The Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved the naming of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum in recognition of a $7 million gift from the Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation to support the renovation of Sullivant Hall, an historic building located at a main gateway to the university’s campus.
The project is estimated to cost $20.6 million and will be completed in 2013, at which time Sullivant Hall will house both the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and The Ohio State University Department of Dance.
“The Graves Foundation has made a critical investment to enhance the learning environment for students, faculty, and visitors from around the world,” said President E. Gordon Gee. “The revitalized Sullivant Hall will be a fitting home to two university treasures – the top-ranked Department of Dance and the world-renowned Cartoon Library and Museum. Naming the latter in Billy Ireland’s honor is a fitting tribute to a remarkable Ohioan.”
The Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation is managed by Billy Ireland’s granddaughter, Sayre Graves, and is based out of Bremo Bluff, Va.
The Columbus Dispatch hired Ireland, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, shortly after his high school graduation in 1898. A self-taught cartoonist, he worked for the Dispatch until his death in 1935 and was known both for his editorial cartoons and for his Sunday feature “The Passing Show.”
An exhibition of Ireland’s work will be held at Ohio State in the fall 2010.
“Billy Ireland was a Columbus celebrity during his lifetime,” according to Lucy Shelton Caswell, the cartoon library and museum’s founding curator. “He enjoyed a national reputation and his work is still delightful to read. This is a fitting honor for a great cartoonist. We look forward to sharing his work with a new generation of readers.”
Established in 1977 with a founding gift of the Milton Caniff Collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum was housed in two converted classrooms in the Ohio State’s Journalism Building. Since then, Caswell has built it into a widely renowned collection that is a destination for both cartoon researchers and fans from around the world.
Thousands of donors have contributed to the collection, with gifts ranging from one item to tens of thousands. With the recent addition of the International Museum of Cartoon Art’s extensive permanent collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum now houses more than 400,000 works of original cartoon art, 35,000 books, 51,000 serial titles, 2,800 linear feet of manuscript materials, and 2.5 million comic strip clippings and newspaper pages.
Now the world’s largest collection of cartoon art and comics, the Cartoon Library and Museum is currently located in the basement of the Wexner Center for the Arts http://cartoons.osu.edu/. Its new, permanent home in Sullivant Hall will expand its space from its current 6,808 square feet to more than 40,000 gross square feet of space storage and exhibit space allowing more of the collection to be displayed and accessible to the public.
Sullivant Hall also will provide greatly enhanced facilities for Ohio State’s top-ranked dance program, including state-of-the-art dance facilities, upgraded administrative offices, and an upgrade of the existing auditorium.
September 25th, 2009
Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee, author of two books that address the role of academic libraries in higher education, will offer the inaugural lecture at the newly reopened Thompson Library on October 9 at 2 p.m.
Gee’s lecture, the first in the Libraries’ 2009-2010 series, “Sharing Knowledge: The Global Information Society,” will highlight the impact of academic libraries on the universities and communities they serve.
The series, titled “Sharing Knowledge: The Global Information Society,” is designed as a way to reconnect the library with the general campus community. Lecture topics are intended not just library staff and patrons but students, staff and faculty from other campus units.
Dr. Gee’s presentation will be in the 11th floor Campus Reading Room, with a brief reception to follow. The public is invited to this free program.
September 25th, 2009
University Libraries is accepting proposals for the 2010 Course Enhancement Grant program. A $2,000 grant will be given to faculty
members to enhance a course by substantially integrating library resources and information literacy instruction. Proposal deadline is
November 2, 2009 for courses that will taught during any academic quarter of 2010.
For more information, see http://library.osu.edu/sites/learn/ceg.html
or contact Nancy O’Hanlon at 688-5707 or ohanlon.1@osu.edu
September 25th, 2009
Now calling the OSU Libraries is easy. Just remember 292-OSUL (6785). That number connects you to the Libraries’ new call center. The librarians and staff can answer your questions, and direct you to the people you need for information.
Add the number to your cell phone!
September 25th, 2009
The Ohio State University Libraries invites students, faculty and staff to the ribbon cutting of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library, 1858 Neil Avenue, Thursday, September 24 at 4 p.m. The ceremony will be held on the plaza outside the library, at the Oval (east) entrance.
A brief reception will follow the program, which features OSU President E. Gordon Gee, Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Alutto, Interim Libraries Director Raimund Goerler.
September 24th, 2009
Winsor McCay: Legendary Cartoonist
September 15-December 31, 2009
Cartoon Library and Museum
Reading Room Gallery
Winsor McCay was an unusually prolific cartoonist. More than 30 comic strip titles and ten animated films are credited to him. The decade between 1903 and 1913 was his most creative period. His biographer, John Canemaker, states, “…when the American comic strip was in its infancy, McCay became the first master of the form with two unsurpassed works of genius: Dream of the Rarebit Fiend … and Little Nemo in Slumberland.” In addition, McCay was an important pioneer animator and a popular vaudeville performer.
The date and place of McCay’s birth are unknown. He grew up in Michigan and was self-taught. He created his first comic strip, A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle, for the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1903. McCay soon left for New York City where he worked for James Gordon Bennett and later for William Randolph Hearst. Although his comic strips were formulaic, the sureness of his hand and the beauty of his drawings continue to delight. McCay’s interest in depicting movement is apparent throughout his comic strips, so it is not surprising that he found the new medium of animation intriguing.
In 1913 William Randolph Hearst ordered McCay to draw nothing but editorial illustrations. This constraint leaves contemporary students of McCay’s work puzzled. What might he have accomplished if he had devoted the last 20 years of his life to animation or comic strips? Winsor McCay: Legendary Cartoonist invites visitors to consider this question as they enjoy superb examples of McCay’s work that span his career.
September 2nd, 2009
An open forum with the third candidate for the Director of Libraries position, Colleen Cook, will be held on Wednesday, September 9 from 3:30-4:45 p.m. in Room 165 of the Thompson Library, 1858 Neil Ave. This session is for university faculty, staff, and students.
Colleen Cook has been Dean of Libraries at Texas A&M University since 2004. She served as interim dean and director the previous year. Other prior service includes a range of administrative appointments at Texas A&M, where she began her career as an academic librarian. At Texas A&M she is also the holder of the Sterling C. Evans Endowed Chair in Librarianship. Dean Cook was awarded a B.A. in German and an M.L.S. by the University of Texas at Austin. She earned an M.A. in European history and a Ph.D. in higher education administration at Texas A&M.
She is a member of the Board of the Association of Research Libraries and has performed considerable service for other professional organizations on both the state and national level.
Her complete c.v. is available at the search website, http://oaa.osu.edu/DirectorUniversityLibraries040109.php. An evaluation form is available at that same web address.
August 26th, 2009
The Thompson Library, 1858 Neil Ave., will close at 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 22. Library customers are encouraged to use the Science and Engineering Library, 175 W. 18th Ave., that evening. The Science and Engineering Library is open 24/7.
The Thompson Library resumes normal hours of operations on Sunday, August 23.
August 21st, 2009
An open forum for university faculty, staff, and students to meet the first of three candidates for the position of director of the OSU Libraries will be held on Monday, August 24 from 3:30-4:45 p.m. in the West Reading Room of the Thompson Library, 1858 Neil Ave.
The candidate, Lorraine Haricombe, has been Dean of Libraries at the University of Kansas since 2006. She went to Kansas from Bowling Green State University, where she was Dean of University Libraries from 2001 to 2006. She holds doctoral and master’s degrees in library and information science from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She also holds an honors graduate degree in library and information science from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, and a bachelor’s degree in library and information science, psychology, and sociology from the University of the Western Cape.
The author or co-author of a number of articles, Dr. Haricombe holds memberships in the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Library Administration and Management Association, and the OhioLINK Library Advisory Council.
Her complete c.v. is available at the search website, http://oaa.osu.edu/DirectorUniversityLibraries040109.php.
August 18th, 2009
The three finalists for the position of Director of University Libraries have been announced. See the Office of Academic Affairs posting at this link: http://oaa.osu.edu/DirectorUniversityLibraries040109.php
August 17th, 2009
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