Reference point

              Stories for the children
Karen Adams’ gift leaves a legacy of literature
One of Karen Adams’ greatest loves in
her life was children’s literature.
Now her legacy is living on through her
planned gift to University Libraries.
Adams’ collection of children’s books – a
staggering count of 2,158 volumes – is
starting to hit the library shelves.
“It’s quite the addition,” says Pamela
Grudzien, head of technical services for
the library. “Right now we’re working
on processing the items and putting
them into the Betty McDonald Children’s
Literature Collection so her books can be
enjoyed by all.”
Community members forever
will remember Adams, who died
unexpectedly in 2009, as an inspirational
and visionary leader of CMU and its
education and human services programs.
The College of Education and Human
Services dean led the efforts behind
the new Education and Human Services Building and was a vocal advocate for the value of
international experiences as part of an academic education as well as one’s life education.
She also was passionate about literacy and had co-hosted “Children’s Books: The Dean’s
List” with former College of Communication and Fine Arts Dean Sue Ann Martin on CMU
Public Radio.
Adams’ children’s book collection was donated through her partner, Linda Ferreira. Grudzien
and other staff members have started cataloging and integrating the collection into the
Libraries’ resources. Some of the books – consisting of first editions, award winners and
other volumes of significance – also are being appraised and integrated into Clarke Historical
Library’s collection.
Tom Moore, dean of libraries, believes the donation represents Adams’ love for childhood
education and is a strong representation of Adams’ life.
“We’re very grateful to have the Karen
Adams collection to strengthen even
more our already fine holdings of
children’s books,” Moore says. “I feel
sure Karen would be pleased that her
love for children’s literature is being
shared every day with others, especially
students.”
This gift will benefit elementary
education majors, as well as anyone
who is looking for their favorite
childhood story. •
REFERENCE POINT
U N I V E R S I T Y L I B R A R I E S ’ N E W V o l u m e 7, I s s u e 1 S L E T T E R • A P R I L 2 0 1 0
Pamela Grudzien, CMU Libraries head of technical services,
shows student employee Molly Ball how to process the
children’s books from Karen Adams’ gift before putting them
onto the shelves.
Give a gift to educate,
to remember
Gifts to the University Libraries support
quality education at Central Michigan
University and can serve as a valuable
asset to current and future students.
Many alumni and other private donors
have given gifts of books, artwork and
other materials to the libraries.
To learn more about giving a gift to the
University Libraries:
• Visit library.cmich.edu/gift
• Call the Office of the Library Dean
at 989-774-3500
Dean’s Column
Reference Point is published
biannually by University Libraries.
Address questions and suggestions to:
Office of the Dean
407D Park Library
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Editorial Board
Thomas J. Moore
Dean of Libraries
Richard Cochran
Associate Dean of Libraries
Gerry Edgar
Manager, Library Business Services
Reference Point Coordinator
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Editor
Dan Digmann
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Photographers
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CMU Printing Services
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REFERENCE POINT
Libraries
incorporating all
forms of books
Frequently I’m asked
about electronic
books and, of course,
e-book readers such
as Amazon’s Kindle.
The questions come
from contemporaries
and older friends and
colleagues, never
from students and
young people. Sometimes such questions
arrive with implied disapproval and eager
glances searching for agreement. After all,
I’m a librarian.
But I don’t agree. On the contrary, I think
e-books are wondrous, in all their forms.
They’re readily accessible to the minimally
techno-hip and, with recent advances in
portable readers and wireless networks,
available and usable almost everywhere.
In libraries e-books are already established
as reliable and useful resources. While
they don’t sit on our Park Library shelves,
they are no less conveniently available
through the library’s computers and, even
more valuably, through the office and home
computers of CMU’s faculty and students
in Mount Pleasant and elsewhere.
The CMU Libraries own thousands of
digital books, with subscription access
to multitudes more. Some we select and
purchase individually; others we buy, or
subscribe to, in large collections. Our
Gale Reference Collection of 246 e-books
– spanning a range of subjects – is used
more than 5,000 times per month. The
electronic edition of the “Oxford English
Dictionary” is consulted frequently with
little effort and great satisfaction by
students and faculty.
Paper or electronic?
Tom Moore
2
‘Hurrah for all of them!’
While e-books clearly occupy an important
place in library research, obviously they’re
also rapidly finding a place in the homes and
personal lives of literate and busy people
who read for pleasure as well as for work.
For me, the success of the Kindle and similar
products is quite a happy development, not
a situation warranting glum anxiety about the
fate of the printed book.
The printed book is a most marvelous
and durable invention. As a device for
transmitting knowledge and for creating
worthwhile experiences in readers, it has
served remarkably well and will continue
to do so. Its simplicity and convenience,
aesthetic qualities, and multi-sensory appeal
can never be truly replicated by technology
no matter what impressive features e-books
and e-readers present.
At Park Library we’re surrounded by the
warm physicality of books printed on paper
and by the cool utility of electronic books
and resources accessible instantly. Hurrah
for all of them!
In this issue of Reference Point you’ll catch
views of people and developments in the
CMU Libraries. The story about the recent
donation of the Karen Adams collection of
children’s books is especially meaningful to
me since Karen was a CMU dean colleague
and friend who died unexpectedly last year.
Her love of books will benefit many.
Let me know if you have questions or want
to learn more about topics found in this
issue.
Tom Moore
Dean of Libraries
3
Children’s literature class also benefits from speaker
There was more to award-winning children’s book author Shutta
Crum’s recent visit to campus than her public presentation
sponsored by Park Library.
Hours before discussing the art of writing books for children with
more than 100 people in the Park Library Auditorium Feb. 2, Crum
was in an Anspach Hall classroom sharing her insights into children’s
book publishing with students enrolled in English professor Susan
Stan’s “Children’s Literature” course.
“I like to hear from people who are studying children’s literature,”
said Crum, who also is a retired children’s librarian.
Crum has had 10 children’s books published. Her most recent book,
“Thunder-Boomer,” was among School Library Journal’s Best Books
of 2009.
As Crum took the students through her experiences in getting
her books published, she stressed that perseverance is key in
submitting and finding the right fit for their stories.
“You just have to get used to rejections,” said Crum, explaining she’s
received more than 300 rejections for her manuscripts.
Megan Toarmina was one of the students in the “Children’s
Literature” course who benefitted from Crum’s presentation.
“One of the things I learned was don’t give up on your dreams just
because one or two people don’t like your idea,” said Toarmina, a
junior from East China, Mich., who is majoring in special education.
To learn more about Crum and her work, visit www.shutta.com •
Crum provides extra insight
Annual luncheon is May 22
Dava Sobel, an award-winning author who
explores history of science topics, is the
2010 CMU Friends of the Libraries Luncheon
speaker.
The invitation-only event
is scheduled for 11 a.m.,
Saturday, May 22, in the Park
Library Auditorium.
Sobel’s writing has appeared
in numerous magazines,
including Harvard Magazine,
Omni, Science Digest,
Discover, Audubon, Life
and The New Yorker. She
also worked as a staff
writer for the science news
department at The New York
Times.
Her most famous book is “Longitude,” which
won the 1997 British Book of the Year Award
and was made into a cable network miniseries
starring Jeremy Irons. Her book “Galileo’s
Daughter,” published in 1999, also was a
success and was made into a NOVA television
presentation.
To learn more about this annual event or
how you can become a member of the
CMU Friends of the Libraries, contact
the Office of the Library Dean at:
• 989-774-3500
• cole1se@cmich.edu
Friends to host
award-winning author Sobel
Award-winning children’s book author Shutta Crum,
who lives outside of Ann Arbor, shares her writing
insights with students in Susan Stan’s children’s
literature class. 4
At their service
Libraries play distinctive roles
in all students’ learning
Few, if any, students graduate from Central Michigan University
without using the resources and services that the University
Libraries provide.
Not that it’s an actual degree requirement that all students tap
into the University Library, the Clarke Historical Library or
Off-Campus Library Services during their education at CMU.
Rather, however, most find they can significantly expand their
learning opportunities through the books, journals, librarians,
meeting rooms, learning environment and countless other onsite
and online resources available through the Libraries.
Here is a look at how three students – an on-campus
undergraduate, an on-campus graduate student and an
off-campus graduate student in Atlanta, Ga. – have used and
benefited from the University Libraries. •
Park Library left the biggest impression on
Bianca Fernandez when she visited campus
for CMU and You Day during her final year at
Berkley High School in metro Detroit.
“The library is such a fascinating place, and
honestly I couldn’t wait to come here and use
it as a student,” says Fernandez, who also is
a multicultural advisor in Wheeler Hall and
is starting her research project as a McNair
Scholar.
The McNair Scholars Program aims to prepare
scholars successfully for entrance into
graduate school. Fernandez says she hopes to
become a university professor in the area of
developmental psychology.
Fernandez spends several nights each week
in Park Library gathering research for a
psychology class
project as well
as for the McNair
project she is
working on with
On-campus
undergraduate
Bianca Fernandez
Majors: Psychology and
Child Development
Year: Junior
psychology faculty member Mark Deskovitz.
With computers to search online databases
and reference librarians to help Fernandez
locate the materials she needs, Park Library
is her preferred location to study.
But Fernandez says there’s more than the
help with research that keeps her coming
back to the library.
“There’s so much happening on campus,
and the library provides a great atmosphere
to get away from other distractions and
focus on my work,” says Fernandez, who
often encourages the freshmen she advises
to join her at the library. “I’m amazed at how
much work I can get done here.” •
5
Emma Kelly had more than three decades of teaching
mathematics behind her when she retired from a metro
Atlanta middle school in 2007.
But she had an unfinished dream to complete at CMU’s
Off-Campus Programs center in Atlanta. Kelly wanted to
finish the master’s program that she started several years
earlier but had put on hold to focus on some
health concerns.
“I always wanted a master’s degree and, even though I had
retired from teaching, I was motivated by the words of my
Grandma Gertrude who told me, ‘Half of anything ain’t worth nothing,’” Kelly says. “CMU
wasn’t going to send me half a degree, and I was determined to finish it.”
Enrolling in the program was the right fit for Kelly, whose career included teaching
middle school and high school math, as well as working as a freelance computer
systems developer. Kelly says that in addition to working with great faculty members,
the assistance she received from Off-Campus Library Services was key in helping her
complete her graduate research.
“My research topic was to find a way to bridge the gap between middle school and
high school math,” Kelly says. “CMU’s library services were great in helping me find the
information and resources I needed for my topic and even made suggestions for what
books and articles would be helpful.”
In her retirement Kelly serves as a mathematics tutor and volunteer teacher and also
enjoys being a grandmother to her two grandsons. •
Just as Nick Paliewicz reached the second
floor of Park Library, reference librarian
Aparna Zambare enthusiastically called him
over to the Reference Desk. Following up on
previous conversations, she had a few ideas
and leads for him to pursue.
Paliewicz, a graduate assistant from
McBain, Mich., is helping Michael Papa, a
communication and dramatic arts professor,
conduct research for his book, “Bridges
to Peace.” Papa’s book focuses on the
Carter Center’s work in revising social and
diplomatic relations between Sudan and
Uganda in 1999 – the Nairobi Agreement.
Paliewicz is researching the current relations
between the leaders of each country –
Museveni in Uganda and Al-Bashir from
Sudan – and the social, economic and
political relationships developed by the
Carter Center has with each leader and his
respective country.
“I’m always in touch with Aparna,” Paliewicz
says. “It’s almost like she knows how to find
everything, and she’s always glad to help.”
On-campus
graduate student
Nick Paliewicz
Program: Communication and
Dramatic Arts
Year: Second year
Off-campus
graduate student
Emma Kelly
Program: Mathematics
Instruction
Year: 2009 graduate
Paliewicz says that through his previous work
as a CMU undergraduate majoring in history
and political science and now his research
as a graduate student, he has discovered the
wealth of resources Park Library provides.
Spending many days at the library each
week conducting research, Paliewicz says
the reference librarians and the library’s
interlibrary loan and
Michigan eLibrary
Catalog connections
have supported his
endeavors the most.
“When you’re writing
an academic and
scholarly paper, you
can’t just Google
everything,” he says.
“That’s why I’m
always at the library,
and I continue to learn
new things working
with librarians like
Aparna.” •
6
Every gift adds up
Development Column
Your support impacts learning at CMU
There are some donors who may not think
their $100, $300 or $500 annual gifts make a
difference, but they do!
Annual gifts from alumni and supporters are
vital parts of the CMU Libraries’ development.
Your continued annual support is essential
and is needed now more than ever.
Have you ever considered taking the next
step of support beyond annual gifts? Your
gift giving can have benefits long after your
life. A charitable gift annuity or planned gift
in your will or estate would guarantee the
CMU Libraries will be strengthened by your
generosity and support for years into the
future. An amount as small as $5,000 given to
the University Libraries through a charitable
gift annuity or planned gift offers valuable
benefits for future CMU students when they
use library collections and services.
For example, such gifts can provide for growth
of our book and journal collections or for
purchasing technologies perhaps unknown to
us today to ensure the Libraries can serve new
generations of library users.
Your donations can benefit the library area you
prefer. Whether you select the general library
endowment, the Clarke Historical Library,
journals for a specific college or department,
or choose to support the speakers and events
the Libraries offer, your thoughtful gift is
appreciated.
Thanks to all who already contribute to the
CMU Libraries. We appreciate you!
We’d be pleased to chat with you about your
interest in CMU and the University Libraries, as
well as address any questions you have. Feel
free to contact the Office of the Library Dean at:
• 989-774-3500
• cole1se@cmich.edu
Building bridges
Library connects CMU and Mount Pleasant communities
Park Library has established a niche in town that is bringing together
members of the university and Mount Pleasant communities.
This is exactly where it needs to be, according to Dean of Libraries Tom
Moore. In a recent interview he discussed the thoughts that went into
the library renovation and expansion project 10 years ago.
“What we wanted to do was create a rich public place for anybody and
everybody at the university and in the broader Mount Pleasant area,”
Moore said.
And since the library project was completed in 2002, it truly has become
the place where CMU students and faculty go to study and do research
as well as the place that connects CMU with the broader community.
Most recently the library served as one venue for the annual Central
Michigan International Film Festival, for which Park Library Auditorium
was open for community members to view an assortment
of films from many countries.
Other events include partnering with PBS to air a show in the series “American Experience”
and hosting CMU events such as Martin Luther King Week programs.
There also are exhibits throughout the library that are open to the public. Clarke Historical
Library presents exhibits featuring items from CMU collections as well as other sources. The
Baber Room displays works of art to enjoy and provides community members a place to relax
and study. But the library offers more than events and exhibits to those in the community.
“We have many community outreach efforts, such as the fact we are open to the public, and
the public can check out books from us and get library information help from our reference
desk,” says Richard Cochran, associate dean of libraries. “We oftentimes have many grade
school classes and groups come in for tours and sessions in the Clarke Historical Library.”
Park Library is truly a welcoming and valuable educational resource for the university and the
wider community. •
7
lib.cmich.edu/exhibits
‘Going Places in Michigan
with Leonard Gas’
Exhibit documenting how a
regional gasoline company played
a key role in promoting state
tourism in the 1950s and 1960s
• Through July 31
• Clarke Historical Library,
Park Library
Transcending Boundaries:
Mixed Media Fiber Art
by Boisali Biswas
Contemporary designs displaying
the beauty of cultural diversity
• April 6 through May 13
• Baber Room, Park Library
Conference to address library
service needs of a growing
population
There are thousands if not millions of
reasons the CMU Libraries are paying
attention to the national trends and local
numbers for off-campus learning enrollment
at CMU.
According to the 2009 Sloan Survey of Online
Learning, fall 2008 online enrollments were
up 17 percent nationwide from a year before,
with about 4.6 million students taking at least
one class online.
CMU Off-Campus Programs reports that
nearly 7,000 students are enrolled in CMU
classes online and at more than 60 locations
throughout the United States, Canada
and Mexico.
To better explore issues related to delivering
library resources and services to online
and off-campus students and faculty, the
Libraries and Off-Campus Programs again
this year are co-sponsoring the biennial Off-
Campus Library Services Conference.
This international event is scheduled for
April 28 through 30 at the Cleveland Marriott
Downtown at Key Center in Cleveland.
The conference, which began in 1982,
brings together librarians, administrators
and educators to discuss, demonstrate and
champion the techniques and principles for
providing library services to students and
faculty participating in instruction either away
from a main campus or online.
“This conference is focused specifically on
online and distance library services,” says
Timothy Peters, director of Off-Campus
Library Services. “It’s an opportunity for us
all to learn together, and you can always pick
up some good tips on ways to help students
and faculty.”
Peters says integrating library services into
online classes and making online library
services friendly for mobile devices are
among the top issues that will be addressed
at this year’s conference.
American Library Association President
Camila Alire is the keynote speaker for
this year’s conference. Alire is dean
emerita at the University of New Mexico
in Albuquerque, N.M., and Colorado State
University in Fort Collins, Colo. •
The Library Collage Series
A series of two-dimensional collages
by Karen Gallup
• May 17 through July 15
• Baber Room, Park Library
Friends of the
Libraries Annual
Luncheon
Invitation-only event
featuring award-winning
author Dava Sobel
• 11 a.m. May 22
• Auditorium, Park Library
Selections from
the Park Library’s
Permanent Art
Collection
• July 17 through Aug. 19
• Baber Room, Park Library
CMU Libraries’ exhibits and events calendar
Off campus and online
8
Tracing family history
Class project influences
Cochran’s career choice
When Richard Cochran was 14 years old,
he knew little about his family history and
yearned to know more.
A high school class project presented
Cochran the opportunity to delve deeper into
his family’s past, and this eventually led him
to make two life-changing discoveries:
• Cochran was destined to pursue a library-related
career; and
• His great-great aunt Katerina Tsilka was
at the center of an event that one book
has described as “America’s first modern
hostage crisis.”
Following through on these library and
genealogical passions, Cochran today is
associate dean of the CMU Libraries, and he
also maintains a family genealogy Web site
that to date has had more than 2 million hits.
“There is absolutely no question that my
looking into my family’s history led me to
working in a library,” Cochran says. “I did a lot
of my family research in libraries. I hung out
in libraries, and I met with and talked to many
librarians.”
Throughout his career Cochran has worked
in libraries at higher education institutions
including Otterbein College and Muskingum
College in Ohio and the University of Notre
Dame. Prior to coming to CMU in July 2009,
he served as dean of libraries at Ferris State
University.
Cochran says he felt connected to CMU
years before he started working here. In
addition to his wife, Jennifer, serving as
director of CMU Off-Campus Programs’ M.A.
in Education Program, he served with Tom
Moore, dean of CMU Libraries, on several
statewide library committees while working
at Ferris State.
There is something very rewarding that
comes with working in a library and having
a role in everything it does to benefit the
community it serves, Cochran says. But he
explains that there are invaluable benefits
that come with working at a university library.
“It’s really something to see the
transformation of the students from when
they first come to college to when they
graduate. To a certain extent the library
should take some of the credit for helping
them get there,” Cochran says.
Cochran says he is excited to be here at
CMU and that the Libraries are poised to
continue expanding resources and improving
levels of service to library users – both on
campus and off campus – in key areas
including online and digital resource
availability. •
9
International family crisis
Genealogical search reveals
great-great hostage story
Through his genealogical search, Richard Cochran
stumbled upon a family misfortune that is known as
the “Lindbergh Baby” of its time. Here’s what the
associate dean of CMU Libraries discovered about
his family.
In 1901 his great-great aunt – a Bulgarian woman
named Katerina Tsilka – and an American missionary
named Ellen Stone were kidnapped and held for
ransom by Macedonian revolutionaries seeking to
overthrow Turkish rule.
Tsilka was five months pregnant, which triggered
international outrage and became a target for
sensational journalism. The incident was featured in
newspapers worldwide and made the front page of
over twenty New York Times issues.
The ransom demanded was $66,000 – equivalent to
more than $1 million today – and it became the cause
for a national fundraising drive. Thousands of people,
even school children collecting their lunch pennies,
donated money toward the ransom.
The women eventually were liberated, but the Turkish
government targeted the Tsilka family and they soon
fled to America. For the next 2½ years Tsilka, her
husband and baby daughter crisscrossed the United
States sharing her story on an extended speaking tour.
A 1978 letter seeking information from Tsilka’s alma
mater, the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital School for
Nurses, connected Cochran to the school’s retired
associate dean, whose father, a Massachusetts
Congregationalist minister, hosted a Tsilka lecture in
1905. The retiree vividly recalled entertaining Tsilka’s
little daughter, while Cochran’s remarkable relative
spoke to a packed assembly.
Visit cmich.edu/tsilka to learn more about the story of
Katerina Tsilka. •
Genealogy tool box
Help to trace your family history
In addition to conducting your genealogical research
at local libraries, such as the Clarke Historical
Library, Richard Cochran says there are many online
resources to help you trace your family’s history. He
recommended starting with some of the following sites.
Free sites
www.cyndislist.com
A classified list of more than 270,000 Web sites relating
to genealogy
www.familysearch.org
Contains a vast amount of extracted information
www.rootsweb.com
Largest free genealogy site
usagenweb.com
Information gathered by a large network of volunteers
Subscription-based sites
www.ancestry.com
Largest commercial genealogy site on the Internet
www.genealogy.com
Home to thousands of World Family Tree files
Following his longtime genealogical
interests, Richard Cochran discovered his
interest in a library career as well as the
information, documentation and photos
of his family’s storied history. Cochran is
associate dean of the CMU Libraries.
10
Behind the scenes
Crews mount signs on a
Clarke Historical Library
wall. Workers adjust
accompanying artwork.
It’s crunch time for
setting up the “Going
Places in Michigan with
Leonard Gas” exhibit.
But the atmosphere in
the room doesn’t feel as
though the deadline is
quickly approaching. In
fact, as Moreno sets up
placards throughout the
display cases, she calls
the working environment
anything but intense or
stressful.
“At this point, when
everything is coming into
place, there isn’t much
left to do except put it all
together and continue to have fun with it,”
says Moreno, the Libraries’ coordinator of
exhibits and projects.
In addition to the Clarke, Moreno handles all
the displays in the Third Floor Exhibit area,
as well as installations in the Baber Room
and the Extended Hours Study Room. She’s
also responsible for planning many events
in the library.
“I coordinate the exhibits in the library, and
also help with planning the special projects
that go on with those exhibits,” says
Moreno. “Here in the Clarke, I help research
the items that are going to be shown in
the exhibit.”
Moreno, along with Clarke Director Frank
Boles and artist Rebecca Zeiss, is a key
member of the team behind the Clarke
exhibits. With Boles’ inception of ideas and
research and Zeiss’ work related to visual
interpretation, Moreno focuses on written
portions and items in the exhibit and helps
to make the installations come to life.
“Megan’s work enriches individuals and the
community to provide a greater education,”
Boles says. “She helps to present a rich
environment in a university setting and
helps to promote our image as a center of
cultural heritage.”
Moreno began working for the University
Libraries in 2006 shortly before she
graduated from CMU with an art major and
a museum studies minor.
“It was probably pure luck that this job at
the library opened up right as I graduated
from college, and I have enjoyed it ever
since,” Moreno says. “I couldn’t have asked
for a better fit right here in Mount Pleasant.
I get to put my education to use every day
at my job.” •
Megan Moreno, CMU Libraries exhibits and projects coordinator, positions posters
in a display case as she puts the finishing touches on the ‘Going Places in Michigan
with Leonard Gas’ exhibit.
In library areas
from the Clarke
Historical Library to
display space on Park
Library’s third floor,
library patrons have
experienced and been
impressed by some
captivating exhibits in
recent years.
And Megan Moreno
has had her hand in
all of them.
Artist Rebecca Zeiss, who is responsible of the
visual interpretation of the CMU Libraries exhibits,
hangs an exhibit sign in the Clarke Historical Library.
11
Remembering an oil industry pioneer
A local success paved way
for budding tourism industry
“Pure Michigan” was the latest of many
campaigns that have focused on Michigan’s
best attractions to boost state tourism and
its economy. But who pioneered such a
concept?
The Clarke Historical Library’s current exhibit
introduces and celebrates the local company
that first came up with the idea more than 50
years ago.
The exhibit, “Going Places in Michigan with
Leonard Gas,” is open through August 2010.
Though Leonard Refineries is not a
household name today, it was one of the first
gasoline companies in Michigan to focus its
advertising campaign by reaching out to a
related industry: tourism.
In 1956, before other gasoline companies
explored the idea of selling gas by selling
travel, Mount Pleasant resident and company
founder, J. Walter Leonard, decided to
distinguish his company by launching the
“Going Places in Michigan” campaign.
“It was really one of the pioneering travel
campaigns in the nation. No gasoline
company had focused on travel this
explicitly,” says Frank Boles, director of the
Clarke Historical Library.
Until the company was sold in 1970,
Michigan tourism and Leonard gasoline
were synonymous. In addition to hunting
and fishing, Leonard’s advertising campaign
Megan Moreno works with Frank
Boles, Clarke Historical Library
director, to find information and
resources for the ‘Going Places in
Michigan with Leonard Gas’ exhibit.
featured scenic
drives, historical
sites and a wide
range of special
events from
rodeos to golf
tournaments.
The keystone to
the campaign
was a television
show, “Michigan
Outdoors.” The
show became
a statewide
hit at 7 p.m.
Thursdays when nearly one and one-half
million Michiganders regularly tuned in to
watch the host, Mort Neff, cover outdoor
activities and interview guests.
“Everyone watched Mort Neff,” Boles says.
“If you were a kid in the 1950s into the early
1970s, you likely still remember the show and
Mort Neff.”
J. Walter Leonard ushered in a new era of
advertising and paved the way for related
campaigns – such as “Pure Michigan” – to be
successful. Though the company eventually
merged and the new owners ended the
advertising campaign, the Clarke exhibit
captures a success story of a local pioneer
who transformed an industry nationwide. •
‘Going Places in Michigan
with Leonard Gas’
• Through August 2010
• 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
at Clarke Historical Library
• clarke.cmich.edu
University Libraries
Park Library 407
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Non-profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Permit No. 93
Celebrating CMU faculty and staff publication efforts
One student found a way to gratify Amy Ransom last semester during a course the assistant
professor of French was teaching about Quebec literature and culture.
In her class PowerPoint presentation the student referenced “Science Fiction from Quebec:
A Postcolonial Study,” a book Ransom wrote that was published in 2009.
“It was a great moment because, of the books she could have chosen, she chose mine,”
Ransom says. “This was a great experience because the students have the opportunity to
see your work as a researcher beyond the classroom.”
“Science Fiction from Quebec” is Ransom’s second book, but it will be her first featured at
Park Library’s Annual Book Recognition event. The sixth annual event is scheduled for 3:30
to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, in the Park Library Baber Room.
The event recognizes faculty, staff and emeriti who authored, co-authored, edited, illustrated
or translated a book published in 2009. There will be 29 people honored at this year’s event.
“I am thrilled that the colleagues I go to meetings with throughout the year will have the
chance to see my published work,” Ransom says.
While Ransom is one of the 13 authors who will be recognized at the event for the first time,
others such as philosophy professor John Wright are among those featured in past events.
Wright’s book “Hume’s ‘A Treatise of Human Nature’: An Introduction” will be his third piece
recognized. Two of his other books were honored at the inaugural event in 2005, which
included publications that were printed between 2000 and 2004.
“I have always found that the CMU book recognition event has given me the opportunity to
learn about the excellent books that are produced by faculty in many different departments
throughout the university,”
Wright says.
“Hume’s ‘A Treatise
of Human Nature’: An
Introduction” is a book that
Wright wrote during the
time he also was serving as
a visiting professor in the
Department of Philosophy at
the University of Edinburgh
in Scotland. •
By the books
12
John Wright’s recent book is among those that will be honored at CMU
Libraries’ annual book recognition event April 21.