Speaking of Books: Speaking of Books: Connecting with Faculty through Connecting with Faculty through

a Campus Author Seriesa Campus Author Series

Timothy HackmanUniversity of Marylandthackman@umd.edu

OutlineOutline

• History of “Speaking of Books…” at University of Maryland

• Benefits of an author series

• Publicizing your author series

• Future directions

• Began informally in 2005-2006 with talks by two English professors

• Funded by UM Libraries and College of Arts & Humanities for 2006-2007; focus on Arts & Humanities faculty

• Funded by UM Libraries from 2007 to present; expanded to include all schools and colleges

““Speaking of Books” at UMDSpeaking of Books” at UMD

““Speaking of Books” at UMDSpeaking of Books” at UMD

• 14 events since 2005

• Average 50 attendees per event

• Departments/Colleges represented: Agriculture & Resource Economics American Studies, Communication

English (4), Government & Politics History (3), Journalism,

Public Health, Public Policy

Benefits of an Author SeriesBenefits of an Author Series

• Provide a forum for great scholarship

• Create positive publicity for the Libraries

• Provide a service to the departments and the faculty to improve relations

• Foster the image of the Libraries as a “learning space”

Benefits of an Author SeriesBenefits of an Author Series

• Brainstorming: Can you think of other benefits of hosting a faculty author series at your library?

Getting StartedGetting Started

• Start Small– Gauge interest of your community– Learn the ropes of planning– Build administrative support

• Have a Plan– What are your goals?– Who is your primary audience?– How can you most effectively reach them?

Publicity IdeasPublicity Ideas

• Don’t do it all by yourself

• Make personal connections

• Use the power of the network

• Look for opportunities to collaborate

• Think outside of campus

Publicity IdeasPublicity Ideas

• Brainstorming: Can you think of publicity options available:

– On your campus?

– Through campus collaborators?

– Off-campus and in your community?

Where Do We Go from Here?Where Do We Go from Here?

• Greater campus integration

• Greater campus collaboration

• Broadening the scope

• Turn attendees into donors

• Speaking of Books 2.0– University of Mississippi– University of Virginia

Thank You!

• Verlyn Flieger. Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien’s Mythology. Kent State UP, 2005.

• Gene Roberts. The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

• Clare Lyons. Sex Among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830. U. of North Carolina Press, 2006.

• Robin Sawyer. Sexpertise: Real Answers to Real Questions About Sex. Simon & Schuster, 2008.

• Psyche Williams-Forson. Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power. U. of North Carolina Press, 2006.

• Robert Friedel. A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium. MIT Press, 2007.

Background Image CreditsBackground Image Credits

• Barry Lee Pearson. Jook Right On: Blues Stories and Blues Storytellers. U. of Tennessee Press, 2005.

• Jeffrey Herf. The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust. Harvard UP, 2006.

• Paul Herrnson, et al. Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot. Brookings, 2007.

• Trevor Parry-Giles & Shawn Parry-Giles. The Prime-time Presidency: The West Wing and U.S. Nationalism. U. of Illinois Press, 2006.

• Vincent Carretta. Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man. U. of Georgia Press, 2005.

• Stanley Plumly. Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography. W.W. Norton, 2008.

Background Image CreditsBackground Image Credits