-Mississippi Regional Library System

MMRLS Wall of Fame honorees in the attached picture from left to right are: Charles “Tex” Ritter, Doris E. Ward, William L. Fluker, Linda S. Milner and Richard O. Greene

Submitted by:

Lisa M. Ramage

Branch Services Coordinator

Mid-Mississippi Regional Library System

Kristin Finch is joining Hinds Community College as the new Reference/Archives Librarian. She comes to Hinds after serving as Branch Manager of the Purvis Public Library in the Lamar County Library System. Since graduating from Southern Miss’s School of Library and Information Science, she has also served as Librarian at Virginia College in Biloxi, and as Site Archivist for a grant project at Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

Preston Salisbury is the new Reference Librarian at the McLendon Library at Hinds Community College. He obtained his MLIS from the University of Southern Mississippi in May 2014, where he was a Graduate Assistant and served on the Graduate Student Senate and as an instructor for LIS 201: Introduction to Information Literacy. He will specialize in bibliographic instruction and serials.

After 12 years of faithful service, Nell Branch has retired as Head Librarian of McMorrough Library on the Goodman campus of Holmes Community College.

Branch, a lifelong resident of Mississippi, graduated Holmes Junior College with an Associate of Arts and went on to complete a B.S. in elementary education from Delta State University. Branch went to work teaching school in Ocean Springs, MS, for four years. Following that she served as a social worker in central Mississippi for four years. Branch then returned to school and completed a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Mississippi State University. Before coming to work at Holmes, Branch did graduate work in Library and Information Science through the University of Southern Mississippi.

Branch began her career at Holmes as Assistant Librarian. Branch was also the cataloger for the library system along with her many other duties. In a few short years, she was promoted to the Head Librarian position but still managed to juggle cataloging duties for the whole system along with the day-to-day running of McMorrough library. Branch was instrumental in bringing displays of student artwork into the library as well as author receptions and Homecoming events. The library staff of Holmes Community College thanks her for her years of service to Holmes and the community of Goodman, MS, and wishes her well in retirement.

Branch keeps busy and enjoys reading and photography. Her photography work has been featured on the cover of Mississippi Libraries. She has a grown son, Jay.

Holmes Community College Libraries welcomes two new Assistant Librarians, Jennifer A. Smith and Angie Balius.

Jennifer A. Smith comes to the Ridgeland Campus, Adcock Library, from Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library where she served as Assistant Director for 12 years. Smith earned her Masters of Library and Information Science from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1997 and has worked in Mississippi public libraries ever since. Smith has served the Mississippi Library Association in many capacities over the years; Treasurer from 2003-05, Vice-President/President Elect in 2010, President in 2011, and Past President in 2012. She has also served as chair of various committees. Smith was awarded the MLA Past-President’s Award in 2001 and a Resolution of Commendation for Outstanding Service to the Mississippi Library Association National Library Week Committee in 2003.

Smith is very active in her church. At Safe Harbor Family Church, she is a Craft Group member and a Shepherd’s Task Force member. She also volunteers often around the Jackson area for groups such as Habitat for Humanity, Stewpot, Grace House and Good Samaritan. Her personal interests include reading, cooking, quilting, hiking, traveling and trying new restaurants around the Jackson metro area. Smith loves her home in Pearl, MS, and is the proud mom of two Catahoula mixed breed dogs, Hannah and Oakley.

Angie Balius is the new Assistant Librarian at McMorrough Library, Goodman Campus. Balius brings to Holmes varied experiences working in academic libraries. She has worked at MS Gulf Coast Community College, the University of Southern Mississippi and she spent two years working on archival digitization projects at the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library and the Bounds Law Library. Her interests in librarianship are focused on emerging technologies and digital media. Balius considers herself an outreach and instruction librarian. Before earning her Masters of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama, Balius focused on media production and worked in broadcast news at WLOX-TV in Biloxi and WGNO-TV in New Orleans. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi. Following her work in broadcasting, she became a producer/director at University of Alabama’s Center for Communication and Education Technology.

Angie has a terrier mix named Trixie Louise who will be 15 in October.

Savannah L. Kelly has recently joined the University of Mississippi Libraries in the position of Education Reference Librarian and Assistant Professor. Savannah received her MLIS in 2006 from USM and is delighted to return to her home state after living on the California coast for six years.

The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries is pleased to welcome two new tenure-track faculty members to the Cook Library Reference Services Department.

Elena Azadbakht joined Southern Miss Libraries in May 2014 as an Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian for Health Sciences. Azadbakht graduated from the University of Michigan with a master of science degree in information with a specialization in library and information services. Before coming to Southern Miss, she worked at the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the University of Michigan.

Michele Frasier-Robinson joined Southern Miss Libraries in July 2014 as an Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian for Education and Psychology. Frasier-Robinson earned a master of library and information science degree from Louisiana State University. Before coming to Southern Miss, she was the library director at the University Center of Southern Oklahoma.

Ten students from the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at The University of Southern Mississippi recently participated in Digi Day, an opportunity for students in SLIS to obtain service hours and digitization experience while assisting the digital lab with existing projects. Elizabeth La Beaud, manager of the University Libraries’ digital lab, and Emilie Aplin, president of the Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA), organized the event.

The students were divided into two groups, five in the morning session and five in the afternoon session, and received one hour of training and three hours of scan time. At the end of the day, 203 pages from the H. A. and Margret Rey papers, which are part of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, were digitized.

The Reys, known for their creation of Curious George, are among the earliest contributors to the de Grummond Collection. The Rey papers are historic and valuable pieces of the University Libraries’ Special Collections, and their use in this project covered interests in both archival and special collections material, as well as children’s literature.

Faculty from SLIS were asked to recommend students to participate in Digi Day, and students volunteered based on their interests in digital and archival collections. Dr. Matthew Griffis, faculty advisor for LISSA, assisted with the event.

“It was gratifying to see students so enthusiastic and eager to learn about the digital aspects of archival science,” Griffis said. “It was also exciting for me, as a faculty observer and participant, to work with documents of such historical and literary importance. I look forward to more Digi Days.”

The idea for Digi Day arose from discussions regarding the students’ need for service hours, and the ongoing digitization projects in the digital collections. According to La Beaud, “To my knowledge, Southern Miss is the first institution to organize an event of this kind. Others have expressed interest in student digitization projects of their own, and we now have a successful framework that we will be able to share with these institutions.” La Beaud is expected to present the Digi Day concept at several upcoming conferences.

The Digital Collections is part the University Libraries’ Special Collections and is located in McCain Library. The purpose of the digital lab is to digitize physical materials housed in McCain Library and Archives in order to increase access to and preserve scholarly content. For more information about Special Collections, visit http://www.lib.usm.edu/spcol.

Submitted by

Dawn Smith

Assistant to the Dean for Publicity and Outreach

University of Southern Mississippi Libraries

Two men met and admired each others work at the Fay B. Kagler Children's Book Festival in April at the University of Southern Mississippi. A Hattiesburg Public School employee and local artist, Terry Evans met David Small, a Caldecott Medal winner.       After opening the envelope of various illustrations, David Small's eyes lit up. He wanted to meet the artist. Anyone looking at Terry Evans sketches knows that he has a special gift. His drawings come alive with his natural talent and imagination. Librarians and teachers stood nearby waiting to get autographed copies of books when the two men met. One librarian asked what was the new artist name? Many felt sure Terry Evans would be illustrating books in the near future because of  David Small's enthusiasm regarding his sketches. David Small gave Terry Evans some words of encouragement, a tool for inking his art and a copy of his new book Stitches, an autobiography.

David Small is a talented and prolific artist. He has illustrated many books including the Caldecott Medal winner So You Want to Be President?, Caldecott Honor book One Cool Friend, Reading Rainbow's Imogene's Antlers, Caldecott Honor book The Gardener, The Library, and When Dinasaurs Came with Everything. He has illustrated more than 4o books and his book  Imogene's Antlers has sold over one million copies.

Two questions remain. How many books written or illustrated by David Small have you read and how many books will be illustrated by Terry Evans in the future? Check out David Small's website at  http://davidsmallbooks.com/  for lesson plans and more information about his books and his wife, Sarah Stewart's books. They are an awesome team and share books with big ideas through their writing and art. Then go by Hattiesburg schools at Grace Christian Elementary and encourage Terry Evans to keep drawing his delightful illustrations.

Photograph by Linda Owens

Terry Evans meets David Small at the F. B. Kagler Children's Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Submitted by

Linda Owens

Media Specialist

Grace Christian Library