Public Programming

Underwritten largely by private funding, public programming in the Humanities has increased over the last four years, drawing a consistent public audience, providing cultural enrichment and promoting Library resources. Although maintaining a level of quality, the programming has had to live hand to mouth, lacking the impact of a fully comprehensive approach as described immediately above. As an example of what is possible, consider the work of the Library’s Cultural Diversity Committee. Made up of Library staff and community advisors representing all ethnic groups in Wichita, the group instituted (as money allowed) a wide range of programming and displays including a Native American Powwow, an Asian Festival and a health/literature book discussion series called Let’s Talk About It underwritten by the Kansas Humanities Council for the Wichita Public Library. A descriptive listing of the most recent efforts follows:

• Beyond Category: The Musical Genius of Duke Ellington
  A traveling exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution, the month long display was complimented by jazz storyteller Bobby Norfolk and local jazz bands.

• Dr. Maya Angelou
  In December 1996, Dr. Angelou visited the northeast branch library, renamed in her honor. She spoke to a standing-room only crowd on the importance of reading and libraries in people’s lives.

• Picturing Wichita
  A series of five public lectures and two architectural walking tours based on the Library’s Local History photographic collection attracted 800 people in 1996. Lecturers included Jeff Tully, Senior Planner for Historic Preservation in Wichita and Terry Ward, an architectural historian with the Kansas State Historical Society. Different aspects of the City’s history including automobiles, architecture, local hangouts, theaters and aircraft were featured. Due to popular demand, the programs will be repeated in 1997 in cooperation with the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum. The CD-ROM database of 2500 historical photographs created as part of this project is the basis for the shared database with the Historical Museum and WSU Special Collections as mentioned above.

• Riverside Cultural Arts and History School Program
  Seventy-five fifth grade students were given tours of historical districts, learned about architectural styles in relation to Wichita’s history, and conducted a historic preservation survey of their school and neighborhood. Their work was highlighted over local television through two feature stories.

• Women on the Wing
  This highly popular quilt exhibition and series of five lectures focused on the role of Kansas women in aviation history, including Frank Rowe, Born on the South Wind: A Century of Kansas Aviation, and Ragi Marino, Flying High: The Airplane in Quilts. Collaborators included the Prairie Quilt Guild, the Kansas Aviation Museum, and the Women’s Aeronautical Association.

• Celtic Circle
  Assisted by Traione Sherwin (Famine Museum), Dr. Myrtle Hill, (Queens University, Belfast) and Pauline Bracken, writer and translator, (Dublin, Ireland), a series of programs highlighted Irish culture, including how to search for Irish ancestors, a lecture on C.S. Lewis and the United Irish Republican Rebellion. This was underwritten by the Kansas Humanities Council.

Additionally, the Friends of the Library conduct a monthly lecture series focusing on the Humanities, including topics such as religion, literature, foreign cultures and political thought. Past speakers include Prof. John A. Hyde, Williams College, Reinhild Janzen, Curator, Kauffman Museum, Raymond Nelson, Friends University and author of four books of poetry, Steve Harper, author of 83,000 Miles: No lines, No Waiting, and John C. Gaston, former chair of minority studies, Wichita State University.

Storytellers such as Brothers Storydrum, Joe Hayes, Rex Ellis, Bobby Norfolk and most recently, Charlotte Blake Alston have drawn audiences averaging 1500 people to schools, churches and Library branches as part of a ten year multicultural literacy effort, funded by grants from the Kansas Arts Commission, private foundations and local businesses.

Beyond rebuilding the book collections and adding electronic databases, Humanities programming is a vital part of the Library’s long range plan. Humanities endowment funding can allow the Library to continue to offer free, quality adult and juvenile programming. New book discussion groups have already formed at the Maya Angelou branch, attracting 75 participants. Through the continuing pattern of a year long single focus, Humanities print resources, augmented by lecturers, exhibitions, storytellers and as appropriate, walking tours, will be reinforced to the general public. The goal of this plan is to intuitively suggest the Wichita Public Library as the first stop any individual makes when searching for a Humanities text.

Planning will be the responsibility of a consortium of collection specialists, aided by one part time staff person whose salary will be included in the annual interest disbursement. Humanities consultants will be used in each discipline to increase the impact of programs and thus, the understanding of the Humanities.

Currently, quality programming is only available on a grant to grant basis. The promise of endowment funding matched by local support will give the Library the unique opportunity to conduct an ongoing annual celebration of each of the Humanities. As the collections are first rebuilt, then expanded, each of the disciplines (literature, geography, religion, etc.), can be fully explored, awakening understanding and promoting use of improved Humanities resources. When fully funded, the Humanities endowment will yield 10% per year for programs. The solid funding base generated by private donors and NEH will add a limitless scope and range to the Library’s Humanities programming for generations to come.

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