It’s been warm and wet here in Kalamazoo. This heavy rain will fill up this large rain garden, one of three surrounding the Zhang Legacy collections building and part of our silver LEED plan.
Happy National Space Day! "Star Poems" is a unique creation by Karen Hamner that can be and read like a traditional book or folded into a variety of geometric shapes to showcase quotes, historical charts, and NASA photos printed on the pages.
#poetry #specialcollections #bookarts #libraries
It's a Gorey kind of month!
🎃look out - it's a gorey kind of month!
New to us - The Tunnel Calamity (a tunnel book),
by Edward Gorey (1984)
#wmulibraries #Halloween #edwardgorey #tunnelbook
Visiting WMU's Archives, Regional History, and Special Collections
I want to visit WMU’s Archives! Or the Regional History Collection! Or Special Collections!
But how?
Easy!
They’re all part of the University Libraries, and they’re all located at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center on East Campus (1650 Oakland Drive).
Across the street from the Kalamazoo School for the Blind. Neighbor to the water tower.
• Bus stop conveniently located on Oakland @ Calhoun street
• All WMU parking permits are allowed
• Non-WMU Guest parking also available
MORE INFO
#wmulibraries #wmustudentsuccessservices #wmustudents
Bare Roots - Bassuet
From #andreleebassuet, we present Bare Roots, a very cool 😎accordion book which we first discovered at #kalamazoobookarts
#wmulibraries #artistsbooks #westernmichu #specialcollections
The Gambler - Davinci Drawmaton
We got some Drawmaton kits!
Limited editions of 500, signed by the artist. The Slayer, The Robot, and The Gambler…
From drawmaton.com:
“Made only of wood and a few pieces of metal, da Vinci's Drawmaton is an ancestor of the programmable computer. The machine is capable of reading 1kb of analog memory via wooden “petalos” which, to da Vinci, resembled the petals of flowers, hence their name.
Leonardo's mechanical knight (deemed the world's first android by Guinness Book of World Records) influenced all the Drawmaton machines, but none more directly than The Slayer. Officially known as Automa cavaliere (or, "Automaton Knight"), it's capabilities included moving it's arms, standing, sitting, lifting its visor and even hugging a surprised guest!
Robert Sabuda is the lead engineer for da Vinci’s Drawmaton. He is a #1 New York Times best-selling creator of children’s books. Much of his work deals with 3D paper movement and intricate engineering. “
You can find these & dozens of Robert Sabuda books in WMU’s Special Collections at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center!
#wmu #wmulibraries #robertsabuda #drawmaton #davinci #robots
We're looking for student assistants at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center!
Must apply through Handshake: job #5701319 Archives, Regional History, and Special Collections Student Assistant.
#wmulibraries #wmichu
Happy Mother's Day to all!
From our vault:
Da Vinci has a message for you today from our miniature book collection.
While sequential images found in some Medieval books might be predecessors to today's moving images in print, the first known true flip book was created in 1868 by John Barnes Linnett & patented as a 'kineograph".
Some rare flip books are worth thousands of dollars!
One of the benefits of being on the 3rd floor is having a great view for surprise Christmas performances!
Loved having these musicians in the Meader Room today!!
Special thanks to our poetry readers and cellist, Jordan Hamilton.
Volvelle from Giovanni Paolo Gallucci’s ‘Della Fabrica et Uso ...
Rotating chart in this week's Featured Book: Giovanni Paolo Gallucci’s ‘Della Fabrica et Uso di Diversi Stromenti di Astronomia et Cosmografia… Venice: Ruberto Meietti, 1598.