The University of Chicago Opens New High-Density Library

Designed to serve the needs of today's "hybrid culture" of print and digital resources, the University of Chicago on May 16, 2011 opened the new Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, which is centrally located on campus and houses a high-density underground storage system with the capacity to hold 3.5 million volume equivalents. Judith Nadler, Director of the University Library, observed that: "We believe that having materials close by enhances their use, and that storing them remotely will do the opposite. By not providing ready access to materials, we de facto reduce their value, and we impact research in ways we wouldn’t want.”

Designed by architect Helmut Jahn, the the library is topped by an elliptical, glass dome which encloses the library's Grand Reading Room and other above-ground facilities for research, digitization, and preservation initiatives. The library will be formally dedicated on October 11, 2011 after the initial transfer of library materials is completed. For additional information on Mansueto Library's construction and operation, visit the library's web site.

125th Anniversary of the Haymarket Affair

Aside from being the Society of American Archivist's MayDay: Saving Our Archives, May 1st is also International Workers' Day, and this year it commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. The eight-hour workday was a central demand of the Chicago labor movement in the 1860s, and a week-long, city-wide strike began on May 1, 1867. The strike collapsed, but the issue remained, with the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1884 calling for workers to take direct action and begin observing the eight-hour day on May 1, 1886.

Numerous meetings, parades, and gatherings took place leading up to a strike on May 1, 1886. On May 3, two strikers were killed by police, which led to a protest meeting being called by anarchists at West Randolph Street Haymarket. The following day more violence ensued, when police moved to disperse another meeting and a bomb exploded. Many of the these events have been documented in the Haymarket Affair Digital Collection created by the Chicago History Museum. In addition to contextual essays, the collection provides access to trial documents, published materials, manuscripts, artifacts, broadsides, photographs and prints, and wood engravings depicting the events of Haymarket as recorded in the press.

The labor movement has long been fraught with controversy, and the eight-hour workday was not achieved until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was passed as part of the New Deal. The image above (Wikimedia Commons) depicts the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. Erected in 1887 in Forest Park, Illinois, the inscription reads: "The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today."

MayDay: Saving Our Archives

Since 2006, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) has designated May 1st as MayDay, or a day of action for both individuals and organizations such as archives, libraries, museums, and historical societies to improve their capacities to deal with emergencies that can threaten or destroy historical collections. The ravages of recent tornadoes in Alabama and other states is just one example of the physical risks facing cultural heritage institutions.

Although the landmark study, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections (2005), systematically documented that most institutions lack an adequate disaster preparedness plan, the SAA has worked to mitigate these deficiencies. The SAA web site provides recommendations for MayDay activities, as well as a compilation of resources, including technical literature and tools, disaster plan templates and examples, tutorials and courses, bibliographies, and other resources.

April Is the Coolest Month

It is fitting that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) announced during Poetry Month that Kenneth Price, professor at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln and co-editor of the Walt Whitman Archive, had conclusively identified nearly 3,000 documents as the work--at least in part--of Walt Whitman. Whitman lived in Washington, D.C. from 1863 to 1873, and was employed variously as a government clerk, copyist, and scribe in offices of the Army Paymaster, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Attorney General. The exact nature of Whitman's intellectual contributions to these documents will require further study and elaboration, but the documents nonetheless represent an important new archival facet in the life of one of America's greatest poets.

Further resources on Whitman are available at the Walt Whitman Archive, and at the Library of Congress, which has the largest Whitman archives in the world (a guide is available online). A portrait of Whitman as an older man, as well as a link to an online version of his Leaves of Grass (1855), can be found at an earlier Common Curator posting.

Celebrate Earth Day Every Day

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970. Founded by former US Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in, Earth Day is now coordinated by Earth Day Network, with programming and events around the world. In 2009, the United Nations also declared April 22 to be International Mother Earth Day, an observance that "recognizes a collective responsibility, as called for in the 1992 Rio Declaration, to promote harmony with nature and the Earth to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations of humanity."

One option for observing Earth Day is to become a member of Seed Savers Exchange, which supports a grassroots movement of gardeners working to insure a healthy food supply for future generations. A current special membership offer includes the following benefits:

:: A one-year (6 issue) subscription to Organic Gardening Magazine. Organic Gardening empowers readers to lead simpler, more efficient lives and to make positive connections with their world through their gardens (offer expires April 30th).

:: Members-only publications delivered right to your mailbox.

:: Access to the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook, a directory of our community of nearly 700 members who save seeds and make them available to other members across the country.

:: A 10% discount on all purchases from the Seed Savers Exchange catalog and from the Lillian Goldman Visitors Center at Heritage Farm.

:: Reciprocal admissions with the American Horticultural Society to public gardens and arboretums across the country.

Of related interest is an earlier Common Curator posting featuring Seed Savers Exchange.

50th Anniversary of First Human Spaceflight

With the words "Let's go (Poyekhali)!" on the morning of April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off from the Baikonur launch site in a Vostok 1 spacecraft. During his brief 108-minute flight, Gagarin made one orbit around Earth, attaining a speed of over 27,000 kilometers per hour and an altitude of 327 kilometers, and thereby becoming the first human in space. (The first animal in space, incidentally, was the dog, Laika, launched by the Soviets on Sputnik 2 on November 3, 1957; unfortunately, Laika died during the mission).

Gagarin was 27 at the time of his momentous spaceflight, having been born on March 9, 1934. He had graduated from the Soviet Air Force Academy in 1957, and was chosen to train among the first group of Soviet cosmonauts. He never made a second space launch, and was killed while piloting a MIG15 jet during a training mission on March 27, 1968.

Note: The video here was produced by Roscosmos TV-Studio. Other Gargarin-related resources include the Russian Federal Space Agency (English version); YuriGagarin50.org (UK); and NASA (US).

National Library Week 2011

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. Bestselling author John Grisham is the Honorary Chair for this year, and is shown in the video above reminiscing about the importance of libraries and their place in his life.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts Prize 2011

The Minnesota Center for Book Arts Prize is the first honor in the United States to recognize book art from across the field and around the world. The MCBA Prize celebrates the diversity of book art and encourages discussion rather than limiting recognition to one aspect of this vital field.

A jury of three distinguished leaders in the field of book arts will review all submissions, and narrow the field to five finalists. These five works will appear on display at Minnesota Center for Book Arts during Book Art Biennial 2011. From these five works, the jury will select the recipient of this year's MCBA Prize.

Please review the MCBA Prize 2011 entry guidelines before submitting work through the online submission form. The deadline for submissions is April 8, 2011.

As the largest and most comprehensive center of its kind in the nation, Minnesota Center for Book Arts celebrates the book as a vibrant contemporary art form that takes many shapes. From the traditional crafts of papermaking, letterpress printing and bookbinding to non-traditional artmaking and self-publishing techniques, MCBA supports the limitless creative evolution of book arts. To learn more, visit the MCBA website.

The Origin of April Fool's Day

Though the definitive origin of April Fool's Day is doubtless unknowable, it has itself been the subject of an April Fool's Day hoax. According to the Museum of Hoaxes, which has an entertaining list of its Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes online, the Associated Press (AP) reported in 1983 that Boston University history professor, Joseph Boskin, had discovered that the holiday was first celebrated under the Roman Emperor Constantine. By Boskin's account, a court jester had asserted to the emperor that fools and jesters could rule the kingdom better than he, and therefore the emperor mandated that one day of the year would be reserved for them to prove their claim. The emperor appointed the jester Kugel to be the first ruler-for-a-day, and thus began the tradition of April Fool's Day. This story was widely republished, although Professor Boskin acknowledged it was bogus a few weeks later.

The short video above was posted to YouTube by Boston University on April 1, 2009, and features Professor Boskin briefly retelling his 1983 fabrication; the video annotation at the YouTube link provides additional background, including this observation from Fred Bayles, the AP reporter taken in by Boskin's initial story: "Be very, very wary of what someone, particularly someone talking about April Fools' Day, tells you. It also illustrates a professor's responsibility not to screw around with someone's career — and the integrity of a university."

Seed Savers Exchange Catalog Available for Spring Planting

Founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy, Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) is now the largest non-governmental seed bank of its kind in the United States. With over 13,000 members, SSE conserves and maintains heirloom seeds for thousands of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Its mission is:

. . . to save North America's diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.

Located on the 890-acre Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa, SSE is open to visitors from April to October, and sponsors special events such as seed starting, grafting, and gardening workshops. It also hosts an annual conference and campout, which this year will take place July 15-17, 2011 and feature as its keynote speaker, Dr. Vandana Shiva, an internationally renowned scientist, author, and advocate of biodiversity and organic farming.

To learn more about Seed Savers Exchange, visit its website, and download its mesmerizing 2011 Catalog for this year's gardening.

World Poetry Day 2011

Every year on March 21st, UNESCO celebrates World Poetry Day (WPD). The decision to commemorate WPD was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999. On the occasion of this year's WPD, Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, stated in her annual message:

Poets convey a timeless message. They are often key witness to history’s great political and social changes. Their writings inspire us to build lasting peace in our minds, to rethink relations between man and nature and to establish humanism founded on the uniqueness and diversity of peoples. This is a difficult task, requiring the participation of all, whether in schools, libraries or cultural institutions. To quote the poet Tagore, the 150th anniversary of whose birth will be celebrated this year, "I have spent my days in stringing and unstringing my instrument. [read more].

Writing a few years before Tagore's birth, the great American poet, Walt Whitman, starts the final section of "Song of Myself," published in Leaves of Grass [1855], as follows:

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me . . . . he

complains of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed . . . . I too am untranslatable,

I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

And concludes with these lines:

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,

But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,

And filter and fibre your blood.

Fail to fetch me at first keep encouraged,

Missing me one place search another,

I stop some where waiting for you

Note: The Library of Congress has the largest Whitman archives in the world; for further information consult its guide to online resources.

Sunshine Week 2011

Today brings to a conclusion Sunshine Week for 2011, an annual event which serves to raise awareness of the need for transparent and open government at all levels. Also observed this week was National Freedom of Information Day, which coincides with James Madison's birthday. In 1822, Madison stated:

A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.

Such sunshine laws as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and open meetings laws provide essential legal rights and remedies for citizen access to government records and information. FOIA, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966 and went into effect one year later, created a "right to know" as the basis for access whereas previously citizens needed to demonstrate a "need to know." As Johnson observed at the time:

This legislation springs from one of our most essential principles: a democracy works best when the people have all the information that the security of the Nation permits. No one should be able to pull curtains of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without injury to the public interest.

Upon entering office on January 21, 2009, President Obama's first executive action was to issue an Open Government Memorandum, which asserted that government should be transparent, participatory, and collaborative. One result of this emphasis on openness was the beginning of the operations of the Office of Government Information Services, which was charged with improving "the Freedom of Information Act process and resolv[ing] disputes between Federal agencies and FOIA requesters." Its latest reports are available online.

Other initiatives include the White House's new Good Government web site and the Department of Justice's FOIA web site, where one can learn more about how to file an FOIA request. Although such activities represent positive steps, the recently released 2011 Knight Open Government Survey finds that only 49 of 90 federal agencies are now complying with FOIA requirements. This is an improvement over the 13 found to be in compliance during the previous year's survey, but still far from acceptable.

For further information, the following resources may be of interest: The National Freedom of Information Coalition; The National Security Archive; The OMB Watch; The American Civil Liberties Union; The Electronic Frontier Foundation; and, for news of international freedom of information advocacy, FreedomInfo.org.

Kiva Surpasses $200 Million in Microloans

Founded in 2005 as a non-profit organization to alleviate poverty through microloans to small entrepreneurs worldwide, Kiva has just surpassed $200,000,000 in total funds lent to over one-half-million entrepreneurs in 58 countries. Having established a global network of microfinance field partners, Kiva currently has an outstanding repayment rate of 98.63% across all loans. The following is a statistical snapshot as of March 18, 2011:

:: Total value of all loans made through Kiva: $200,366,950
:: Number of Kiva Users: 897,447
:: Number of Kiva Users who have funded a loan: 565,662
:: Number of countries represented by Kiva Lenders: 210
:: Number of entrepreneurs that have received a loan through Kiva: 518,878
:: Number of loans that have been funded through Kiva: 269,141
:: Percentage of Kiva loans which have been made to women entrepreneurs: 81.45%
:: Number of Kiva Field Partners (microfinance institutions Kiva partners with): 126
:: Number of countries Kiva Field Partners are located in: 58
:: Current repayment rate (all partners): 98.63%
:: Average loan size (This is the average amount loaned to an individual Kiva Entrepreneur. Some loans - group loans - are divided between a group of borrowers.): $381.65
:: Average total amount loaned per Kiva Lender (includes reloaned funds): $223.14
:: Average number of loans per Kiva Lender: 6.65

To learn more about how Kiva works and its history, visit its website and consider joining the effort to fund entrepreneurs around the world. The Common Curator has made a number of microloans for projects on several continents.

WFMU Marathon 2011 a Great Success!

Congratulations to WFMU--Freeform Station of the Nation--on its record-breaking fundraising Marathon 2011! Although not quite reaching its goal, it nonetheless brought in over $1.15 million during its annual two-week interval of non-stop audio mirth and mayhem, which will go far in supporting operations for the coming year. More on the station can be found at the WFMU website and in a previous Common Curator post.

Note: The logo shown above was designed by Aaron Taylor-Waldman, and is available as one of the premiums for the Marathon.

Centennial of International Women's Day

March 8, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day (IWD). First celebrated on March 19, 1911 by more than one million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland after a proposal by Clara Zetkin [1857-1933] in 1910 at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, IWD is now observed in many nations throughout the world.

The United Nations first began celebrating March 8 as IWD during International Women's Year in 1975, and in 1977 approved a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace for member states. 2011 will also be the first IWD for UN Women, a new UN entity established in 2010 for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Featured in the video above is Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. The UN's theme for IWD 2011 is "Equal Access to Education, Training, and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women."