spring 2013 Update
Strengthening the Smith College Libraries since 1942
Spring Program
Empowering Young People with Stories
Thursday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m., Neilson Browsing Room
Ann M. Martin ‘77, author of the Baby-sitter’s Club series, will take part in a panel discussion
with Scholastic editor and author David Levithan, award-winning children’s author Virginia Euwer
Wolff ’59 and young novelist Emma Straub. Moderator: Bethanne Patrick ‘85. A book-signing will follow.
A Place of Reading: Three
Centuries of Reading in America
by Martin Antonetti, Curator of Rare Books
This spring Neilson Library hosts a loan exhibition
of rare books and prints documenting the history
of reading in America from the collections of the
distinguished American Antiquarian Society. As it
turns out, the act of reading, especially in the colonial era, is exceptionally difficult to document.
But curator Cheryl Harned, a graduate student at
Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society
the University of Massachusetts, tells a compelling
story of Americans “caught in the act” of reading—in homes, taverns, libraries, military camps, parlors,
kitchens, and beds, among other places.
A Place of Reading is complemented by the exhibition, Cultivating the Nobler Part of her Nature:
Books for Women and Girls in Early America, curated by Book Studies Concentration seniors—
as part of their capstone seminar last semester. Both exhibitions are on view in the Book Arts Gallery,
Neilson Library, from February 28 until May 28.
The Future of Reading
by Jenny Frost ’78, Senior Vice-President, Scholastic e-Commerce Group
The future of reading lies with children. While many fear that access to digital content, including games
and social media, threatens to reduce the time children spend reading, this does not seem to be the
case. A recent study released jointly by Scholastic and the Harrison Group, Kids & Family Reading
Report, (http://bit.ly/UDg0rk) sheds extremely positive light on how digital content and delivery is
influencing reading patterns in children.
The bottom line is that kids are reading! Kids are reading across print and digital formats. As children
gain access to digital platforms including eReaders and tablets, readership of eBooks is increasing
dramatically. According to the survey results, the number of children who have read an eBook has increased fifty percent since 2010. Half of children aged 9-17 report they would read more for fun if they
had greater access to eBooks. Even better, eBooks hold tremendous promise for increasing recreational
reading among boys. Historically a difficult group to interest in reading, one in four boys who have read
an eBook report that they are now reading more for fun. Reading on devices presents an exciting opportunity to engage more reluctant readers in ways that were never available before.
Continued on page 2...
Comes to Smith
by Martin Antonetti,
Curator of Rare Books
Imagine how many current and former Smithies have grown up with
Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey
and the other enterprising middleschoolers from Stoneybrook, Connecticut. Even Naomi Sinnathamby
’15, our student assistant in the
Mortimer Rare Book Room, read
their exploits as a child in faraway
Lesotho. Indeed, The Baby-sitter’s
Club series has, since 1986, given
us a vivid and memorable picture
of adolescent girlhood in smalltown America and has formed an
important part of the foundational
reading of countless girls who later
came to Smith. So it is with great
excitement that we announce the
gift of the rich literary archive of
the principal author, Ann M. Martin ’77, to our Special Collections
Department. Manuscripts of early
Baby-sitter’s Club books will start
arriving this spring; the papers of
her recent (and future) novels will
be forthcoming.
Courtesy of Dion Ogust
News from Around
the Libraries
A lecture fund has been established
in memory of Enid Epstein Mark
‘54 through the generosity of her
husband, Eugene L. Mark. Income
from this fund will bring scholars
to Smith on a regular basis to discuss topics primarily related to the
book arts and poetry. Enid Mark was
a distinguished artist whose love of
poetry flourished at Smith. Over time
her dual focus on words and images
found an ideal outlet in the genre of
artist’s books. Her limited edition
books can be found in private collections and close to one hundred
special collections in university libraries and museums across the U.S.
and abroad.
Loretta Ross is Activist-in-Residence
at Smith during the month of February, Women’s History Month.
Ross is an expert on the politics of
women’s health, hate groups, and
sexual violence. She is a longtime
anti-violence and human rights organizer, a builder of coalitions between
women of color and white feminists,
and a prime mover in the paradigm
shift from a reproductive rights
to a reproductive justice movement. Learn more about Ross at
www.smith.edu/libraries/info/news/
lorettaross.
Letter from the Chair
by Ann E. Shanahan ’59, Chair
Preparing to write my envoi, I looked at the ten Fall and Spring “Updates” that we have sent out since I
became chair of the Friends of Smith College Libraries executive committee in the Fall of 2007. These
“Updates” provide a lot of interesting information about the Libraries, their hardworking staff, events,
exhibitions and other news.
I consider the dedication of the new Friends of the Libraries Reading Room in April 2011 to be a high
point in my tenure, although it was not I but so many of you who enabled its completion. Thank you
so much! If you haven’t already seen the Reading Room, you will be happy to hear that it is beautiful
and daily (and nightly) draws students to all of its comfortable chairs and sofas. Please be sure to visit
the Reading Room when you come for reunion.
The Friends offer a number of programs each year—during my tenure, sometimes panel
presentations—ranging from “Career Opportunities in Libraries and Archives” to “Romance
Literature: Love it or Leave it”—and sometimes individual speakers—among them, this past fall, a
talk by Reeve Lindbergh, who spoke about her mother, Ann Morrow Lindbergh ‘28, and read from
her journals; and, last spring, Michael Suarez, S.J., director of the Rare Book School at the University
of Virginia, who spoke about “The Future of Books in the Digital Age.”
In addition to the speakers the Friends present, we have also spruced up our website and this
newsletter, joined Facebook (please visit us there—www.facebook.com/FSCLib) and provided you
with access to JSTOR via the Alumnae Association’s website.
The membership of the FSCL executive committee has changed somewhat over my years on the
committee, as folks completed their allotted number of terms. Members have been a wellspring of
creative ideas and support, and I have enjoyed so much working with all of them. In recent years,
committee members have begun contributing short columns to the newsletter— sharing thoughts
based on their own particular expertise.
It also has been my pleasure to work with Chris Loring, Director of the Libraries, and with Mary Irwin,
whose official title is Gifts and Development Officer, but whose job requires her to wear many hats.
She is, in fact, tireless, and I am in awe of her ability to keep all of the balls in the air!
The Future of Reading continued:
The news keeps getting better: eBooks are not cannibalizing reading time among children. Despite
the significant increases in eBook consumption, the print format is not dead. Eighty percent of children who read eBooks say they will continue to read primarily in print. The only possible sour note
in the report is the finding that girls, always a strong reading group, are now engaging to a greater
degree in social media. Even here all is not lost as digital platforms offer ample opportunity to meld
reading with being social online.
For those of us who champion the love of reading and believe fervently in the importance of literacy,
there is much good news to be savored here. Far from threatening literacy and the love of reading,
digital content and delivery offer new opportunities for engagement.
2012-2013 FSCL Executive Committee
Ann E. Shanahan ’59,
Chair; Elisabeth Doucett ’80; Jenny Frost ’78; Julie Iatron ’97; Carolina Miranda-Silva ’93;
Susan Novick ’81; Bethanne Patrick ’85; Lizanne Payne ’74; Elisabeth Morgan Pendleton ’62.
Ex-Officio: Carol Christ, President, Honorary Chair; Christopher B. Loring, Director of
Libraries; Mary Irwin, Executive Secretary
Just Another Day in the
Mortimer Rare Book Room
In Memoriam
Susan von Salis ’79
by Martin Antonetti, Curator of Rare Books
Hardly a day goes by in the Mortimer Rare Book Room
that we don’t make some fascinating or curious discovery. It’s especially interesting to unravel the clues
that reveal the identity of a previous owner of a particular treasure. Here is a wonderful recent example: In December 1922, the college purchased (for
$11.50!) a grand old book of astronomical observations, Recueil d’observations faites en plusieurs
voyages par ordre de Sa Majesté, printed in Paris at the royal printing house in 1693. The Recueil
spent several decades in the Astronomy Department library before being transferred to Neilson’s rare
book collection in the 1960s, where it slept undisturbed until last week. That was when our sleuthing cataloger, John Lancaster, decided to give it an electronic record in the library’s online catalog.
As he examined the bookplate of nineteenth-century book collector James Musgrave on the inside
of the front cover, John noticed the faint outline of another bookplate underneath. Some detective
work and sharp eyes revealed the earlier owner to be one Charles Huggins, whose father had purchased Sir Isaac Newton’s library in 1727 from the deceased scientist’s estate. Could the great man
have thumbed this very copy? We might never know except for Newton’s well-documented and highly
idiosyncratic practice of marking memorable passages by turning down the relevant leaves so that the
corners pointed directly to the words he wished to highlight. Just as they do in our copy!
An Activist Archives: The Sophia Smith Collection at 70
On Sunday, February 3, the Smith community and guests packed the house to hear civil rights activist
Gloria Steinem ’56, Mohawk midwife/environmental justice activist Katsi Cook, and civil rights/reproductive rights activist Loretta Ross in conversation with Anna Holley ’12 and Marianne Bullock AC. They
were there to take part in a special program to celebrate Sherrill Redmon’s tenure as Director of the
Sophia Smith Collection (1993-2012) and to mark the 70th anniversary of this internationally recognized women’s history manuscripts collection. Earlier in the day, Professor Susan Van Dyne interviewed
graphic artist and SSC papers donor Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home and the comic strip Dykes to
Watch Out For.
Among Sherrill Redmon’s achievements is the significant growth of the collection: Under her watch, 292
new collections were added (6,500 linear feet of manuscripts) the majority of which document women’s
movements for social change across race, class, and sexual orientation in the twentieth century.
by Nanci Young, College Archivist
History and inquiry were always
a part of Susan von Salis’s life.
Her interest in feminism and the
concept of ‘other’ were explored
in her senior thesis on race and
feminism. As an archivist, Susan
created tools to help explore collections at the Schlesinger Library
at Radcliffe/Harvard. Later, as Associate Curator of Archives at the
Harvard University Art Museums,
she created internships, mentored
students and tirelessly promoted
the use of the archives. She was active in the New England Archivists
chapter, from which she received
the Distinguished Service Award in
2011, and in the Society of American Archivists. Susan loved Smith,
and served as a member of the
Friends of the Libraries executive
committee from 2003-2009. She
was a staunch supporter of, and
advocate for, the Sophia Smith Collection and the College Archives.
In 2006, she and her mother, Jane
Mead von Salis’48, established the
Studwell Fund that provides funding
for manuscript processing. In 2008
a reunion of Clark House alumnae
was organized by Susan, fondly remembering her days as a Clark-ite.
Susan, who embraced all that life
had to offer, passed away December 3,2012. We miss her dearly and
keep her wife Kim and son Gus in
our hearts.
EXHIBITIONS
The Chemist in the Garden:
Origins of Natural Products
Anita and Byron Wien Atrium, Ford Hall
February 1–May 28, 2013
An exhibition of books from the Mortimer Rare
Book Room in honor of Lâle Burk on her retirement
from the Department of Chemistry. Curated by Signe
Dahlberg-Wright ’14.
Access to JSTOR
We continue to provide free access
to JSTOR for all alumnae. This digital
archive offers over one thousand fulltext journals in the humanities, social
sciences and sciences. To explore the offerings,
follow the link when you log into the Alumnae
Directory on the Alumnae Association’s website:
http://alumnae.smith.edu/cms/.
America: A Place of Reading
Book Arts Gallery, Level 3, Neilson Library
February 28–May 28, 2013
Books and prints from the American Antiquarian Society
Cultivating the Nobler Part of her
Nature: Books for Women and Girls
in Early America
Mortimer Rare Book Room foyer, Level 3, Neilson Library
February 28–May 28, 2013
Drawn from the Mortimer Rare Book Room collection and curated by seniors in the
Book Studies Concentration as a capstone project.
“The Bell Jar” Revisited
Book Arts Gallery, Level 3, Neilson Library
June 3–September 8, 2013
Curated by Amanda Ferrara ’13, as an Archives Concentration capstone project.
New Publications Based on
Research in our Special Collections
Cold War Progressives: Women’s Interracial
Organizing for Peace and Freedom by
Jacqueline Castledine. Borderless Feminisms:
A Transnational History of the U.S. Women’s
Movement, 1967-1985 by Jessica Lancia.
American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath
by Carl Rollyson. Mad Girl’s Love Song: Sylvia
Plath and Life before Ted by Andrew Wilson
The Friends News Update
is published twice yearly, in the fall and in the
spring. Comments may be sent to Mary Irwin,
Friends of the Smith College Libraries, Neilson
Library, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063,
telephone: (413) 585-2903 or email:
mirwin@smith.edu. Visit us online at
www.smith.edu/libraries/friends.
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