Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, author of The Printing Press as an Agent of Change, and Richard W. Bulliet, author of Islam: The View from the Edge and professor of history at Columbia University, will speak at the Library on Oct. 27 in a colloquium sponsored by the Center for the Book, Columbia University Press and the Houghton Mifflin Co.
The program, which will held at 5:30 p.m. in the Montpelier Room on the sixth floor of the Madison Building, is titled "From Gutenberg to William Gibson: Revolutions in Knowledge from the Renaissance into??? the 21st Century." The event, which marks the publication of the fifth edition of The Columbia Encyclopedia, is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
"BOOKS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES" IN NORTH DAKOTA. Marianne Scott, National Librarian of Canada, and Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole were two of the featured speakers at a Sept. 9-10 program on "Books Without Boundaries" in Grand Forks, N.D. Grand Forks citizens, Canadian and American librarians, and University of North Dakota faculty and students participated in several events during the two-day program, sponsored by the North Dakota Center for the Book, the North Dakota State Library, the University of North Dakota (UND) Library, the Grand Forks Public Library and the North Dakota Humanities Council.
The program began at the Grand Forks Public Library on Sept. 10 with Clay Jenkinson's historical characterization of Thomas Jefferson in a presentation titled "Books Know No Boundaries." In period costume and using the language of the third president, Dr. Jenkinson answered questions about books, libraries, education and the information revolution. The next day, Clay Jenkinson's Thomas Jefferson addressed students at Grand Forks Central High School.
A press briefing on Sept. 10 featured remarks from Drs. Scott and Cole; Jef van Gool, head of the Reading Promotion Department at the Dutch Centre for Public Libraries and Literature in the Hague; North Dakota State Librarian Bill Strader; Sylvia Nicholson, director of the Manitoba Public (Provincial) Library; Carolynne Presser, director of libraries at the University of Manitoba; and Frank D'Andraia, UND director of libraries. Issues discussed at the briefing were outlined the next day in a feature article in the Grand Forks Herald.
University of North Dakota President Kendall Baker introduced the afternoon program on Sept. 10 and hosted a dinner for 80 guests that evening in the East Asian Room of the Chester Fritz Library on the UND campus. A public reception was held at the UND Alumni House.
"NEW YORK IS BOOK COUNTRY" 1993. Center for the Book Program Officer Maurvene D. Williams staffed the center's exhibition booth on Sept. 19 in New York City at the 15th annual "New York Is Book Country" street fair, a citywide celebration of books and reading. Ms. Williams promoted the center's work and its "Books Change Lives" theme at the booth, which the center shared with Friends of Libraries USA and the American Library Association, two of its national reading promotion partners. The theme of this year's New York fair was "Make Time for Reading."
DONATED BOOKS HANDBOOK PUBLISHED. The Library of Congress, with sponsorship by the Center for the Book, has published Donated Book Programs: A Dialogue of Partners Handbook, a 104- page volume based on the proceedings of the Dialogue of Partners International Workshop on Donated Books held in Baltimore on Sept. 14-16, 1992.
Organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE) and the International Book Bank (IBB), the workshop was convened to encourage greater effectiveness in donated book programs by bringing together representatives of the various participants -- program administrators, funders, book donors, distributors and recipients. Ninety-five delegates from 44 countries attended the meeting. The Center for the Book was one of the workshop's 18 organizational partners.
In their introduction, coeditors Rosamaria Durand and Francis J. Method emphasize two important Handbook purposes: to discourage the sending of unwanted materials overseas (donated book programs should be "demand-led") and "to take donated books out of the relief closet and put them into the international development arena."
Donated Book Programs: A Dialogue of Partners Handbook contains many useful ideas, recommendations and guidelines. Part I summarizes the proceedings of the workshop and Part II is a practical guide for implementing a donated books program. Part III provides information about the 84 organizations that participated in the workshop, including purpose, areas of specialization, addresses and telephone and fax numbers. It is available from the Library of Congress Sales Shop and by mail from the Library of Congress, Box J, Washington, DC 20540. The price is $6.95. Add $3.50 per order (one to four copies) if ordering by mail. Credit card orders may be placed by phone; call (202)-707-6095 to place orders or for more information.
IOWA'S LITERARY HERITAGE. Birthplaces and homes of 94 Iowa authors are described and pictured in Iowa Literary Heritage Trail, a new illustrated publication prepared by the Iowa Center for the Book. Elaine Graham Estes, director of the Public Library of Des Moines and coordinator of the Iowa center, notes in her preface that the publication's purpose is to encourage people to read Iowa authors and to learn more about the state's literary heritage. The 59-page booklet promotes awareness of Iowa authors, provides information about their lives and encourages the preservation of property associated with authors and other literary figures.
Copies of Iowa Literary Heritage are available for $6 per copy from the Iowa Center for the Book, Public Library of Des Moines, 100 Locust St., Des Moines, IA 50309. Checks should made payable to the center.
