From fifty to four million volumes

Recent acquisitions by the University of Iowa Library System, including the Janus Press booklet that represents the four millionth acquisition. It has an English translation of songs by medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen and a compact disc of her songs, performed by Anima, a Vermont group specializing in medieval music. Photo by Tim Schoon.

The University of Iowa Libraries recently reached an important goal as its acquisitions reached four million. In honor of this milestone, the libraries will hold a public celebration from 7 to 9 p.m. on April 12 in the Richey Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union.

The celebration also recognizes the 10th anniversary of both the Iowa Women's Archives and the Information Arcade, the libraries' multimedia facility.

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning film producer, philanthropist, and UI alumna Marian Rees, whose writing and production credits include television's "All in the Family," the pilot for "Sanford and Son," and numerous made-for-television movies, will be the evening's keynote speaker. UI President Mary Sue Coleman, Provost Jon Whitmore, and Jeff Disterhoft, president and chief executive officer of the University of Iowa Community Credit Union and chair of the Libraries' Development Advisory Board, will join Rees at the celebration.

An artist's book based on the writings of 12th-century medieval philosopher and composer Hildegard von Bingen, called the "Abbess of the Rhine" (1098-1179), has been selected to represent the libraries' four millionth acquisition. Hildegard's 'Circle of Wisdom' (Circulus sapientiae) was published by Janus Press (Vermont) in 2001 with artwork by Audrey Holden and Claire Van Vliet. Accompanying the book is a pamphlet with the Latin texts and English translations of Hildegard's songs and a compact disc on which Hildegard's songs from the Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations (Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum) are performed. Circle of Wisdom was chosen to acknowledge the significance of the artist book and private press collections at the UI Libraries and to complement existing resources in women's history.

"What makes the confluence of these anniversaries and the four millionth milestone so amazing is how far the University of Iowa Libraries have developed from an extraordi- narily modest collection of 50 volumes in 1855," notes Nancy L. Baker, University librarian. "Just 147 years later, a relatively short time in terms of history, this seed of a collection has grown into one of the country's largest research libraries."

"Among these four million volumes are unique and specialized collections held by very few other libraries, essential to the high-quality research conducted throughout the University," Baker says. "In a very real sense, these four million volumes are symbolic of The University of Iowa's strong commitment to first-rate teaching and research throughout its history. You cannot have a high-quality university without a high- quality library."

The Iowa Women's Archive and the Information Arcade are unique, ground-breaking Iowa resources.

The Louise Noun-Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women's Archive is named for its founders, two prominent Des Moines women who conceived the idea of a repository that would collect material on Iowa women and who worked to make the concept a reality. The archives collects papers of women from all walks of life as well as records of their clubs and organizations.

The Information Arcade is an advanced multimedia facility that offers University of Iowa faculty, students, and staff access to a wide variety of resources: databases, multimedia programs and software, instructional software, Internet resources, printed reference books and current periodicals relating to technology, and video training tapes for software.

A free, 7 p.m. reception precedes remarks by Baker, Whitmore, and Disterhoft, starting at 7:45 p.m. Then Coleman will introduce Marian Rees, the evening's keynote speaker. While the events are free, reservations are requested. They can be made by phone at (33)5-6093 or e-mail lib-friends@uiowa.edu. The program is partially supported by a grant from the University of Iowa Community Credit Union.

by Anne Tanner