University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine 2017 Summer Libraries Magazine | Page 28
Society, for an evening celebrating the rich
history of UW–Madison Libraries. Professor
Cronon shared stories about how the libraries
have, for many decades, preserved knowledge,
made research openly available, and supported
students, professors, and members of the
public, and how this is changing as we move into
an increasingly digital future.
Great Lakes, Great Libraries
By Marie Zhuikov, UW–Madison Aquatic
Sciences Center
A unique group of librarians held its first
conference, “Great Lakes, Great Libraries,” in
the Great Lakes region (in Madison) in May. The
librarians specialize in marine and freshwater
science topics and belong to a regional branch
of the International Association of Aquatic
and Marine Science Libraries and Information
Centers.
“This is the first time in 27 years that we’ve had
our regional annual conference in a freshwater
state,” said Anne Moser, senior special librarian
with the Wisconsin Water Library, who
organized the conference along with Alisun
DeKock, another Great Lakes librarian from the
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. “One of my goals is
to continue to work to get more librarians from
around the Great Lakes involved and to keep
freshwater scholarship visible within the group.”
The regional group, called SAIL, consists of
libraries on the East Coast and in Great Lakes
communities of the U.S. and Canada, along with
several other countries including Bermuda and
28 | LIBRARIES Summer 2017
Go Big Read 2017–2018
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Panama. Scientific speakers included Jake Walsh
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s
Center for Limnology, who discussed Lake
Mendota and his research into the invasive spiny
waterflea. Wisconsin Sea Grant’s David Hart spoke
about an integrated approach to addressing bluff
erosion along Lake Michigan. Garrett Johnson,
of the Shedd Aquarium, described the Shedd’s
environmental and education efforts in the Great
Lakes.
With a nod to the intersection of art and science,
the program also included a presentation by UW
Art Professor Sarah FitzSimons on how water has
infused her work.
Jacqueline Zook was nominated for a University
Staff of the Year Award. She received a spot on the
Award’s Roll of Honor.
Silver Buckle Press and Parallel Press posters
and books are available for purchase! Grab a
piece of UW–Madison history by choosing from
several limited-design posters from the Silver
Buckle Press, or check out one of the many
books available through Parallel Press. For more
information on the selections available and
to purchase, contact Sherry Kanetzke (sherry.
[email protected]).
J
.D. Vance didn’t write a book because he
accomplished something extraordinary, he
tells readers in the introduction to Hillbilly
Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture
in Crisis. “I wrote this book because I’ve
achieved something quite ordinary, which
doesn’t happen to most kids who grew up like
me,” Vance writes.
Hillbilly Elegy is the ninth selection for
the Go Big Read program, which has been
choosing thought-provoking literature to
prompt campus discussion since 2009.
Go Big Read, the UW–Madison campus
common-reading program, has chosen his
story of growing up in the Rust Belt of
Ohio and escaping generations of poverty
as its 2017-18 selection. Vance grew up in
Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian
town of Jackson, Kentucky. He enlisted in the
Marine Corps after high school and served
in Iraq. He went on to graduate from the
Ohio State University and Yale Law School,
become a principal at a leading Silicon Valley
investment firm and a contributing writer to
the National Review. In the book, Vance tells
the story of what it feels like to be born into a
region and class that has experienced serious
economic disruption. He shares his family’s
story, starting with his grandparents’ move
from Appalachia to Ohio following World
War II in hopes of escaping poverty. But that
escape proved difficult, especially for Vance’s
mother. “I want people to know what it feels
like to nearly give up on yourself and why
you might do it. I want people to understand
what happens in the lives of the poor and
the psychological impact that spiritual and
material poverty has on their children,” Vance
wrote.
“I want people to understand the American
Dream as my family and I encountered it.
I want people to understand how upward
mobility really feels. And I want people
to understand something I learned only
recently: that for those of us lucky enough to
live the American Dream, the demons of the
life we left behind continue to chase us.”
Since its release, the book has sparked
much discussion, which is one of the reasons
it is this year’s Go Big Read selection.
While many have credited the book
with providing understanding of the lives
of those struggling with economic decline,
others have criticized it for what they see
as a simplistic view of poverty and personal
responsibility, with too little discussion of
the larger economic and social forces that
have led to the issues described in the book.
“Go Big Read has a history of choosing
books with challenging and timely topics.
The point is to generate a lively conversation
about a set of important issues about which
people can agree or disagree,” Chancellor
Rebecca Blank said. “We hope this will
generate a conversation which leads
people to think more about the social and
economic and political issues raised in the
book.”
Copies of the book will be given to
first-year students at the Chancellor’s
Convocation for New Students and to
students using the book in their classes. The
Go Big Read program is an initiative of the
Office of the Chancellor.
By Käri Knutson
University Communications
“We hope this will generate a conversation which
leads people to think more about the social and
economic and political issues raised in the book.”
~ Chancellor Rebecca Blank
University of Wisconsin–Madison | 29