Lecture and Visit with Audrey Niffenegger,
Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Arts

Lecture:  Knight Auditorum of the Spurlock Museum
Wednesday, February 6, 4:00 p.m. A MillerCom Lecture
Visit:  The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Room 346 Main Library
Thursday, February 7, 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Audrey Niffenegger is the author of The Time Traveler's Wife, the highly acclaimed and original love story of Henry De Tamble, a “rather dashing librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago, [who] finds himself unavoidably whisked around in time” (Publishers Weekly). She is also the author of The Three Incestuous Sisters, a haunting and evocative illustrated novel described by Booklist as “a shivery fairy tale.”

As a professor at Columbia College's Center for Book and Paper Arts in Chicago, Niffenegger teaches students in the Master of Fine Arts program how to print type on letterpresses and craft limited-edition books by hand. During her visit to The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, she will share some of her favorite works and reflect on her experiences as a teacher, artist, and writer. Her books will be available for purchase courtesy of the Illini Union Book Store.

For more information, please call (217) 333-3777.

Valentine's Day Concert!
Thursday, February 14, 3:30 p.m.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Please join us for heart-warming music and refreshments on Valentine's Day at 3:00pm in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library (346 Main Library).

Soprano Tania Coambs will sing songs and arias by Fernando Sor, W. A. Mozart, Schubert, and Mauro Giuliani, and will be accompanied by our own Rare Books Curator, Alvan Bregman on guitar.

Lex Tate Presents: “Love Stories: Gift Buildings at the University of Illinois”
Friday, Feb. 15, 3:00 p.m.
ACES Library, Heritage Room

“Love Stories: Gift Buildings at the University of Illinois” will explore the history of donor buildings at the Urbana-Champaign campus. The story begins with Capt. Thomas Smith--Civil War veteran, U of I alumnus and member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees-- who memorialized his wife, Tina Weedon Smith, through the gift of a music building. Since that first gift building (1921), alumni and friends of the University have donated money, land, and stocks and bonds to underwrite more than 25 campus facilities, the majority since 1985 when Arnold and Mabel Beckmans $40-million gift kicked off a donor-building boom, changing the face of campus.

Sarrusophones, Antoniophones and Ophecleides: Exotica from the Far Side of Brass Bands

Wednesday, February 27, 7:30 p.m., Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $8/$6/$2

Experience the rare delight of hearing unique historical instruments played as they were meant to be played. Listen to Symphonic Band 2 and Concert Band I cut loose with instruments from the far side of brass bands, and understand the purpose why special music collections at the University of Illinois are special. A post-concert “show and tell” discussion will be provided to the audience by members of the two ensembles to help the audience better understand the demands that historical instrument place on trained musicians.

For more information, please call (217) 244-9309.

Best-selling Children's Author Gary Blackwood
To visit The Rare Book & Manuscript Library,
and,
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Author of numerous works of fiction and plays for children and young adults, including the Junior Library Guild selection; The Shakespeare Stealer, Gary Blackwood will offer readings and discussion sessions on the University of Illinois campus on March 2nd and March 3rd, 2008.

Schedule of Events:

March 2nd, 3:00 p.m. Reading Performance of The Shakespeare Stealer at the Colwell Playhouse in the Krannert Center for Performing Arts. For more information, visit the Krannert Web site here.

March 3rd, 3:00 p.m. Informal discussion on writing historical fiction in The Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Works by the author will also be available for purchase and signing.

For more information about Gary Blackwood, please visit:

http://www.writers.ns.ca/Writers/gblackwood.html

Valerie Hotchkiss Presents: “The Play's the Thing: Shakespeare's Contemporaries on the Art and Business of Play Writing.”

Tuesday, March 4, 3:00 p.m., Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

This multimedia presentation presented by Valerie Hotchkiss, Head of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library, will highlight the Library's extraordinary English drama collections, including presentations from rare imprints utilizing screen-sized images of treasures from The Rare Book & Manuscript Library's vault.

For more information, please call 333-3777.