Discovery to Delivery 2026: ‘Resource Sharing on a Budget’

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This year’s Discovery to Delivery (D2D) conference was held Oct. 2 at the Indianapolis University Indianapolis (IU) University Library, and online via Microsoft Teams. Attendees were warmly welcomed by IU Indianapolis mascot Jawz the Jaguar, as well as Herbert Simon Family dean Kristi Palmer and Cetoria Tomberlin, Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) chair and resource sharing librarian at IU Indianapolis University Library.Picture of jaguar mascot.

Dean Kristi Palmer.

Following the welcome (and a brief emergency evacuation), updates on several statewide resource sharing services were provided by Indiana State Library staff, including state librarian Jacob Speer, resource sharing coordinator Leigh Anne Johnson and Evergreen Indiana consortium director Courtney Brown. Christina Pacheco and Joseph Etheridge from NOW Courier were in attendance representing the logistics company responsible for the statewide library courier service, providing an update and answering numerous questions.

Evergreen Indiana presentation on screen.

Woman presenting data at conference.

Man and woman presenting at conference. After a brief break, Tony Melvyn of OCLC, Inc. provided an engaging session with tips for cost savings.

Man presenting at conference.

After lunch, two breakout sessions were available to attendees with presentations including: “Adventures in Python: Vibe Coding Your Way to a Better ILL Book Strap,” “How Indiana Shares,” “Enhancing Access Using Third Iron’s LibKey Nomad” and “The Human Side of Wikidata: Using Linked, Open Data.”

The conference LibGuide, which will include slides and recordings from the sessions, can be viewed here.

We would also like to thank the Indiana State Library Foundation and the Academic Libraries of Indiana for their continued support of this conference, and the 2026 Conference Planning Committee for successfully hosting another year:

  • Abby Asher, Indiana State Library
  • Jennifer Clifton, Indiana State Library
  • Elizabeth Hager, Porter County Public Library
  • Leigh Anne Johnson, Indiana State Library
  • Maureen Kennedy, Indiana University South Bend
  • Jayanne Rumple, Montezuma Public Library
  • Cetoria Tomberlin, Indiana University – Indianapolis

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

The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book celebrates the National Book Festival

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The National Book Festival, presented by the Library of Congress, took place on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The event was free and open to the public. Each year, the Affiliated Centers for the Book participate in the National Book Festival. Each Center for the Book Affiliate staffs a booth in the festival’s Roadmap to Reading area to promote reading, libraries and literacy in their state. The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book, housed at the Indiana Young Readers Center at the Indiana State Library, was happy to attend this year’s festival.

Woman in dress in front of sign.

Indiana Young Readers Center librarian Tammie in her 1850s period dress, ready for the National Book Festival!

More than 80 of the nation’s best authors, poets and illustrators discussed their work and answered questions at the festival. Featured guests participated in author talks, presentations, storytimes and panel conversations. Featured authors from Indiana included Meg Cabot, Craig Fehrman and Caroline Brewer. A selection of programs were livestreamed online, and videos of all programs were available shortly after the festival.

The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress is a community of 56 Affiliated Centers for the Book existing to promote reading, libraries and literacy across the country. There is an Affiliate Center for the Book in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Northern Marianas. The centers elevate and advocate for each state’s unique literary heritage – developed by writers whose works reflect distinctively American places. Rooted in the nation’s extraordinary diversity of people and geography, the authors’ stories, novels, essays, poems and other written works are regularly featured in programs supported by the Affiliated Centers for the Book. Often, these programs are connected to the Great Reads from Great Places program.

Display booth full of promotional items.

Ready for almost 4,000 visitors!

Annually, Affiliated Centers for the Book choose two Great Reads from Great Places selections. In most cases, these books – one for youth and one for adults – are written by authors from their state or territory, take place in their state or territory or celebrate local culture and heritage. The titles are featured at each state’s Roadmap to Reading booth at the National Book Festival. In addition, this year, in honor of America’s 250th Semiquincentennial, affiliate centers were encouraged to choose a title that connects to that theme in some way.

This year, in celebration of the National Book Festival, the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book hosted two “Book Festival Near You” programs featuring the state’s selected Great Reads from Great Places authors, Candace Fleming and Ryan L. Cole. Fleming and Cole were the selected youth and adult authors, respectively. The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book worked with Indiana Humanities to select the titles. “Book Festival Near You” celebrations took place across the Centers for the Book network.

Leading up to the festival, on Saturday, Aug. 8, Fleming visited the Indiana State Library and presented both live and virtually. Fleming’s book, “Imogene’s Last Stand,” illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, was 2026 Great Reads from Great Places youth selection. The book fit perfectly with the America’s 250th Semiquincentennial celebration theme, as it highlights how young people, like Imogene, can make a difference in their communities. In the book, Imogene fights to preserve history and save the local historical society from demolition.

Woman presenting at podium in front of audience.

Author Candace Fleming visits the Indiana State Library on Saturday, Aug. 8, as part of the “Book Festival Near You” programs.

Fleming is the author of more than 50 books for children and young adults, including the 2021 Sibert Medal-winning “Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera” and the 2021 American Library Association YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award-winning “The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh.”

After the National Book Festival, Cole visited the Indiana State Library on Saturday, Sept. 12, and also presented both live and virtually. Cole’s book, “The Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic” was 2026 Great Reads from Great Places adult selection. The book also fit with the America’s 250th Semiquincentennial celebration theme, as it recounts when the Marquis de Lafayette returned to the United States in 1824, as an aging hero of the American Revolution. Lafayette was welcomed with the grandest celebration the young republic would ever stage as he traveled to every state in the union and was met with parades and delirious crowds.

Man standing at podium presenting program.

Author Ryan Cole visits the Indiana State Library on Saturday, Sept. 12, as part of the “Book Festival Near You” programs.

Cole is also the author of “Light-Horse Harry Lee: Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero.” He has delivered talks at venues such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Library of Congress. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

At this year’s Roadmap to Reading booth at the National book Festival, the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book stamped 3,456 maps, which were provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This number is up 17.5% from last year. Since not all of our visitors had a map, this means we were visited by more than 3,500 people in one day! Whew! We also had the pleasure of being joined by Cole at our booth. He stayed throughout the entire day talking to visitors about his book and helping us stamp those nearly 3,500 maps! The Roadmap to Reading Booths could not greet all of these visitors alone. More than 1,000 volunteers from the Washington, D.C. Junior League supported us throughout the day.

Man holding book.

Author Ryan Cole graciously lends a hand at the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book’s Roadmap to Reading booth… and shows off his book.

As visitors traveled from booth to booth, they were able to get a sticker or a stamp from each state. They were also able to collect swag, such as bookmarks, stickers, keychains, squishies, temporary tattoos, fans, pencils, pens, beads, erasers, brochures, state literary maps, travel guides, sticky notes, journals, posters, zines, buttons, pins, beach balls and, of course, books. At the Indiana booth, we were visited briefly by authors Cabot, Fehrman and Brewer between their featured author presentations.

This year, the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book was able to give away books to 15 children who visited the Indiana booth. Additionally, the Politics and Prose bookstore was on hand to make all of the Great Reads from Great Places choices across all states and territories available for purchase. The Indiana children’s book sold 14 of 20 copies and the adult book sold out of all 20 copies!

While the Affiliated Centers for the Book were in Washington, D.C., the Affiliate Centers for the Book Network took advantage of our time together in person and held its annual meeting, titled “Idea Exchange” this year. The meeting was held at the Library of Congress James Madison Building the day before the National Book Festival. The annual meeting traditionally includes discussions about common issues among centers, strategic planning and reporting to move the network forward. Centers also have time to share current projects and best practices and to network with one another.

Large group of people posing.

The directors of the Centers for the Book.

This year, the directors of the Centers for the Book had to opportunity to visit the Library of Congress’ newest area, the Source. The Source is a place “Where Curiosity Sparks Discovery.” It is especially designed for kids and teens, ages 8-15. Visitors to this experiential gallery at the Library of Congress, with their families or school groups, can explore hundreds of primary sources from the library’s collections. Interactive exhibits feature text, images, film and sound as ways to learn about the past.

Picture of old record player with the word Sound on the wall.

Area of the Source at the Library of Congress.

Person standing in front of display that says Image.

Area of the Source at the Library of Congress.

Finally, the Library of Congress held a reception for the Center for the Book Affiliate Network the day before the National Book Festival. The annual event is primarily a celebration of the network and allows center directors, staff and contacts to meet other centers directors and staff from the Library of Congress. It also allows attendees to interface with local authors and broaden their professional network. Centers usually have the chance to meet the Librarian of Congress face-to-face and often get to meet with other national leaders in literary spaces, such as national leaders from humanities or library organizations.

People standing in a room.

The reception in full swing.

The Library of Congress released free tickets to the public and more than 45,000 people attended the festival this year. Overall, the National Book Festival was an exciting week in Washington, D.C. for the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book!

This blog post was submitted by Indiana Young Readers Center librarian Tammie Buchanan.

Genealogy and Local History Fair returns to Indiana State Library on Oct. 24

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The popular Genealogy and Local History Fair will return to the Indiana State Library on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “America 250: Researching Our Early American Ancestors.” The fair will feature a full day of genealogy presentations and exhibitors.

Decorative graphic.

Military historian and professional genealogist Michael Strauss will present “The Road to Independence: Defiance, Crises and Coming War.” In the decade before the Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the start of the American Revolutionary War, the forces that would make revolution necessary were already at work. Strauss will explore the events and tensions that carried the colonies to the breaking point while reviewing records that place families squarely within the prewar struggles.

Strauss will also present “In the Cause of Liberty: Voices from the Revolutionary War.” He will examine compiled military service records, pension files, state and federal bounty land warrants, local militia rolls and Continental Navy and Marine Corps records of those who served in the Revolutionary War. The lecture extends beyond the war itself and examines the national emergencies that followed.

Professional genealogical researcher, writer and speaker Anni Parsons will present “The Hunt for Patriots in Your Ancestry.” Parsons will detail how to trace a family tree back to the Revolutionary War and how to establish if one has Patriots or Loyalists in their lineage. Genealogy resources will be discussed and will be based on records in America during the colonial years.

Registration is not required for the in-person event but is preferred. Click here to register and to read more details about the presentations and speakers. This year, participants may attend virtually. Click here to register for the virtual sessions.

Indiana library staff can receive up to three LEUs for attending.

Parking validation will be available for attendees who park in the Senate Avenue parking garage directly across from the library and bring their ticket in for validation.

For questions, or to register as an exhibitor, please email the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library.

This post was written by John Wekluk, communications director at the Indiana State Library.

Indiana State Library to celebrate 10 years of Indiana Young Readers Center

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The Indiana State Library is inviting the public to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its Indiana Young Readers Center. A Legacy Project of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission, the center was officially opened on Oct. 6, 2016, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Modeled after the Young Readers Center in the Library of Congress, the room is dedicated to Indiana authors and illustrators. The center houses interactive exhibits featuring famous Hoosiers, such as Jim Davis, Norman Bridwell, Meg Cabot and John Green.

Graphic with date and time of celebration. On Saturday, Oct. 10, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., the Indiana State Library will celebrate the anniversary with author visits, activities, story times, a writing workshop, community information tables, a special presentation and surprise guests.

Dori Graham, author and library media specialist at Fort Wayne Community Schools, will read her children’s picture book “Brave Miss Muffet.” John David Anderson, best-selling author of several critically acclaimed novels for young people, including “Posted” and “Ms. Bixby’s Last Day,” will lead a writing workshop for teens and will also give an author talk. Each author will be available for a meet and greet and a book signing.

Photo of Indiana Young Readers Center. A special presentation about the history of the Young Readers Center with Christy Franzman, the Young Readers Center’s first librarian, and Suzanne Walker, former Young Readers Center librarian and current Center for the Book program manager at the Library of Congress, is scheduled. The presentation will also feature 2025 Statehood Essay Contest winner Marichka Khakhula, who will read her winning essay, and Lincoln Heddleston, 2024 Letters About Literature contest winner, who will read his letter to John Green.

The program is free and will take place at the Indiana State Library. Registration is not required. The Indiana State Library is located at 315 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

This post was written by John Wekluk, communications director at the Indiana State Library.

Starnes and Myers collection

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Several images from a recent addition to the genealogy collection at the Indiana State Library have been digitized. The Starnes and Myers collection G-141 is named for Carl Starnes and Kathryn Myers who were from Wallace, located in Fountain County. Both of their families had originally come to Fountain County from North Carolina in the 1820s and 1830s. Both were born in Fountain County and attended their local school. They later were married on Aug. 7, 1939.

Several of the images digitized are class photographs from Wallace High School. The building photographed was built between 1910 and 1911 after the previous frame school building built in 1895 was condemned.

The digitized photographs range from the 1910s to the 1930s, but the collection contains some photographs that date to 1946. Both Carl and Kathryn feature heavily in the photographs but there is also one from 1914 that contains Kathryn’s father Leslie and Carl’s mother Susan Sanders.

Besides the class photographs there are also photos of the 1931-1932 and 1932-1933 boys basketball teams. Carl Starnes was a member of both teams.

There are also other Wallace School related materials in Kathryn’s scrapbooks including ribbons, programs, basketball schedules with handwritten scores and other items.

Like many rural and small schools, the Wallace high school closed in 1964 and was later demolished.

The Wallace School isn’t the only school in the collection. There are a few photographs of various township school buildings that were digitized, including the Rush, Sulphur Springs and one unnamed Jackson Township School. These photographs date from the 1890s to the early 1900s.

There are also a small number of photos from around Wallace including Phanuel Lutheran Church and the Wallace garage. Phanuel Lutheran church was at one time one of the oldest Lutheran churches in Indiana, having started holding services in 1832.

You can find more digitized photographs from the Starnes and Myers collection in the Indiana State Library’s digital collections.

These photographs are just a small part of the Starnes and Myers collection which contain several scrapbooks and photo albums, report cards along with many more photographs grouped by families.

Blog written by Sarah Pfundstein, genealogy librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at 317-232-3689 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

Programming resources for youth services librarians

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Programming librarians are always looking for new ideas. I was a programming librarian for 12 years, so I get it! Keeping things exciting for your patrons and for yourself can be a challenge. I’ve rounded up a few helpful resources to get the ideas flowing.

Before I share those, however, remember that the very best programming idea resource is your patrons! The only way to truly know what your patrons want is to ask them. This is especially important with teens and tweens, who gain important skills when invited to share input and to codesign programs, so I recommend reviewing the toolkit Evaluating Library Programming to learn about a variety of tools you can use to gather and evaluate feedback.

Now, on to the resources!

Indiana State Library program idea lists
To support summer reading and programming year-round, I gather program ideas from library staff during my summer reading trainings each year. Collected and posted annually in various formats since 2016, the lists are a treasure trove of program ideas for all ages! You can browse program ideas for the current summer reading program year here. These lists are divided roughly by age group and a quick browse might inspire your next program!

Programming Librarian
ProgrammingLibrarian.org is a website run by the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office. They host a searchable database of program ideas for all ages collected from library staff across the country. Results can be filtered by a variety of factors.

Starnet logo.

STAR Net STEM Activity Clearinghouse
The STEM Clearinghouse is a database of quality STEM activities that are perfect for library use. Each activity includes a full plan, and they are searchable by age, cost, time to prep and to complete the activity, difficulty level and more. STAR Net stands for “Science-Technology Activities & Resources for Libraries,” and was developed in partnership with Cornerstones of Science, the Space Science Institute, the National Center for Interactive Learning and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

PBS Kids logo.

PBS Kids
PBS Kids maintains their own “Find Ways to Play” database of activities for kids ages 2-8. Designed to be used by parents, each activity is tied to a PBS Kids show or character and provides a thorough plan complete with required materials and step-by-step directions. They also offer printables that you can share with parents, such as “Encouraging Pretend Play” or “How to Prepare Children for Unexpected Events and Emergencies.” The database is searchable by age, show, topic and type.

Jbrary
Jbrary was started by two Canadian children’s librarians and is “a library of storytime resources for those of us working with children.” While not strictly a program idea database, Jbrary offers plenty of helpful resources and tips for storytime programmers, including planning resources for storytimes and school age programs, booklists, songs and rhymes and more. The Jbrary YouTube channel contains recordings of many songs and rhymes that are perfect for storytime.

Youth Services Playbook
The Youth Services Playbook is a blog created by Indiana librarian Adrienne De Luna. Adrienne shares program ideas but also discusses a wide variety of youth services library-related topics in her blog posts, highlighting what other librarians have to say about various hot topics. Though some of her materials are behind a paywall, I do recommend the blog for both program ideas and thoughtful reflection on the profession.

Nourishing Minds Toolkit
Nourishing Minds is a mental wellness program for teens and their libraries with the goals of creating brave spaces for creativity, normalizing mental health conversations and harnessing the power of program co-design in libraries. The site offers resources and tools for prioritizing those three pillars in teen library programming.

Let's Move in Libraries logo. Let’s Move in Libraries
Let’s Move in Libraries offers ideas for movement-based programs, from running and walking clubs to music and movement activities.

National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment (NILPPA)
The NILPPA, from the American Library Association, offers tools for to help you establish impactful partnerships and to evaluate your programs and programming staff.

Submitted by Beth Yates, Indiana State Library children’s consultant.

Are you related to a famous person?

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How do you find out if you are related to a famous person?

A well-researched and healthy family tree is a great place to start. The more generations you have in your family tree, the more chances you will have to find out if you are related to someone famous.

Know that, most likely, your famous relative will not be a direct ancestor, but you and the famous person will have descended from a common ancestor – making you some sort of cousin.

When I first started searching my family history, I came across a familiar surname: Hoover. Absalom Hoover was born in 1792 in North Carolina and died on Sept. 26, 1857 in Wayne County, Indiana. Of course, seeing the name Hoover made me think of Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the Unites States. I had my traced my Hoover ancestry to Johann Heinrich Huber. Now, I just needed to compare my family tree to Herbert Hoover’s family tree.

It was not hard to find Herbert Hoover’s family tree. The great thing about presidential family history is that, to my knowledge, all the presidents’ family trees have been successfully and thoroughly researched. Genealogical material can be easy to find as well, since presidential libraries and museums are many times repositories for genealogical material related to the president. Some examples of genealogical material available at presidential libraries include the Manuscript Collections – Hulda Hoover Mclean Papers at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; The Ancestry of Richard Milhous Nixon, Second Edition – White House Special Files Collection, Special Files Box 10 Folder 13 at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library; Eisenhower Ancestry at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home; and The Roosevelt Family Roots at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

To compare my family history to Herbert Hoover’s family history, I used Herbert Hoover’s family tree available in the book “Genealogy of the Herbert Hoover Family.” The results? I am a fourth cousin, four times removed to President Herbert Hoover.

By the way, did you know that J. Edgar Hoover and Herbert Hoover are not related? A Tale of Two Hoovers from the blog of the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum provides more insight.

Black and white picture of Stuart M. Chambers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Richard Nixon, former President Herbert Hoover and George C. Biggers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Left to right: Stuart M. Chambers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, former President Richard Nixon, former President Herbert Hoover and George C. Biggers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Having Quakers – those who belong to the Religious Society of Friends – in your family tree is an easy way to find famous relations. Historically, since Quakers were religiously non-conformists, their births, marriages and deaths were not recorded by the state sanctioned church, so the Quakers kept their own records. In addition, since Quakers could get disowned from their faith by marrying someone not in unity (i.e., not a Quaker), many Quakers for many years married other Quakers (endogamy). This means a lot of Quakers are related to a lot of other Quakers with the records to prove it.

Because I have an abundance of Quaker families in my ancestry, I found I am related to Richard Nixon and James Dean via these Quaker connections.

Comparing my family tree to Richard Nixon’s family tree – through the Mendenhall family – I found that my great grandmother was eighth cousins with Richard Nixon, making me eighth cousins thrice removed to Richard Nixon. However, because of the endogamy of the early Quakers, I am also related to Richard Nixon through the Dixon and Griffith families.

Publicity still of James Dean for the movie "Rebel Without a Cause."

Publicity still of James Dean for the movie “Rebel Without a Cause.”

James Dean also had Quaker families in his ancestry. The article “New England in Hollywood, Part Four: The Ancestry of James Byron Dean (1931-1955)” made it easy to find my connection to James Dean. Comparing James Dean’s family tree to my family tree, I am fourth cousins thrice removed to James Dean. I am also related to James Dean through another Quaker family, the Chamness family.

Left: Image from the sedilia at Westminster Abbey, thought to be Edward I. Right: Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, early 14th-century manuscript.

Left: Image from the sedilia at Westminster Abbey, thought to be Edward I. Right: Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, early 14th-century manuscript.

Edward I of England, Westminster Abbey Edward and Eleanor, Illuminated manuscript

When I was researching the Gorsuch and Lovelace families, I discovered Anne Lovelace Gorsuch was a gateway ancestor. A gateway ancestor is a colonial America ancestor whose ancestry has been verified through research to connect with noble or royal families in Europe. Referring to volume two of “The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants of the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States,” I find Anne Lovelace on page 509. Her lineage leads back to Edward I, King of England.

Because being a saint confirmed spiritual power and a connection to God, historically there were canonized kings and kings that acknowledge their own descent from a saint. This means I can use Edward I to see if I am related to a saint. I locate Edward I of England and his wife Eleanor of Castile in the book “A Who’s Who of your Ancestral Saints.” Eleanor of Castile is a descendant of Saint Fernando III, King of Castile and Leon and Blessed Ida of Boulogne.

What does it mean to be related to someone famous? Considering most of us have just a small bit of DNA in common with ancestors who were alive in the 1700s, I have very little biological connection to my most distant ancestors. If my famous person connection was something I wanted to brag about – and I could choose my ancestors – obviously I would have chosen more illustrious presidents to be related to. For me, finding famous ancestors is a fun amusement I can do with my family history. Finding a famous ancestor also demonstrates to me the interconnectedness of humanity.

Follow these tips to find your own famous person:

  • Start with a well-researched family tree.
  • Look for famous but unique surnames in your family tree.
  • Research to see if any of your family came from an endogamous community, like the Quakers.
  • Look for gateway ancestors.

If you search your own family history, who knows who you would find? I know for sure you will find fun.

This blog post is by Angi Porter, Genealogy Division librarian.

Resources from the Indiana State Library:
“Genealogy of the Herbert Hoover Family,” ISLG 929.2 H7891m
“Ancestors of American Presidents,” ISLG 929.11 R644A 2009
“Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy,” ISLG 929.102 F911h, volumes 1-7
“Notable Kin: An Anthology of Columns First Published in the NEHGS nexus, 1986-1995,” ISLG 929 N899k V. 1 & V.2
“British Roots of Maryland Families,” ISLG 975.2 B261B V. 1 & V.2
“The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants of the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States: Who Were Themselves Notable or Left Descendants Notable in American History,” ISLG 929.72 R644R V. 1 & V. 2
“A Who’s Who of Your Ancestral Saints,” ISLG 929.102 K81W

Additional resources:
“Cousin Chart – How to Calculate Family Relationships”
“Celebrating Presidential Kinship, U.S. Ancestry”
“Do You Have Presidential Ancestors? 4 Steps to Finding Out”
“When the Country’s Founding Father Is Your Founding Father”
Famous Friends (a list of famous Quakers)
“The Lovelace Family and Its Connections”
“Finding Royal Roots”
“The Meaning and Meaninglessness of Genealogy“

Serving colorblind patrons in your community

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Colorblindness may not be a common occurrence you see every day. About 300 million people are colorblind across the world. While that is a small percentage of our overall population, that doesn’t mean that your library can’t be prepared to serve patrons who are colorblind.

According to the National Institute of Health, colorblindness “means a person see colors differently than most people. Most of the time, color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell the difference between certain colors. Usually, color vision deficiency runs in families. Most people who have color vision deficiency don’t have problems with everyday activities.”  Most of the issues for colorblind people come from red-and-green combinations as a pair of opposites in design in posters, presentations, etc. The first rule of making a palette for colorblind – avoid combining red and green.

Graphic showing colorblindness test with number one.

If you want to continue supporting colorblind patrons, purchasing a pair of color correcting glasses, like the kind made by EnChroma could help enhance their use of the library. Or the glasses could be put into circulation through a “library of things” so a colorblind patron could test them out before deciding to buy a pair for themselves.

Below is a list of resources and articles about supporting those who are colorblind:

“Libraries offer corrective glasses to color-blind patrons”
“Improve Accessibility for Users Who are Visually Impaired with These 9 Tips”
“The best charts for color blind viewers”
“Designing For (and With) Color Blindness”

This post was written by Abby Chumin, librarian in the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library, and previously appeared in the April 2025 Collaborative Summer Library Program newsletter.

Proper decoration: Margaret Armstrong’s publisher’s bindings

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The years 1860-1920 saw great changes in book design, led by technological developments, refining marketing strategies and shifting ideas about the relationship between book and text. Expanding literacy led to increased demand and a new market to attract via an expanding literate middle class. Previously, book bindings were produced by the bookseller. This changed in the 19th century and publishers began providing the bindings. During this time, newly popular cloth covers were produced which were cheap compared to their leather counterparts; but, unlike even less expensive paper boards, could be adorned in a manner that hinted at the beauty of custom bindings commissioned by those who could afford them. Book design soon became its own profession led by women.

Both the general and Indiana author collections at the Indiana State Library hold many fine examples of these cloth publisher’s bindings. The greatest numbers of them are from designer Margaret Armstrong, which is not surprising given that she was arguably the most successful.

New York artist Armstrong (1867-1944) was one of the first professional binding designers in the U.S., designing her first covers in 1887. Her work continues to be uncovered, so reports of how many covers she designed vary, but it is now understood to be over 300. The bulk of her work was for Scribner’s, where she got her start, but she worked with many publishers as her popularity grew because book designers were hired on a freelance, project-by-project, basis. She often employed floral motifs in her designs and went on to write and illustrate a book on Western American wildflowers; but, as you will see in the examples here, she was a very flexible and adaptable artist with work that varied in style more than some of her peers.

As an early contributor to the field, Armstrong had a hand in the shift toward developing designs that directly reflected the work within their pages, something that is taken for granted now, but was not generally the case before this period. When asked whether attention should be given to having the cover reflect the often vibrant contents of the book, she replied: “Yes, I think so. Pretty covers for cheap books have never been done until now.” Pretty was not the only purpose though, and different colors and motifs were used to signal to the reader what they might expect from the pages within.

"Adventures of Captain Horn" book cover.

Frank R. Stockton, “The Adventures of Captain Horn.” New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895.

One example of how Armstrong used design to communicate with her readers was by assigning colors to her Scribner’s authors and periods of their work. Beginning with this book, she designed Stockton on green cloth to contrast with the blue of Henry Van Dyke. Myrtle Reed designs appeared in lavender. This book belonged to noted Indiana book collector Frank Graef Darlington. Many of the nicer copies of books with notable publisher’s bindings came from donors, though copies also exist that would have been purchased when they were published along with other popular books to grow the general collection.

"The Yoke" book cover.

Elizabeth Miller, “The Yoke.” New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1904.

The Egyptian motif is not typical of Armstrong’s work, but reflects the book’s contents: an historical romance in Egypt during the exodus of the Israelites. The artist’s signature, her initials, can be found underneath the flower on the right side of the cover under the title.

Zoom in of the initials M.A.

Book cover of "The Defective Santa Claus."

James Whitcomb Riley, “A Defective Santa Clause.” Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1904.

Armstrong’s work outside of Scribner’s gave her an Indiana connection when she did some designs for the Indianapolis-based publisher Bobbs-Merrill, which resulted in a cover for James Whitcomb Riley. Her background as a naturalist appears here in the holly theme. She shows a preference for a holly in other Christmas books designs, as seen in her Charles Dickens covers.

Book cover of Margeurite Minton's "Captain Lettarblair."

Margeurite Minton, “Captain Lettarblair.” Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1906.

This is an example of a cover design by Armstrong that incorporates symbols from the text. The red roses symbolize the love between Captain Letterblair and his love interest Fanny, while the clover represents his good fortune. Both hints of the happy ending in this traditional three-act comedy.

Book cover of "Cape Cod."

Henry David Thoreau, “Cape Cod.” New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1908.

Armstrong’s father was a stained glass designer, and this is seen as an influence on her work, as exemplified by this edition of “Cape Cod.” These designs contrast with her more naturalistic later work.

Book cover of Gene Stratton Porter's "The Song of the Cardinal."

Gene Stratton Porter, “The Song of the Cardinal.” Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1912.

Unsigned, but frequently attributed to Armstrong, this Gene Stratton Porter novel is the only example of her use of red cloth that exists in the State Library’s collections. More examples can be found in other institutions. It is also one of the better examples of the influence of Art Nouveau on her work.

Much has been written about Armstrong, and by better authorities. For more information, please see the blogs and digital exhibits below:

“In Full Bloom: Margaret Armstrong’s Decorated Publishers’ Bindings Revisited”
“The Companionable Book Cover Designs of Margaret Armstrong”
“The Book Beautiful: Margaret Armstrong & Her Bindings”

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

The 2026 National Book Festival is near and Indiana will be there!

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It’s August, and that means that the National Book Festival, presented by the Library of Congress, is right around the corner. The National Book Festival will take place in person on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 9 a.m.-8 p.m., at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees must have a ticket to enter. Tickets can be reserved for free here. A selection of programs will be livestreamed online, and videos of all programs will be available shortly after the festival. If you love books and reading, then this festival is for you!

Decorative graphic of National Book Festival. Over 80 of the nation’s best authors, poets, illustrators and more will discuss their work and answer questions at the National Book Festival. Featured authors from Indiana include Meg Cabot, Craig Fehrman, Elana Arnold and Caroline Brewer.

You can find the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book from the Indiana State Library at the festival by visiting the Roadmap to Reading area of the festival. Representatives from all of the Affiliate Centers of the Book from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Island, Guam, American Samoa and Northern Marianas will be available to talk to visitors about their community’s local literary heritage.

Each year, the Affiliated Centers for the Book participate in the National Book Festival. Each Center for the Book Affiliate will staff a booth in the Festival’s Roadmap to Reading area to promote reading, libraries and literacy in their state. The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book is housed at the Indiana Young Readers Center at the Indiana State Library. The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book has several exciting programs that Hoosiers can get involved with to promote literacy. We jury the Firefly Early Literacy Book Award; we have interactive displays and kiosks to teach about the Library of Congress and literacy; we host the Indiana Statehood Day writing contest and the Letters About Literature writing contest; we manage a program to offer story time, STEAM, book, Lego and escape experience kits for teachers and librarians across the state; we host events and author visits; we created the Indiana Literary Places Map; and we support a collect of materials for young people written and illustrated by Indiana authors and illustrators.

Annually, these Affiliated Centers for the Book select Great Reads from Great Places books. Each affiliate chooses two titles. In most cases, these books – one for youth and one for adults – are written by authors from their state or territory, take place in their state or territory or celebrate local culture and heritage. In addition, this year, in honor of America’s semiquincentennial, affiliate centers were encouraged to choose a title that connects to that theme in some way. The Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book works with Indiana Humanities to select titles.

Indiana is celebrating two books at this year’s festival. “Imogene’s last Stand” by Candace Fleming is the youth selection from Indiana and “Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic” by Ryan Cole is the Indiana selection for adults. Cole will be present at the Indiana booth at the festival.

Book cover showing girl waving flag.Fleming is the author of more than 50 books for children and young adults, including the 2021 Sibert Medal-winning “Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera” and the 2021 American Library Association YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award-winning “The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh.” Fleming’s book, “Imogene’s Last Stand,” illustrated by Nancy Carpenter, fits perfectly with the America’s semiquincentennial theme. It highlights how young people, like Imogene, can make a difference as she fights to preserve history and save the local historical society from demolition.

Book cover showing man standing.

Cole, an Indiana University graduate, has delivered talks at venues such as George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Library of Congress and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal. “Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic” also fits perfectly with the semiquincentennial theme. When the Marquis de Lafayette returned to the U.S. in 1824, the aging hero of the American Revolution was defeated politically and distraught over the fate of liberty in Europe. He set sail one last time from France for America after an absence of 40 years. He was welcomed with the grandest celebration the young republic would ever stage as he traveled to every state in the Union and met with parades and delirious crowds.

Headshot photo of woman.

Candace Fleming.

In addition to attending the National Book Festival, the Indiana State Library Affiliate Center for the Book will be hosting two Festival Near You events at the Indiana State Library! Fleming will be visiting the library on Saturday, Aug. 8. Fleming will read from her book and share her passion about storytelling, writing and history. She will offer time for questions and a book signing following her presentation. Books will be available for purchase.

Photo of man standing and crossing arms.

Ryan Cole.

Cole will visit the library on Saturday, Sept. 12. Cole will discuss “The Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic.” He will offer time for questions and a book signing following his presentation. Books will be available for purchase.

Both events will be live streamed and in person. Click the author’s names for more information about each event.

The Indiana booth at the National Book Festival is always exciting. Last year, Indiana had a “stars” theme to celebrate Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s book, “The Night War.”

Selfie of woman in front of banner with stars.

Suzanne Walker, former director of the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book, at the 2025 festival.

Please reach out to Tammie Buchanan, director of the Indiana Affiliate Center for the Book, with any questions or queries you might have about the National Book Festival and happy reading!

This blog post was submitted by Indiana Young Readers Center librarian Tammie Buchanan.