Author Archives: Jennifer Wrampe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 5, 2017

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

2018 One Book One Nebraska Book Nominations Sought

What book would you suggest that all Nebraskans read next year? Nebraska readers are invited to make recommendations for the 2018 One Book One Nebraska book selection. The Nebraska Center for the Book will consider books written by a Nebraska author (living or dead/with current or former residence in the state) or books that have a Nebraska theme or setting. Books should have a broad appeal to readers across Nebraska and lend well to group book discussion. Books may be fiction, non-fiction, biography, memoir, or poetry. They must be in print and readily available.

The deadline for nominations is June 15, 2017. Book recommendations can be sent via e-mail at nlc.ask@nebraska.gov or via the U.S. Postal Service to The Nebraska Center for the Book One Book One Nebraska, c/o Nebraska Library Commission Reference Services, 1200 N Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, NE, 68508-2023. Nominations can also be submitted online at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/obon-nomination.asp.

The Nebraska Center for the Book will announce the 2018 One Book One Nebraska choice at the Fall Celebration of Nebraska Books. The Celebration will include a 2017 One Book One Nebraska program, Jane Pope Geske Award and Mildred Bennett Award presentations, and the Nebraska Book Awards Ceremony, with author readings and signings. The Celebration will be preceded by the Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting.

The One Book One Nebraska reading program is enjoying its thirteenth year. Nebraskans across the state are reading and discussing Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt (1881-1973), the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and his people. The Nebraska Center for the Book sponsors One Book One Nebraska to demonstrate how books and reading connect people across time and place. The 2017 One Book One Nebraska program is co-sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press, The John G. Neihardt Foundation, and Nebraska Library Commission. For information about One Book One Nebraska, including current and previous book selections, see http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/onebook.html or join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 1, 2016

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Black Elk Speaks Chosen as 2017 One Book One Nebraska

Wouldn’t it be great if people across Nebraska read an inspirational, redemptive story in 2017—and then talk about it with their friends and neighbors? That is exactly what will be happening throughout the state, with Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt (1881-1973) selected as the 2017 One Book One Nebraska. Black Elk Speaks, the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and his people, offers readers much more than a glimpse of a vanished time. Black Elk’s searing visions of the unity of humanity and Earth, conveyed by John G. Neihardt, have made this book a classic that crosses multiple genres and generations. Black Elk met the distinguished Nebraska poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt in 1930 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and he asked Neihardt to share his story with the world.

John G. Neihardt was named Nebraska’s first Poet Laureate in 1921 by the Nebraska legislature. He was the author of more than twenty-five volumes of poetry, fiction, and philosophy. He also co-owned and edited the Bancroft Blade newspaper in Bancroft, NE. Neihardt served as a professor of poetry at the University of Nebraska and a literary editor in St. Louis, MO. He was a poet-in-residence and lecturer at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Neihardt was inducted posthumously into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1974. His house has been preserved as the John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, also known as the Neihardt Center in Bancroft, NE. The house museum site includes a prayer garden, Neihardt’s study, and a library.

Black Elk Speaks, originally published in 1932, is available in several editions. The newest was published in 2014 by University of Nebraska Press. It features a new introduction by historian Philip J. Deloria and annotations of Black Elk’s story by renowned Lakota scholar Raymond J. DeMallie. Three essays by John G. Neihardt provide background on this landmark work along with pieces by Vine Deloria Jr., Raymond J. DeMallie, Alexis Petri, and Lori Utecht. Maps, original illustrations by Standing Bear, and a set of appendixes round out the edition.

Libraries across Nebraska will join the John G. Neihardt Foundation (http://neihardtcenter.org/foundation) and other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book. Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available after January 1, 2017 at http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Updates and activity listings will be posted on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/onebookonenebraska.

The One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, is entering its thirteenth year. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. Black Elk Speaks was announced as the 2017 selection at the Celebration of Nebraska Books on October 29 in Lincoln.

One Book One Nebraska is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission. The Nebraska Center for the Book brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at and supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 1, 2016

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Eleanor & Park to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival

The Nebraska Center for the Book selected Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013) to represent Nebraska at the 2016 National Book Festival. The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places through Reading” brochure and map. Each state selects one book about the state, or by an author from the state, that is a good read for children or young adults. The brochure and map will be distributed at the Festival on September 24 and featured in the “Great Reads about Great Places” links on the websites of both the National and Nebraska Centers for the Book.

Set over the course of one school year, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—outsiders that meet on the school bus who are smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but are brave enough to try. Nebraska’s “Great Reads about Great Places” book is chosen from former Nebraska Book Award winners and this book was awarded the 2014 Nebraska Book Award in the Young Adult Fiction category. Entries for this year’s Nebraska Book Awards will be accepted until June 30—see http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html.

The National Book Festival will feature presentations by award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Festival goers can meet their favorite authors, get books signed, have photos taken with mascots and storybook characters, and participate in a variety of learning activities. States will staff exhibit booths to promote reading, library programs, and literary events. Find out more about the 2016 National Book Festival (including a list of featured authors) at http://www.loc.gov/bookfest.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 6, 2016

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Erin Willis, Lincoln City Libraries, 402-441-8516

Reading List Released for Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial

The Nebraska Literary Heritage Association, in partnership with the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Nebraska Library Commission, has released the Nebraska 150 Book List, the authorized reading list for the celebration of Nebraska’s 150^th anniversary or sesquicentennial in 2017. The list of 150 books can be found at nebraska150books.org, and the Nebraska Library Commission will mail reading resources to libraries, museums, historical societies and bookstores statewide.

The Nebraska 150 Book List is an ongoing statewide community reading initiative endorsed by the Nebraska 150 Commission. The purpose of the book list is to represent the spectrum of Nebraska books; to increase the understanding of the different cultural aspects of the state, past and present; to inform Nebraskans of the literature of the state; and to encourage readership of books from the list in preparation for the celebration activities.

Nebraska 150 Books is one of many programs funded by Humanities Nebraska, which awards about $300,000 in grants each year. Created in 1973 as a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Nebraska is an independent, nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer board of public and academic members. Humanities Nebraska funds programs that explore Nebraska’s heritage, build community awareness and strengthen our ties to cultural traditions at home and abroad.

The Nebraska Cultural Endowment is a public/private partnership that allocates funds to Humanities Nebraska for programming and grant making. For a copy of Humanities Nebraska grant guidelines, visit humanitiesnebraska.org; call 402-474-2131; or email info@humanitiesnebraska.org. The address is 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 330, Lincoln, NE, 68508.

Additional support for the Nebraska 150 Book List is provided by Firespring, the Nebraska Library Commission, Lincoln City Libraries and the Nebraska 150 Commission. For more information on the sesquicentennial celebration, visit ne150.org.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 1, 2016

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Young Nebraskans Win Writing Competition

Young Nebraska writers will receive Letters about Literature award certificates from Gov. Pete Ricketts on April 6, 2016 at a proclamation-signing ceremony celebrating National Library Week, April 10-16, 2016. Letters about Literature is a national reading and writing promotion program. Nearly 50,000 adolescent and young readers nationwide in grades four through twelve participated in this year’s Letters about Literature program, hundreds of them from Nebraska. The competition encourages young people to read, be inspired, and write back to the author (living or dead) who had an impact on their lives.

This annual contest is sponsored nationally by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, with funding from Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The Center for the Book was established in 1977 as a public-private partnership to use the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. The Nebraska competition is coordinated and sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, and Houchen Bindery Ltd.

Young Nebraska writers to be honored are:

Winners
Conleigh Hemmer, Lincoln, for a letter to Patricia McKissack
Madeline Walker, Lincoln, for a letter to Ray Bradbury
Colette Mahr, Chadron, for a letter to Laurie Halse Anderson

Alternate Winners
Carson Bredemeier, Falls City, for a letter to Laura Hillenbrand
Janna Marley, Lincoln, for a letter to Kate DiCamillo
Julia Briones, Lexington, for a letter to Khaled Hosseini

The students wrote personal letters to authors explaining how his or her work changed their view of themselves or the world. They selected authors from any genre, fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic. Winners were chosen from three competition levels: upper elementary, middle, and secondary school.

The Nebraska winners will be honored at a luncheon and receive cash prizes and gift certificates. Their winning letters will be placed in the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors at Bennett Martin Public Library in Lincoln. They will advance to the national competition, with a chance to win a trip to Washington, D.C. for themselves and their parents. For more information see http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/LAL.html.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

Finalists for 2016 One Book One Nebraska Announced

Two nonfiction books, one poetry collection, and three novels—all stories with ties to Nebraska and the Great Plains—are the finalists for the 2016 One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program. The finalists are:

• Backstage: Stories from My Life in Public Television by Ron Hull. University of Nebraska Press (2012)
• The Meaning of Names by Karen Shoemaker. Red Hen Press (2014)
• The Naked Mountaineer: Misadventures of an Alpine Traveler by Stephen Sieberson. University of Nebraska Press (2014)
• Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry edited by Greg Kosmicki and Mary K. Stillwell. The Backwaters Press (2007)
• The Plain Sense of Things by Pamela Carter Joern. University of Nebraska Press (2008)
• While the Patient Slept by Mignon Eberhart. University of Nebraska Press (1995)

 The One Book One Nebraska reading program, now in its twelfth year, is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss the same book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. A Nebraska Center for the Book committee selected the six finalists from a list of twenty-seven titles nominated by Nebraskans. In the coming weeks, Nebraska Center for the Book board members will vote on the 2016 selection.

Nebraskans are invited to attend the Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 14, where the choice for the 2016 One Book One Nebraska will be announced at 5:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Library Commission, 1200 N Street in downtown Lincoln. This year’s One Book One Nebraska, Death Zones & Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting, by Beverly Deepe Keever, will be featured at the Celebration in a presentation, “Beverly Deepe Keever: An Unconventional Woman for An Unconventional War,” by Thomas Berg, PhD, Dept. of History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. See http://onebook.nebraska.gov or https://www.facebook.com/OneBookOneNebraska for more information about ongoing 2015 One Book One Nebraska activities.

The November 14 Celebration of Nebraska Books is scheduled for 2:30 – 6:30 p.m., with the Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting to be held at 1:30 p.m. Awards will be presented to the winners of the 2015 Nebraska Book Awards, and some of the winning authors will read from their work. A list of Nebraska Book Award winners is posted at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards.html. The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, with support from Friends of University of Nebraska Press. For more information, contact Mary Jo Ryan, maryjo.ryan@nebraska.gov, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665. Confirmed presenters will be announced at www.centerforthebook.nebraska.gov and http://www.facebook.com/NebraskaCenterfortheBook

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

Book Award Winners to be Honored at November 14 Celebration of Nebraska Books

An awards presentation ceremony will highlight the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Celebration of Nebraska Books on November 14 at the Nebraska Library Commission, 1200 N Street, The Atrium, in downtown Lincoln. Winners of the 2015 Nebraska Book Awards will be honored and the celebration will include readings by some of the winning authors, designers and illustrators. And the winners are:

2015 Nebraska Book Award Winners

Anthology

The Wheeling Year: A Poet’s Field Book by Ted Kooser. University of Nebraska Press.

 Cover/Design/Illustration

As All My Fathers Were: A Novel by James A. Misko. Cover and design by Jonathan Friedman. Northwest Ventures Press.

Cover/Design/Illustration Honor

Intimates and Fools by Laura Madeline Wiseman. Art by Sally Deskins. Internal layout and design by Adam Wagler. Les Femmes Folles Books.

Fiction

Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert. William Morrow.

Fiction: Short Story

In Reach by Pamela Carter Joern. University of Nebraska Press.

Non-Fiction: Investigative Journalism

The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food by Ted Genoways. Harper.

Non-Fiction: Memoir

Leaving the Pink House: A Memoir by Ladette Randolph. University of Iowa Press.

Non-Fiction: Nebraska as Place

This Place, These People: Life and Shadow on the Great Plains by David Stark and Nancy Warner. Columbia University Press.

Non-Fiction: Nebraska History

Nebraska POW Camps: A History of World War II Prisoners in the Heartland by Melissa Amateis Marsh. The History Press.

 Non-Fiction: Nebraska Spirit

Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II by James J. Kimble. University of Nebraska Press.

 Non-Fiction: Reference

History of Nebraska by Ronald C. Naugle, John J. Montag, and James C. Olson. University of Nebraska Press.

Poetry

Morning: Last Poems by Don Welch. pigeonpress.

Poetry Honor

Always the Detail by Barbara Schmitz. Stephen F. Austin State University Press.

The celebration, free and open to the public, will also feature presentation of the Nebraska Center for the Book’s Jane Geske Award to a Nebraska organization for exceptional contribution to literacy, books, reading, libraries, and literature in Nebraska. The Jane Geske Award commemorates Geske’s passion for books, and was established in recognition of her contributions to the well-being of the libraries of Nebraska. Jane Pope Geske was a founding member of the Nebraska Center for the Book, former director of the Nebraska Library Commission, and a long-time leader in Nebraska library and literary activities.

This year the Celebration marks the eleventh year of One Book One Nebraska, selecting and promoting a book title for Nebraskans to read to celebrate the literary richness of our state. Death Zones & Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting, by Beverly Deepe Keever is the 2015 One Book One Nebraska, and Nebraska libraries and other literary and cultural organizations across the state are hosting activities and events to encourage all Nebraskans to read and discuss this book (see http://onebook.nebraska.gov.) The Celebration keynote will be presented by Thomas Berg, PhD, Dept. of History, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, on “Beverly Deepe Keever: An Unconventional Woman for An Unconventional War” at 2:45 p.m.
The Nebraska Center for the Book Annual Meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m.—just prior to the 2:30-6:30 p.m. Celebration. An awards reception honoring the winning authors, book signings, and announcement of the 2016 One Book One Nebraska book choice will conclude the festivities.

The Celebration of Nebraska Books is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission, with support from the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press. Humanities Nebraska provides support for One Book One Nebraska. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 9, 2015

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Mary Jo Ryan
402-471-3434
800-307-2665

Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep! to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival

The Nebraska Center for the Book selected Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep! by Bruce Arant (Peter Pauper Press, Inc., 2013) to represent Nebraska at the 2015 National Book Festival. The book is the state’s selection for the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places through Reading” map. Each state selects one book about the state, or by an author from the state, that is a good read for children or young adults. The map will be distributed at the Festival on September 5 and listed in “Great Reads about Great Places” on the websites of both the National and Nebraska Centers for the Book.

Will poor Farmer Simpson ever find a way to lull his sheep to sleep? Illustrated with soft pastel drawings, Simpson’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep! is a story for every parent or grandparent who has put a child to bed—and every child who has creatively resisted. The selection was awarded the 2014 Nebraska Book Award in the Children’s category. NOTE: Entries for the 2015 Nebraska Book Awards will be accepted until June 30—see http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html.

The National Book Festival will feature award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Festival goers can meet their favorite authors, get books signed, have photos taken with mascots and storybook characters, and participate in a variety of learning activities. States will staff exhibit booths to promote reading, library programs, and literary events.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, bringing together people and information.

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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.