More than books: Edmon Low Library celebrates OSU authors

Taylor Carroll Staff Reporter

Edmon Low Library hosted its 17th OSU authors event honoring OSU staff, faculty and students who published a book in the past year.

The event was held in the Peggy v. Helmerich Browsing Room at the library where hard copies and eBooks surrounded the room, which encouraged other authors to read what their other colleagues have written.

The Dean of Libraries, Sheila Grant Johnson, made a speech to the authors about their achievements and encouraged them to get to know one another. Following the speech, the guests were served with honey-glazed chicken sliders and southern potato skins while discussing the content of their books.

Libby Whitlow, a public history masters student and a GRA for library communication services, started planning the event in January and made sure each author got their publication on their websites, goodie bags and a poster of all the authors.

Whitlow said the library wanted to recognize the people who took the time to write a book to get it published, whether they are novels, textbook publications, research or creative works.

“As Sheila said earlier, a library isn’t just about books,” Whitlow said. “It’s about connections. It’s about knowledge. It’s about bringing people together. And so this event is just a great opportunity to have authors come together and learn.”

Many authors showed up to talk about their books and get recognition for their work. Donna Lindenmeier, an associate professor in recreation management, recreation in athletic management and leisure studies, is the co-author of the “Oklahoma Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan.” Lindenmeier’s book talks about creating an outdoor recreation plan for the state so that they can use the state to get later water conservation fund money. Her goal was to help other communities find a plan and apply for grants to make recreation in their city or town. After her book was published, five different communities in Oklahoma contacted Lindenmeier trying to find out when the book is getting published. “Everyone’s affected by it,” Lindenmeier said. “Every student here has had an interaction with it, whether they know it or not.”

Carlos Cordova, a professor of geography at OSU, is the author of “The Lakes of the Basin of Mexico: Dynamics of a Lacustrine System and the Evolution of a Civilization.”

Cordova’s book focus on lakes that used to be in cities in Mexico but no longer exist. He set the book up like a textbook, with many pictures and graphs describing the change in over 500 years. A few of the changes showed in the book are the lakes, landscape changes and animal species that used to be in Mexico. It took Cordova three years to write the book and he said it is important for OSU to know what happened to Mexico. The target audience for Cordova’s book is academics, historians, archeologist and engineers. He is also making a Spanish version of his book so people in Mexico can read it and learn about what was in their country.

“Many people in Mexico do not know about the history of the city of what’s below the city, or what the city used to be,” Cordova said. “In many museums, and in many textbooks, they have the wrong information.” news.ed@ocolly.com