Every day, hundreds of EMU faculty, staff and students
pass by the portrait of Benjamin Leonard D'Ooge on the
third floor of Halle Library.
The portrait of D'Ooge, head of EMU's Classical Languages
Department from 1886-1937, was restored and rededicated
by Friends of the Eastern Michigan University Library (FOL).
The organization — which includes current and
retired faculty and staff, alumni, community residents
and other supporters who believe that libraries are vital
for enhancing lives — recently completed its
inaugural year.
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A HELPING HAND: Friends of the Eastern
Michigan University Library (FOL)
provided half
the restoration costs of this
portrait of Benjamin
Leonard D'Ooge, who
was head of EMU's Classical
Languages
Department from 1886-1937. The
organization,
which believes libraries are
vital, rededicated
the portrait Oct. 20,
2006.
|
"The (restoration) work was badly needed. It (portrait)
needed to come out of the archives," said FOL President
Alethea Helbig, who also is a professor emeritus. "Rosina
Tammany, our secretary/treasurer, did a great deal of work
on that project."
The portrait, painted by former art department head Bertha
Goodison in 1931, was slashed and tucked away in storage.
In 2005, descendants of D'Ooge approached the library's
administration about having the portrait repaired and displayed
in Halle. The family paid for half the restoration
costs, with FOL chipping in the other half.
On Oct. 20, 2006, more than 20 members of the D'Ooge family
gathered to rededicate the restored portrait.
Looking ahead, Helbig explained that the FOL plans on
living up to the principles noted in its mission statement
— to help the EMU library to serve the immediate
campus community and the larger community in as many ways
as it can.
"One of the things we're looking at is working with the
Women's Commission to do some forums addressing Proposal
2," explained Helbig. "Proposal 2 has broad ramifications
for EMU, and we still need some forums to discuss what
is involved and where we go from here.
Proposal 2, approved by voters in November 2006, bans
the use of race and gender preferences in university admissions
and government hiring. The law took effect Dec. 23, 2006.
"We want leaders from the community to meet with us, and
share their ideas and needs with us," continued Helbig. "We
want to open up programs to the community. We need ideas
to come from the community to see what it is that they
want."
One way of accomplishing this goal is to expand the FOL
Board of Directors.
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A FRIENDLY FACE: Alethea Helbig,
president of Friends of the Eastern
Michigan University Library, has plans for
the organization to host forums to discuss
Proposition 2 and become involved with
student-centerd activities, such as
Summerquest and welcoming students
back to campus in the fall. |
"We're looking for student government, faculty, faculty
emeriti, Alumni Association as well as alumni participation," explained
Helbig. "We have some good ideas and, although we're trying
to get a little more structure, I'm glad we've got this
going."
Spotlighting alumni authors has been another FOL project.
Two EMU graduates were featured in the inaugural "EMU Authors
Presentations Series." Kevin Dole, author of "tangerinephant," and
Dave Coverly, author of "Speed Bump" and a syndicated cartoonist,
had an opportunity to talk about their work.
"We have plans for some student-centered activities, particularly
welcoming activities like when the students return to campus
in the fall," said Helbig, "We're also looking at working
with some of the programs like SummerQuest. It's too early
to talk about, but we have some exciting ideas.
"We really want to reach out to different segments of
the University and beyond," she continued. "We want to
know what we can do for the library and for the community."
Helbig credits University Librarian Rachel Cheng with
the promising start of the FOL. As noted by Hedger Breed,
White Raven Books proprietor and the first FOL president, "Rachel
understands what kind of contribution a group like ours
can make and how that can best benefit the library," he
said. "She was not only open to listening to our ideas,
but also had many great ideas herself."
Visitors are welcome to board meetings, which are conducted
the second Monday of each month at 4 p.m. in Room 200 in
Halle Library.
For more information about the FOL, visit their Web site
at www.brand.emich.edu/fol;
e-mail Helbig at alethea.helbig@emich.edu;
or contact Cheng by calling 487-0020 or e-mail her at rachel.cheng@emich.edu.
