NIU LLI: Birthing the Word: NIU Libraries Plans for a Book Lab

The NIU Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI), established in 2000, is a member-directed group of individuals primarily age 50+ who enjoy learning in informal, flexible, non-competitive groups and like connecting with peers who share their interests. No grades, no tests – just learning for the fun of it. Course Description: Although labs are common in the sciences, the humanities rarely provide spaces for researching and learning about physical materials and technology. Responding to that lack, NIU Libraries is planning to build a book lab enabling faculty, students, and community members to gain a historical understanding of various technologies of text production from medieval manuscripts to current digitization. Our lab would join about twenty university labs nationwide and represents an increased scholarly interest in the interdisciplinary study history of the book. Let me tell you about other labs, the plans for NIU’s lab and how all of this fits with NIU’s history! Convener: Beth McGowan is the current Curator of NIU Libraries Rare Books and Special Collections. She holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Comparative Literature with a focus on the Renaissance and an MLIS from University of Wisconsin, Madison.