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Jonathan Jeffrey
Through his work with local and state historical organizations and with patrons using historical materials, Jonathan Jeffrey, Special Collections Librarian in the Kentucky Library, knows something about traditions. Recently he and the organizers of the Southern Kentucky Festival of Books established a new tradition: the Kentucky Literary Awards. "We noticed that a number of states were giving Literary Awards," Jeffrey said, "and we saw a need to recognize the outstanding achievement Kentucky has made and will make to America's literature."
Writers will be recognized in fiction and non-fiction categories. Authors must be a native of the Commonwealth or currently reside in the state, or the book's theme must be significantly related to Kentucky. In its inaugural year, over 30 nominations were made for the awards. The award is for literary merit, and the nominations represent a number of disciplines and genres: archaeology, biography, ecology, education, fantasy, history, mystery, reference, and science. The 2002 awards, which include a handsome certificate and a $1,000 prize, will be given at the Festival's "Meet the Author" reception on April 11 at the Kentucky Building.
 Ellen
Micheletti
Ellen Micheletti, Senior Library Assistant at the Educational Resources Center, has worked at Western Kentucky University for twenty-two years. In her spare time, she reviews books for the All About Romance web site. Ellen became interested in romance novels several years ago when she joined an Internet forum where fans of romance novels could discuss their favorite stories.
Ellen
now contributes reviews and articles to the All About
Romance web site. Romance novels regularly outsell all
other kinds of genre fiction, but are seldom reviewed
or treated seriously. To date she has written over 300
reviews for the site, along with short articles about
people, places and things found in historical romances.
Ellen's promotion of romance novels through her reviews and articles has earned her the esteem of those who write the books: recently, a character named Ellen Micheletti showed up in Barbara Samuel's book No Place Like Home. In addition, Beverly Barton's book On Her Guard, which had a heroine named Ellen Denby, was dedicated to her.
Ellen says, "If you still think that romance novels are nothing but bodice rippers, I invite you to visit the All About Romance web site and check out the reviews. You may be surprised! And if you would like to begin reading romances, get in touch with me--I have lots of suggestions."
 Jack Montgomery
Jack Montgomery has been with Western Kentucky University Libraries for five years, working in Collection Development, Gifts and Acquisitions. He has had a long-term professional research interest in the issues surrounding management and supervision and has just completed a book manuscript on conflict management for the American Library Association. Twenty years ago, Jack's first library supervisor at the University of Virginia Law Library advised him to "always have a life outside work." He took her advice to heart and worked at developing his personal as well as professional interests. Jack has been a musician since adolescence; he plays the guitar, bass, mandolin, harmonica and writes his own songs.
Over the past two years, he has performed with the local Celtic folk band Lost River, which was recently featured on KET's Mixed Media program. In August of 2002, he eleased his first musical CD, Onward to Avalon, which has currently sold over 300 copies in the U.S. and Europe, and which features the other members of Lost River.
Jack
has also had a lifelong interest in folklore. He is
currently under contract for a book entitled "American
Shamans: Journeys with Traditional Healers" for BUSCA,
Inc. Press. This title will recount his years of fieldwork
with folk healers in the Appalachian, German and African-American
communities. Jack also enjoys swimming, art, buying
and selling antiques, and cooking with his wife, Lesley.
 Jennifer Small
Working as a graduate assistant for the Kentucky Museum has been a learn-as-you-go experience. Most of her duties, such as creating lesson plans and educational guides, have been new to her. But turning those guides into a web site was a different matter entirely. With the assurances of the education coordinator that she had complete faith in her learning abilities, she began a project for which she was totally unprepared, with no prior experience in web page design whatsoever.
It can be demoralizing to know that one has absolutely no idea what one is doing. It can be even more demoralizing to know that everyone else realizes it. The fact that this web site even exists, she said, "is a testament not just to my willingness to take a long time to correct many mistakes, but also to the kindness of those who advised me."
The education web site currently contains two guides: "The Quonset," featuring two lesson plans on music and segregation in Bowling Green and & "History and Folklife of the Kentucky Frontier," an extensive site including several lessons from A Teacher's Guide to Frontier Life in South Central Kentucky. The latter is an excellent resource by Nancy Baird and Carol Crowe-Carraco. The museum's education web site can be found at: www.wku.edu/Library/museum/education.
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