Friends of NIU Libraries Annual Meeting

The Friends of the NIU Libraries will hold their Annual Meeting on Thursday, July 19th from 3:00-5:00 pm in Rare Books and Special Collections on the 4th Floor of Founders' Library. Light refreshments will be served.

A brief business meeting will begin at 3:30.

The NIU Common Press will be "back in action" after a long hiatus. Please join us for its inaugural public run, and take a "pull" on the Press. Friends will be able to take home copies of their presswork as a souvenir of our meeting.

Questions and comments can be directed to Lynne Thomas at lmthomas@niu.edu or (815)753-0255.

Please join us!

NIU Common Press Back in Action!

The NIU Common Press, a replica of the kind of printing press used to print books from Gutenberg's time through the 1820s in Europe and the United States, is now back in working condition. We hope to post photographs of the press in action soon. If you would like to see a demonstration of the Press in action, please contact Lynne Thomas, the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections.

Our thanks go out to Barry Schrader, a Friend of the NIU Libraries, for furnishing expertise, materials, and good humor to the project.

Library acquires papers of E.E. Knight

Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to announce that we have acquired the papers of E.E. Knight, writer of the Vampire Earth series and the Age of Fire series, as an addition to our Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Knight is also an NIU Alumni. His papers are currently being processed, and we hope to make them available to researchers within the next few months.

Jack McDevitt Wins 2007 Nebula Award

Congratulations to Jack McDevitt, who received the 2007 Nebula Award for his novel Seeker. The Nebula Award is given annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Mr. McDevitt's papers are held in the SFWA Collection, which is part of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections in Founders Memorial Library.