Indiana Share – What is it, and how does it work?

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If a patron is unable to find a book they want on Indiana public library shelves, there are, thankfully, many options to get it to them, one of which is interlibrary loan. There are numerous resource sharing services throughout the state, but Indiana Share is one of the longest running of the available ILL services and recently saw a resurgence in 2024.

What is Indiana Share?
Indiana Share is an Indiana State Library-managed interlibrary loan service for public, school, special and institutional libraries around the state. Indiana Share was launched in 2008, shortly after INCOLSA discontinued their regional interlibrary loan service. There was still a statewide need for assistance in providing interlibrary loans, especially for libraries and schools unable to support or afford this service individually, so the Indiana State Library, in partnership with the Indianapolis Public Library, stepped in to fill the gap. The state library hired a small team of library technicians to process these requests and provide loans via a special statewide OCLC subscription. The team was based out of Indianapolis Public Library’s Central branch, and for a time even pulled and fulfilled loans directly from IndyPL’s collection.

Over time, as the Evergreen Indiana consortium expanded to over half of the state’s public libraries, the need for Indiana Share decreased as the consortium libraries shared between themselves. SRCS, the Statewide Remote Circulation Service, was also introduced as an interlibrary loan option and provided loans for eight years, but after its discontinuation the Indiana State Library once again welcomed libraries back to Indiana Share, and all hands are on deck to process these requests accurately and timely.

How does it work?
Participating libraries use a link on the Indiana State Library’s website to search OCLC’s WorldCat and request items. These requests are then routed to State Library staff who process each request, locating potential lenders from approximately 100 academic and public libraries via OCLC. State Library staff always try to obtain books within Indiana, if possible, since these are shipped for no cost if the library is an InfoExpress courier subscriber. With Indiana Share, it is also possible to borrow requests from public, academic and special libraries out of state if a library agrees to extra fees or costs associated with postage. Each Share request is processed by hand and sent to as many lenders as possible, as many times as needed, until it is either filled for cancelled. There is currently no cost to libraries to use the service.

If a request is filled, a lending library ships the item directly to the requesting library. If no lenders are identified, or no copies are available, the request is canceled and the requesting library receives an email explaining why the loan was cancelled. In addition to placing requests, Indiana Share participants are asked to provide updates to the state library when materials are received or returned so that we can make sure the OCLC system is appropriately updated.

Indiana Share requests can only be placed by the staff of participating libraries. If you are a patron interested in this service ask the circulation staff at your library about the types of interlibrary loan services available to you. We also encourage libraries with robust interlibrary loan services to consider subscribing to OCLC directly, which reduces the need for Indiana State Library staff to mediate each request, and also enables them to share their collections.

This blog post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office.

Centennial and Bicentennial reflections

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Dec. 6 marks the 100th anniversary of Gene Stratton-Porter’s death. Stratton-Porter wore many hats: conservationist, photographer, film producer and, not least, as a best-selling Hoosier author. Geneva Grace Stratton was born on Aug. 17, 1863, in Wabash County, Indiana. In 1886, Gene married businessman Charles Porter and the following year had their only child, a daughter, Jeannette Stratton-Porter. In 1894, Charles and Gene built a cabin near the Limberlost Swamp in Geneva, Indiana, where Gene spent much of her time exploring before the swamp was destroyed in the name of development in 1912. While living at Limberlost, Gene wrote six of her twelve novels and five of her seven nature books, including the best-selling books “Freckles” and “A Girl of the Limberlost.” In 1914, the family moved to Sylvan Lake, in Noble County, Indiana, building a cabin that the author spent no small amount of time and money making sure had minimum negative impact on the site. She even went to so far as to hire a tree surgeon to help her preserve the area. Wildflower Woods Cabin still stands today.

In 1919, the novelist moved to California and started her own film production company, Gene Stratton-Porter Productions. Included among the library’s small collection of Gene Stratton-Porter manuscripts (S1069), is correspondence on letterhead from said production company.

This collection also includes correspondence from Stratton-Porter and several other materials ranging from 1902 to 1979, regarding her work as an author, photographer and filmmaker, in addition to her personal life. The collection includes an undated portrait photograph of Stratton-Porter posing outdoors; an advertisement from Good Housekeeping; and a typed copy of an article, “The Old Institution of Home” from 1922; as well as a portrait postcard printed circa 1979.

Her 1921 California-centric work, “Her Father’s Daughter,” reflected anti-Asian sentiments of the time and reviews of her works were more mixed during this period, which coincided with her focus on trying to get her previous works made into films. She died on Dec. 6, 1924, in Los Angeles, California, from injuries sustained in a car accident. She is buried near her cabin on Sylvan Lake in Rome City, Indiana.

Incidentally, the letter printed here has also been reproduced in “Laying the Foundation: Collection Highlights From the Indiana State Library,” a book published in honor of the Indiana State Library’s bicentennial, which will be celebrated next year. The volume is now available for purchase in the Nook, our gift shop located at the Indiana State Library’s 315 W. Ohio St. entrance. If you’d like to take home a piece of Gene Stratton-Porter yourself, along with 99 other gems from the library’s collection dating from the 14th century to the present, stop by the gift shop.

Once you pick up your copy of the book, you can head up to Wildflower Woods on Dec. 6, where The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites will be honoring Stratton-Porter with a tour of her beloved home. Visitors will also learn about 19th and early 20th century mourning practices.

This post was written by Victoria Duncan, Rare Books and Manuscripts supervisor.

Indiana’s forgotten bowl game: The Refrigerator Bowl

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The United States in the late 1940s was hungry for college football. With many schools completely dropping their programs for the duration of World War II, the American public was ready to resume its collegiate sports traditions. The postwar era saw a rush of newly created bowl games throughout the country as cities sought to cash-in on the trend and market themselves as popular sports destinations. Most of these bowl series are now defunct but included the Raison Bowl in Fresno, California; the Salad Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona; and the Cigar Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Never to be left out of a trend, Indiana also had a bowl entry dubbed the Refrigerator Bowl, held annually in Evansville from 1948 to 1956.

Souvenir program for the first game.

By 1948, the city of Evansville was home to multiple companies that manufactured refrigerators or refrigerator components. Servel, Inc., the Seeger Refrigerator Corporation and International Harvester were producing over a million units each year, a figure which gave Evansville boasting rights to the title “refrigerator capital of the world.”

Evansville’s “Big Three” refrigerator manufacturers.

Members of the Evansville Junior Chamber of Commerce – commonly known as the Jaycees – developed the idea of hosting a college bowl game, partly to highlight the city’s importance in the refrigerator industry and also to raise money for the local YMCA children’s facility known as Camp Carson.

While most college bowl games have historically been held on the first day of January, the Refrigerator Bowl was always held in early December, a concession to Indiana’s fickle winter weather. The game was scheduled to be played in the Reitz Bowl, a “natural amphitheater” stadium attached to Reitz High School.

Built in 1921, the Reitz Bowl continues to be used for local high school football games.

The teams selected to participate in the inaugural game were Missouri Valley and Evansville College. The Missouri Valley Vikings were a Midwestern powerhouse and had not lost a game since 1941. Going into the bowl game, the team had only allowed a mere three touchdowns the entire 1948 season. The Evansville Purple Aces had lost three games and were considered obvious underdogs.

Much to the surprise of all involved, the Evansville Purple Aces managed to end Missouri Valley’s long winning streak by scoring two touchdowns and defeating them 13 to 7. Approximately 7,500 spectators attended the event and Evansville’s head coach was carried off the field on the shoulders of his ecstatic players.

Newspaper coverage from the Evansville Courier Press, Dec. 5, 1948. From Newspapers.com.

The first bowl game was enough of a success that it continued for the next eight years. However, by the mid 1950s, attendance was very low and one of the major refrigerator companies, Servel, went out of business. Despite no longer having its own bowl game, Evansville continued to be a hub of refrigerator manufacturing for the next couple of decades.

This blog post was written by Jocelyn Lewis, Catalog Division supervisor, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at 317-232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

2024 Genealogy and Local History Fair recap

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On Oct. 26, genealogists and historians, as well as representatives from historical organizations, lineage societies and genealogical societies, visited the Indiana State Library to attend the biennial Genealogy and Local History Fair!

This year’s theme was “At the Crossroads of America: Westward Migration and Family History” where we looked at migration routes across the United States and how and where people traveled after they arrived in America.

Our speakers were professional genealogists and lecturers Annette Burke Lyttle and Eleanor Brinsko. Burke Lyttle presented “The National Road: America’s First Federal Highway” examining the route that took settlers from Maryland to Illinois and helped open up the Midwest. The National Road, known as Washington Street in Indianapolis, traces through the heart of downtown just two blocks from the library, so this topic was of particular local interest. Burke Lyttle also presented “How Advertising Brought Our Ancestors to the Midwest,” which looked at the many forms of marketing that were used to attract new settlers both from the East and from Europe.

Brinsko presented “Westward Ho: Migration Methods of the United States” exploring how people moved across the country and how the travel methods available to them influenced where they chose to go. Regardless of the time period, travel across the United States was often difficult and dangerous, and it was impressive to learn about the things our ancestors faced as they sought a place to live.

The Genealogy and Local History Fair will return on Oct. 24, 2026. We hope to see you there!

This blog post is by Jamie Dunn, Genealogy Division supervisor.

Applications now being accepted for 2025 Indiana State Library Bicentennial Research Fellowship

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In honor of the Indiana State Library’s 200th anniversary, the Indiana State Library Bicentennial Committee, in conjunction with the Indiana State Library Foundation, will support one Indiana State Library Bicentennial Research Fellowship for 2025.

Emerging or established researchers and historians who are prepared to conduct and publish new research and scholarship with a focus on Indiana history, or a specific collection housed at the Indiana State Library, are encouraged to apply. The fellowship provides a $1,000 stipend to support in-person research for five consecutive work days at the Indiana State Library in downtown Indianapolis.

Applicants must be emerging or established historians, researchers, authors, post-docs or graduate students with proven writing skills, a demonstrated passion for Indiana history and the ability to perform in-person research at the Indiana State Library for five consecutive days, Monday through Friday, between Jan. 6-Dec. 19, 2025. Applicants can be based anywhere in the U.S., but the committee particularly encourages Indiana residents outside of Marion County to apply.

Those interested should submit a completed Indiana State Library Bicentennial Application along with a one-page research statement or proposal, a resume or CV with a maximum of three pages, one letter of recommendation and up to three writing samples. The application should be submitted via email. Writing samples may be submitted as PDF or Word files and should be no longer than 20 pages each.

The application deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 26. The Fellowship will be awarded by Tuesday, Dec. 31.

Click here to read more.

This post was submitted by the Indiana State Library administrative team. 

1867 Asher and Adams map of Indianapolis

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Asher and Adams are noteworthy mapmakers for their contribution to 19th century county and city mapping. They are known for their detailed state atlases of New York in 1869, 1870 and 1871. Some Asher and Adams maps were published in New York City, and others were published in Indianapolis. Sometimes, they publish as Asher, Adams and Higgins.

The Indiana State Library wishes to share an 1867 map of Indianapolis, published by Asher and Adams in Indianapolis, and printed in Buffalo, New York. It has now been made available online. The map is large and detailed. Railroads are drawn with detail and clearly name the depots. There is an extensive business directory in the margins.

If you’re an Indianapolis map enthusiast, you’re likely familiar with the 1866 Warner map of Marion County, published by Titus. However, you may not have seen the Asher and Adams map; at least not the Indiana State Library’s copy. Why wouldn’t you have seen this map before? It’s rare and it’s massive. It was dissected, and when unfolded its large size makes it difficult to handle. It was also horribly dirty. It had been on “preservation status” in our catalog, essentially hiding it from the online public access catalog.

This is where Seth Irwin comes in. Irwin has been the Indiana State Library’s conservator since 2019. He, and his rotating crew of interns, with a grant-funded conservator, have worked wonders with the map collection. You may have seen their blogs about some other map treatments here and here. Sadly, he is leaving his position here at the Indiana State Library. He has made a huge impact on the future of the State Library’s Indiana map collection. His knowledge and tenacity made him an incredible friend to the map collection. I am deeply grateful for the time he spent time with us.

Here are some photos from his most recent treatment of the Asher and Adams Indianapolis map:

Washing of the map.

Dirty silk – once used to protect the map – removed.

Before and after, side by side.

Now, go spend some time with our maps!

This post was written by Monique Howell, Indiana Collection supervisor.

Angelina Collins, Indiana’s first cookbook writer

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Born on May 26, 1805, in Petersburg, Virginia, Angelina Maria Lorain – or Lorraine – was raised as a Methodist and instilled with ideas of abolitionism. After marrying James Collins – and taking his name – in 1830, the couple moved to Paoli, Indiana, where they lived for a few years before settling in New Albany in Floyd County.

Painting titled “Mrs. A. Collins, aged thirty-six.”

In 1851, Angelina Collins, with the help of John R. Nunemacher, printer and book seller in New Albany, published her volume of table receipts – known today as recipes – titled “Mrs. Collins’ Table Receipts: Adapted to Western Housewifery.”

In the preface of the book, she explains “…my object has been to simplify the culinary art, and adapt it to every capacity and condition of life, and in preparing the receipts, I have endeavored to select and combine such ingredients as may be easily obtained in any section of our country, but especially have I desired to render them serviceable to the housekeepers of the West.” In other words, “Here’s what you can find at local markets and groceries in late 1840s southern Indiana.” Being on the Ohio River, many of the river towns would have access to a far greater variety of imported goods from the eastern coast, with grocers and merchants being among the first businesses to be established.

Collins ends her preface with “To the ladies of the West, I offer this little volume with full confidence that it will be properly appreciated and well received, and should it in any manner add to their comfort or convenience, I shall be fully compensated for the employment of my leisure home.” And her little volume must have added a large amount of comfort and convenience because in 1857, her cookbook was republished after somehow making its way to A. S. Barnes & Company in New York, where it experienced a name change to the title “The Great Western Cookbook, Or Table Receipts Adapted to Western Housewifery” with the same number of pages. By this time, 1850s southern and middle Indiana would have been well settled, but the upper part still remained as open territory for settlers. These types of publications, such as Mrs. Collins’ cookbook, were meant to encourage immigration to those areas and further west, by showing that there is an abundance of resources.

Here at the Indiana State Library, we have the original 1851 volume and have added it to our digital collections. You can view it here.

Cover of “Mrs. Collins’ Table Receipts: Adapted to Western Housewifery.”

The 1857 version is available online to be researched in Indiana University’s digital collection, “Service through Sponge Cake”. Here is a link to that version.

So, if you love trying our historic recipes, there are 140-plus pages for you to sample. Collins organized her book by topics, including fish, boiling, pickling, pies and fancy dishes to name a few. And of course, no cookbook would be complete with tidbits of information or advice. On page 15, “Observation – In preparing soups, always cut the pieces of meat you send in the tureen small enough to be eaten with introducing a knife and fork into the soup plate.”

Her recipes include corn pone, hominy, “Succotash a la Tecumseh,” mock turtle soup, “California soup,” Mrs. Collins’ batter cake and brain balls. Collins also includes a recipe for mangoes, or in today’s language, stuffed bell peppers. Also included is an interesting recipe for “Indiana sauce.”

Indiana sauce, as featured in “Mrs. Collins’ Table Receipts: Adapted to Western Housewifery.”

Although Angelina Maria Collins died on Sept. 28,1885 in Salem, Indiana, her cookbook is still being researched and used by historians.

Are you interested in historic cookbooks? If so, here are some digital collections of historic cookbooks available from libraries around the country:

This post was written by Christopher Marshall, digital collections coordinator for the Indiana Division at the Indiana State Library.

Upcoming Rosetta Stone migration will require INSPIRE users to keep track of progress

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On Nov. 13, the Rosetta Stone platform will be upgraded. Users who subscribe to Rosetta Stone via INSPIRE will notice a change in their account.

Once the migration is complete, users’ accounts and progress will be reset. EBSCO recommends that users note their current level and lesson. After the migration, users will be able to go back to their previous lessons manually. EBSCO has provided a reminder bookmark that can be printed out in order to help users keep track of their current lessons. The bookmark can be downloaded here. Click here for further instructions on how locate current levels and lessons.

There will be no other changes to users’ accounts. Users will enter their same credentials on the login screen. They will still have continuous access to Rosetta Stone’s content, new updated imagery and cultural stories. The program will look and feel identical to the existing site. The content and curriculum path will not change.

Indiana residents who use Rosetta Stone via INSPIRE will still have free full access – all five levels – to nine languages in Rosetta Stone: Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), English (American), English (British), French, German, Italian and Russian. Additionally, Indiana residents can access 15 languages up to level three: Arabic, Dutch, Filipino (Tagalog), Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish and Vietnamese.

Rosetta Stone is available to all Indiana residents at no cost. Visit the INSPIRE website and click on the Rosetta Stone logo to sign up and get started.

This blog post was submitted by the communications director of the Indiana State Library.

Library gaming resources, an award and the Platinum Play Hall of Fame

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As a regional coordinator with the Professional Development Office here at the Indiana State Library, I love making library visits in the fall. With the leaves beginning to change, and the weather turning colder, I like to use the drive time to reflect on all of the things that I can enjoy in the fall and winter months, like reading a good book – borrowed from my local library – while drinking a warm beverage and the start of basketball season. However, some of my favorites, of course, are games. One of the best months for games in libraries is fast approaching, International Games Month, which is celebrated every year in November.

I have been asked recently by many libraries how they might go about starting a game collection if they don’t currently have games. Just like any other library resource, to answer questions like this you need to consider many things about your community and library to best answer them. Is the library or the community most interested in a circulating collection? Is the library hoping to use games for programming and community building? Some of the resources I have suggested to libraries in the past can be found here. Unfortunately, there is no established “first purchase list” for games as a library collection, partially because games as a type of library collection are still relatively new, and because the answers to the above questions can play an outsized role in developing the collection.

To begin developing lists to help libraries, the Games and Gaming Round Table of the American Library Association formed a new committee a few years ago and began developing an award. This year during IGM, the Awards Committee of ALA’s GameRT will be announcing the first class of inductees – the Platy’s – into the Platinum Play Hall of Fame. The Hall was first announced this past January with a list of classic games that work well in library settings. Each year we plan to add newer games to this Hall with the focus remaining on games well suited for libraries. At the end of November, the nomination window will open for next year’s Platy’s. Once the nomination window opens, I will be announcing it on the Indiana Games Roundtable Listserv. If you are not currently a member of that listserv it is a growing community of Indiana library employees who use, collect and work with games of all types in their libraries and we would love to have you join that conversation. Details about joining this – or any Indiana library – Listserv can be found here.

This post was written by George Bergstrom, Southwest regional coordinator, Professional Development Office, Indiana State Library.

Visually Impaired Preschool Services

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Did you Know?

90% of what a child learns is through their vision.
85% of the foundation of learning happens the first five years of their life.

Did you also know that located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis is an exceptional preschool for children with visual impairments? It is called Visually Impaired Preschool Services, or more affectionately known as VIPS. It is an inclusive, nonprofit organization that was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1985 and “provides vision-specific, early intervention for young children, birth to three, who are blind or visually impaired and comprehensive support to their families.” It has since expanded to Indiana. Indiana’s VIPS took root in 2011 through the efforts of a teacher for blind and low vision children, who was also the mother of a legally blind child.

Their efforts paid off over time, because VIPS grew. In 2022, their new facility opened, and it is astounding. It has a sensory room, several playrooms, a little library section with print and braille board books, a kitchen area, a doctor’s room and so much more. There are even apartments above VIPS that can be leased out to families with visually-impaired children who need them. They offer a wide range of programming and services such as home visits, orientation and mobility services, preschool readiness programs, parent empowerment programs, summer programs and story times to name a few.

Those of us at the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library love to go over to the VIPS facility for outreach and to provide story times for the children and their parents to enjoy. These story times allow us to read stories to the children and allow the parents and children to become familiar with braille books.

Besides partnering with us at the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library, VIPS also partners with others in the community for outreach, such as the Indiana School for the Blind and the Indiana State Department of Health. This is to ensure that all the visually-impaired children they serve receive all the essential resources and help they need. The kind staff at VIPS is dedicated to the growth and happiness of the children and families they serve.

So, if you, or anyone you know, has a young child in need of the Visually Impaired Preschool Services you won’t be disappointed by all they have to offer. VIPS can be contacted at via their website, by calling 317-961-5001 or by visiting 1212 Southeastern Avenue in Indianapolis.

Visually Impaired Preschool Services is a non-profit organization and accepts donations.

This post was submitted by Kylie Brinker, reader advisor, Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library at the Indiana State library. 

Visually Impaired Preschool Services. “VIPS Indiana – Visually Impaired Preschool Services.” Visually Impaired Preschool Services, 12 Apr. 2024, vips.org/vips-indiana/.