ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2002 / 423 Writers in the Library Literary programming on a shoestring by Steven R. Harris A cursory examination of the library lit­ erature w ould lead one to believe that literary programming is the exclusive p ince of public libraries. However, academic libraries are uniquely situated to provide in­ teresting and dynamic literary functions to their campuses and to a wider public audi­ ence. Most academic libraries have strong lit­ erary collections and an interested audience w ho is eager to participate in arts program­ ming. At the University of Tennessee (UT) Li­ braries, w e have w orked hard to reach out to our literary community and to develop a se­ ries of programs that serve their interests. A few years ago, the then Dean of Libraries Paula Kaufman decided that having a writer- in-residence w ould be a valuable experiment to try at the University Libraries. She spoke with Marilyn Kallet, director of the Creative Writing Program in the Depart­ m ent of English,1 to solicit names of possible appointees to such a position. The idea was to select an up-and-coming author, som eone w ho was interested in making an effort to write full time. The library p lanned to provide the writer with a small stipend and a study carrel, com ­ plete with com puter and netw ork connec­ tion, from which to work. The position would be renew able for an undeterm ined num ber ro of years, with the intent to select a new writer for the assignment periodically. v­ In 1998, around the same time that I be­ came UT English literature librarian, the li­ brary appointed Brian Griffin to the post of writer-in-residence. Although a Tennessee native, Griffin was a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Virginia, w here he had w orked closely with Peter Taylor. He had recently w on the Mary McCarthy Award for Short Fiction for his collection of short sto­ ries Sparkm an in the S k y z Griffin was also very active in the local Knoxville Writer’s Guild.3 UT seems to be unique in having a formal and perm anent writer-in-residence. To my knowledge, the only other academic library that has a similar program is at North Caro­ lina State University, where Kaye Gibbons has served as author-in-residence for many years. After a year or so of getting all four of our feet on the ground, Griffin and I began to think of ways we could work together to pro­ mote the literary arts in the library, at the uni­ versity, and within the community. One thing w e had both noted was that, despite having a graduate creative writing program, UT did not seem to offer a regular venue for students in that program to present their works. With the blessing of the library administration and a lot of assistance from About the author Steven R. Harris is English literature librarian a tth e University o f Tennessee, e-mail: steven-harris@utk.edu C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s new mailto:steven-harris@utk.edu 424 / C&RL News ■ June 2002 the library Friends and Joe Rader, the coordinator of library out­ reach, w e began to formulate a plan for an ongoing reading se­ ries that w ould take place in the John C. Hodges Library, the main library on campus. W riters in th e L ib ra ry For lack of a better idea, w e d e ­ cided to call the series “Writers in the Library”4 and began m od­ estly with five readings during the first year. Griffin contacted most of the prospective authors, but p eo p le in the Creative Writing Program proved to be invaluable in helping us develop a slate of readers. Writing faculty suggested several notable students at the university, m any of w hom had w o n writing contests in the D e­ partm ent of English. Members of the faculty also agreed to partici­ pate in the series themselves. A bookmark schedule fo r the W riters in the Library's 2001-02 year. As w ith any program plan, there w ere a num ber of logistical problem s to solve. We w anted to select a time for the events that w ould not conflict with other literary events in Knox­ ville. Many writing courses at UT are taught in the evening, and the Knoxville Writer’s Guild holds regular m eetings on the first Thursday of each month. We considered those two groups to be our primary audience and did not w ant to schedule against them. After being w arned off of Thursday or Friday eve­ nings by several people (we are, after all, the num ber one party school in the nation), w e settled on Monday as the best night for the series. We then had to select an appropriate lo­ cation. The Hodges Library has a fine audito­ rium, with a seating capacity of 150. That space, however, is often booked m onths in advance. We, therefore, initially scheduled all of our events in the faculty lounge of the library, w hich has a mix of plush seating and office chairs. O ur facilities team did an excel­ lent job of arranging the furnishings to com ­ fortably seat about 50, with standing room in the back. Over the next two years, the stand­ ing crow d spilled out into the library foyer on several occasions. Griffin and I took a rather ca­ sual (nay, fly-by-night) attitude tow ard publicity. We really did it with little m ore than two w eeks lead time for each event and no m onetary support from the li­ brary at all, other than the time w e expended, the paper we used for printing fliers, and the use of library fax m ach in es to s e n d press releases to local media. G riffin’s prev io u s life as a w edding photographer came in handy w hen w e needed public­ ity stills of authors. I scanned the photos he shot and inserted the digital images into Word docu­ m ents to create our fliers. I often did not even use a photocopier to reproduce the fliers, but sim­ ply printed dozens (or hundreds) of copies directly from a laser printer. We usually posted the fliers ourselves at local coffee shops and restaurants, or stuffed them into m ailboxes in the En­ glish departm ent. We also tried to get the series listed in various comm unity calendars and announced on lo­ cal radio. O ur first reading, featuring three student poets from the Creative Writing Program, took place on O ctober 25, 1999, with about 40 people in attendance. During the first year, Writers in the Library featured students (or recent students) and faculty exclusively; for the second year, w e branched out to include m ore writers from the community and even writers on the library staff. We also hosted an evening of “slam” poets that proved to be very popular. It has becom e our normal prac­ tice to end the year with a reading by a m em ­ ber of the creative writing faculty. These fac­ ulty program s have all been very well at­ tended, drawing large num bers of colleagues and students of the writer. In his three years as writer-in-residence, Griffin m anaged to consult with dozens of students, host all of the readings in our se­ ries, write a substantial portion of a novel, and start a novel-writing contest in conjunc­ tion with the Writer’s Guild and the Univer­ sity Press? After all that work, he n eed ed a break, a n d in 2001 the library ap p o in te d C&RL News ■ June 2002 / 425 Pamela Schoenew aldt as the new writer-in- residence. Schoenew aldt is a recent émigré to Knoxville, having lived for m any years in Naples, Italy. In 1995, she w on the Chekhov Prize for Short Fiction from The Crescent Re­ view. Y e a r th re e We began our third year of the Writers in the Library series with a reading that featured both th e incom ing a n d outgoing w riter-in-resi­ d e n c e . In p l a n n i n g th is y e a r ’s s e rie s , Schoenew aldt drew heavily on Griffin’s ex­ perience to round up an extensive roster of authors, m any from the Writer’s Guild and the Knoxville writing com m unity in general. The series is expanding from five to nine read­ ings during the academ ic year. We have also gotten additional publicity support from the Libraries to create a bookm ark that lists the entire agenda of authors and dates. With a schedule of events prepared ahead of time, w e w ere able to book the library’s audito­ rium for m any of the readings. Although she had been so instrumental in developing the Writers in the Library series, Paula Kaufman m oved on to becom e dean of libraries at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, in 1999, before our series even began. Interim Dean Aubrey Mitchell, and our new Dean of Libraries Barbara Dewey, how ­ ever, have strongly supported the series and encouraged its continued development. In planning Writers in the Library, w e have relied exclusively on our ow n wits and UT resources (material and intellectual), but there are a num ber of organizations around that can help a librarian develop a reading series. ALA’s “©yourlibrary” program provides ideas a n d funds to qualified a p p lic an ts.6 Poets House also w orks with libraries to establish literary events? We d ecided to go it on our ow n, partly out of laziness, partly out of ignorance, but mostly because w e took a lot of pleasure in d e v e l o p i n g th e i d e a s o u r s e l v e s a n d shepherding them through to a finished prod­ uct. It has truly b e e n one of the m ost enjoy­ able aspects of my time at UT. I encourage everyone to develop a similar literary p ro ­ gram at their libraries. It provides a great way to becom e familiar w ith local writers and to form im portant bonds with library supporters th roughout the com m unity. N otes 1. Inform ation o n UT’s Creative Writing Program in the D epartm ent of English can be fo u n d at h ttp ://w e b .u tk .e d u /% 7 E e n g lish / creative.htm. 2. Brian Griffin, Sparkm an in the Sky & other Stories (Sarabande Books, 1997). 3. The Knoxville Writer’s Guild is on the Web at http://www.knoxvillewritersguild.org/. 4. The Writers in the Library Web site is at h t t p : / / w w w . l i b . u t k . e d u / a n n o u n c e / writersinthelibrary/. 5. Information on the Peter Taylor Prize fo r th e N ovel is o n lin e at h ttp ://w w w . knoxvillew ritersguild.org/tennprize.htm. 6. Visit https://cs.ala.0rg/@ y0urlibrary/. 7. Poets House can be found at h ttp :// w w w .p o etsh o u se.o rg /. ■ ( “A tkinson a n d CJCLS. . . ” c o n tin u ed fr o m p a g e 420) zations that support the missions of com m u­ nity, junior, and technical colleges. Paula Herring, chair of the aw ards com ­ mittee, said, “Cynthia was chosen because she exemplifies leadership on all levels: local, state, and national. She has been a leader on her campus, in the state of Maryland, and in CJCLS. Her tireless advocacy for and commit­ m ent to com m unity college libraries [make her] truly deserving of this aw ard.” The Michael M. Bennett Library of St. Pe­ tersburg Junior College has been chosen to receive the 2002 CJCLS/EBSCO Community College Learning Resources Program Achieve­ m ent Award for its information literacy p ro ­ gram, w hich includes online tests, curricu­ lum developm ent, instruction of other librar­ ians, faculty awareness, and advocacy. “The librarians at St. Petersburg Junior College have developed an innovative infor­ m ation literacy program for their students,” said Herring. “From online testing to instruc­ tional video to credit coursework, this p ro­ gram is designed to reach every student in every campus. The librarians are to b e com ­ m ended for their outreach to their cam puses.” A citation and $500 (donated by EBSCO Inform ation Services) will be presented to each recipient during the ALA Annual Con­ ference in Atlanta at the CJCLS All Committee Meeting on Saturday, June 15, 2002, at 8:30 a.m. at the Om ni Hotel, Bram pton A. ■ http://web.utk.edu/%7Eenglish/ http://www.knoxvillewritersguild.org/ utk.edu/announce/ https://cs.ala.0rg/@y0urlibrary/ http://www.poetshouse.org/