home Support the Libraries Library donor James B. Nutter dies at age 89

Library donor James B. Nutter dies at age 89

James B. Nutter, Sr., the founder of James B. Nutter & Co., passed away on July 7, 2017, at his Kansas City home. Nutter graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor’s degree in 1949. Along with creating one of the largest privately owned mortgage banking firms in the nation, he was generous with his time and money, giving away much of his wealth to charities and causes, including libraries.

Nutter once stated that he was inspired by his father’s appreciation of libraries, “My interest in libraries comes from my father, who felt that libraries are one of the most important things our country could have. So when I had an opportunity to make an improvement in the MU Libraries, I wanted to do so.”

Nutter was one of the early donors to MU’s first major fundraising campaign, For All We Call Mizzou, donating $1.25 million to the Libraries for an information commons.

The James B. Nutter Family Information Commons opened in the fall of 2004. The space immediately had a huge impact on the MU student body, which continues to this day. The Information Commons provides individual and group study space and integrates the latest online information resources and the expertise of library staff. The 25,000 square foot facility features comfortable seating for more than 300 people, and 100 fixed computer workstations. Any day during the school year, the space is full of students studying and doing research.

Nutter was married to Annabel Fisher Nutter for nearly 63 years. She survives along with his son, James B. Nutter Jr., who is president and chief executive of James B. Nutter & Co. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Nancy Ann Moore, who died of breast cancer in 2003.

 

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home Events and Exhibits, Locations, Resources and Services University Archives Affected by Flooding in Lewis Hall

University Archives Affected by Flooding in Lewis Hall

UPDATE: The Lewis Hall offices of University Archives are now open and available to the public.

The Lewis Hall offices of University Archives are closed due to a building water leak. Please send any information requests to muarchives@missouri.edu or leave a message at 573-882-7567.

Archives staff will offer in-person reference help by appointment in the 4th floor reading room of Special Collections in Ellis Library. Pulling material located in Lewis Hall may take a day or two longer than normal. We will let you know when the Lewis Hall location is open to the public again.

Damage to materials held by the University Archives was minimal.

For more information about the effect of the flooding on the archival materials and on the building, see the link below:

Columbia Missourian article: "Archival material among Lewis Hall flood damage"

School of Health Professions 60 Second Video of Lewis Hall Flood

home Resources and Services, Support the Libraries Thank You to Everyone Who Contributed to the Wish List!

Thank You to Everyone Who Contributed to the Wish List!

This past spring, MU librarians created a Wish List of over 400 titles that would enhance teaching and research, but that could not be purchased due to budget limitations. The response from alumni and friends exceeded our highest expectations. Fifty-six donors purchased 105 books and electronic book collections, totaling $22,270 in gifts. The gifts generated a great deal of excitement within our library staff, so please, consider this a collective “thank you” from everyone at the library!

Allowing donors to purchase specific items on topics of interest to them resulted in a broad range of interesting titles that will be heavily used in the years ahead. Here is just a sampling of the items that have been purchased from the Wish List:

  • Dick Toft purchased the Complete and Truly Outstanding Works by Homer for Special Collections & Rare Book
  • Ken Mares in honor of Dr. Ann Johanson purchased the American Academy of Pediatrics 2017 Frontlist E-Book Collection
  • Dedra Earl purchased Margaret Thatcher: A Life and Legacy
  • Suzanne Billhymer purchased Principles of Lightning Physics
  • Carolyn Wenneker purchased Vogue the Shoe
  • Craig Datz purchased Musical Prodigies: Interpretations from Psychology, Education, Musicology, and Ethnomusicology

As of August 1, we have officially brought the 2017 Wish List project to a close.Thankfully, our librarians are beginning to make priority purchases from our collections budget for FY2018. However, significant reductions to the collections budget over the last three years have guaranteed that many faculty requests will go unfulfilled. So, the Wish List will be back next spring, when the collections budget has been exhausted for the current fiscal year. If you just can’t wait to make another gift to support the University Libraries collections, please consider a gift to our Collections Enhancement Fund.

Endowments Support Collections – If you would like to make the University Libraries a significant part of your personal giving, you might consider a collections endowment. In fiscal year 2017, collections endowments accounted for a significant portion of our collections spending. The minimum amount to create an endowment is $25,000. Your gift can be spread over a period of years or you can even fund the endowment through your estate plan. If you would like more information about creating an endowment, contact Matt Gaunt at gauntm@missouri.edu, or 573-884-8645.

 

 

home Events and Exhibits Congratulations to the Class of 2017!

Congratulations to the Class of 2017!

After you graduate, the University Libraries will still be here to serve you. To find out more about the resources available to alumni, visit Library Resources for Alumni.

All of us at the University Libraries, wish you the very best in your future endeavors!

home Events and Exhibits, Special Collections and Archives University Libraries at the Unbound Book Festival

University Libraries at the Unbound Book Festival

Step into the world of Charlotte Brontë’s childhood in this presentation on an original manuscript containing two short stories she wrote at the age of seventeen. Attendees will hear about the history of the manuscript, how it ended up in Missouri, and its relationship to Brontë’s other works. There will also be a rare opportunity to view the manuscript, which is smaller than an index card and written in an almost microscopic script. 

The Brontë manuscript is among the most valuable and culturally significant materials in the collections of the Special Collections and Rare Books department at the University of Missouri Libraries. The department houses rare and unique manuscripts, books, photos, maps, comics, artifacts, and art that span over four thousand years.

Kelli Hansen is a librarian in the Special Collections and Rare Books Department at the University of Missouri Libraries, where she teaches and does reference work, outreach, and web development.  

home Events and Exhibits “Visualizing Abolition” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

“Visualizing Abolition” Exhibit on Display in Ellis Library

Visualizing Abolition: A Digital History of the Suppression of the African Slave Trade
This exhibit shares the materials explored for the development of a website on the history of the suppression of the African Slave Trade. It will provide viewers with access to materials such as: maps, letters, images, posters, legislation, books, and other relevant objects that made up part of this project on the largest forced migration in history.

Exhibitors: Honors College and the Office of Undergraduate Research

home Events and Exhibits William Least Heat-Moon Celebrating the Release of his Debut Novel, May 2

William Least Heat-Moon Celebrating the Release of his Debut Novel, May 2

Flat Branch Pub and Friends of the University Libraries present

WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON 

Celebrating the release of his debut novel

CELESTIAL MECHANICS

Tuesday, May 2, 2017, 4:30 pm
Flat Branch Pub
115 S. Fifth Street, Columbia, MO 65201

Renowned Blue Highways author William Least Heat-Moon celebrates the release of his debut novel CELESTIAL MECHANICS: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night (Three Rooms Press, April 2017) with book signing party at Flat Branch Pub in historic downtown Columbia, MO on Tuesday, May 2 at 4:30 pm.

The fun event will give fans of Heat-Moon’s work a chance to purchase the new book and have it personally signed by the author. Fifty-five percent of the $28 purchase price will be donated to support University of Missouri Libraries’ Special Collections efforts to purchase a rare book. Each person purchasing a book will also receive a page from the original manuscript of CELESTIAL MECHANICS from the author. In addition, those who contribute $50 or more to MU’s Friends of the University Libraries will receive an authentic full chapter of the manuscript from the author.

Heat-Moon’s new book, CELESTIAL MECHANICS, has already received extensive critical praise. American Library Association journal Booklist hailed as “An entrancing journey toward deeper insight into the cosmos, an exploration readers will share and savor with every masterfully crafted sentence.” Foreword Reviews praised it as “imaginative work about a man’s quest for true connection.” Library Journal notes it is “definitely for fans of philosophical novels and Least Heat-Moon’s nonfiction.” 

William Least Heat-Moon, pen name of William Trogdon, is of English, Irish, and Osage ancestry. In addition to CELESTIAL MECHANICS, he is the best-selling author of Blue Highways, PrairyErth, River-Horse, Roads to Quoz, Here, There, Elsewhere, and Writing Blue Highways.

Copies of CELESTIAL MECHANICS will be available for purchase and signing at the event. For additional information, please contact Matt Gaunt, Director of Development, MU Libraries, gauntm@missouri.edu.

home Cycle of Success, Events and Exhibits Congratulations to the Undergraduate Research Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the Undergraduate Research Contest Winners!

The University Librareis Undergraduate Research contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding research conducted by undergraduate students at the University of Missouri.

In First place, and the recipient of a $500 scholarship, is Victor Topouria, a junior in journalism. His paper is titled, “The fabric road to power: geography of the textiles trade along the new Silk Road and China’s path to geopolitical dominance through the textiles supply chain”. Dr. Joseph Hobbs, professor of Geography, supported his submission saying, “Victor provided exceptional insight into the ways in which China is re-shaping the economics and geopolitics of Asia (and the world) through the medium of textiles.”

The Second place winner and recipient of a $250 scholarship is Samuel Mosher, a sophomore in history. His paper, “The suppression of the African slave trade in The Illustrated London News explored how The Illustrated London News, the world’s first weekly illustrated periodical, reported on Great Britain’s suppression of the African Slave Trade from 1842 to 1869. Dr. Domingues da Silva, Assistant professor of African History, supported his submission saying “Rarely have I seen another freshman student make such a complete use of the libraries’ resources to write a research paper. The paper’s quality and originality are beyond question.”

Special  thanks to the Friends of the University Libraries for their support of this award.

home Events and Exhibits Celebrate National Library Week April 9-15

Celebrate National Library Week April 9-15

This week, the University Libraries joins libraries in schools, campuses and communities nationwide in celebrating the many ways libraries are transforming their communities every day through the services and invaluable expertise they offer.

April 9-15 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the changing role of libraries, librarians and library workers. Libraries aren’t only a place of quiet study, but also creative and engaging community centers where people can collaborate using new technologies.

Libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of the communities they serve. Elected officials, small business owners, students and the public at large depend upon libraries and the resources they offer to address the needs of their communities. By providing such resources as e-books and technology classes, materials for English-language learners, programs for job seekers or a safe haven in times of crisis, libraries and librarians transform their communities.

The University Libraries play a crucial role at MU by providing access to core scholarly journals, books and discovery tools that support research. Many students benefit from the knowledge and skills of our librarians who schedule class instructional opportunities and one-on-one consultations with individual and small groups of students conducting research. In addition, our campus libraries are popular locations for study. 

Libraries also offer something unique to their communities, the expertise of individual librarians. Librarians assist patrons in using increasingly complex technology and sorting through the potentially overwhelming mass of information bombarding today’s digital society. This is especially crucial when access to reliable and trustworthy data is more important than ever.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. 

For more information, visit the University of Missouri Libraries website at library.missouri.edu.  .

home Databases & Electronic Resources MERLIN Catalog Unavailable March 30

MERLIN Catalog Unavailable March 30

Due to server maintenance, the MERLIN Catalog will not be available on Thursday, March 30.

Please consult the information page to learn about services affected.

Contact the Ellis Library Circulation Desk with questions.