University Library

Donation Preserves Life and Times of Comedic Brothers

A wealth of archival materials belonging to American Actor and Comedian Arte Johnson ’49 MEDIA and his brother, Coslough Johnson ’52 MEDIA, have been gifted to the University Library. The Johnson family’s gift comes from Arte’s window, Gisela, and encompasses archival materials from the popular sketch comedy television program Laugh-In and other shows in which Arte starred, plus other memorabilia including scrapbooks, photographs, and letters. This gift-in-kind documents popular culture and provides a rich resource for researchers.

Gift Documents Student Life at Illinois

At the Student Life and Culture Archives, archivists work to preserve UI student life and culture—from the earliest days to the present. So, one can imagine the surge of excitement that accompanied a donation in April 2022 of the life and times of Charlie Meyerson ’77 MEDIA, MS ’78 MEDIA. Meyerson’s donation consists of two series. One covers his life as a student, including such items as notes from nearly every course he took, programs from student organizations, and more than 250 photos. The completeness of the materials, as well as the accompanying photographs and instructor comments, makes the Meyerson donation particularly unique. The donation’s other component comprises materials from Meyerson’s professional radio career. Read more.

Gift from Alumnus Supports Speaker Series in Humanities

A gift from Daniel Shin ’91 LAS, ’91 LAS is underwriting an annual speaker series for the Literatures and Languages Library. The series highlights an author or poet who leads a craft talk and gives a public reading of their work. The Literatures and Languages Library looks to this initiative as a way to expand its commitment to creative writing and its robust collection of literature and literary criticism. Shin’s gift sustains this public forum enriching the lives of the library’s local and regional patrons and visitors. The inaugural event of the series in April 2022 was a poetry reading and discussion with Richie Hofmann, Jones Lecturer in Poetry at Stanford University and author of A Hundred Lovers. An event with Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States, is planned for the fall of 2023.

Alumni Couple Invests in Library’s Future

Christopher ’71 LAS and Joy ’72 LAS Joyce are supporting a multi-phased campaign to transform the University Library. Their gift helps the Library foster outstanding scholarship, maintain its exceptional collections, and create an inviting, innovative, and evolving educational environment that is on par with a world-class university. In recognition of their gift, the Library will dedicate the stunning Jehan Frellon Printers’ Mark window in the Reading Room of the Main Library to the couple.

An Anonymous Gift Supports Preservation and Restoration of Priceless Collections

A generous gift from a 1974 College of Education alumna and her late spouse has created a significant endowment to support preservation and restoration of the Map, Newspaper, and Rare Book & Manuscript collections. This includes forming basic stabilization and full treatments, conducting conservation research, and participating in the management of collections storage, collection emergencies, and digitization. The donor, who worked for the University Library as a student, hopes to inspire others to give.