Gateway to Knowledge Guest Post #15

This is the 15th in a series of guest posts by Abigail Van Gelder (from a stop Nov. 12–13 in Willmar, Minn.), who with her husband, Josh, is journeying across the country on the Library’s “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition:

I wrote from Mankato that we were hoping the weather would cooperate with us.  Well, I wouldn’t call three inches of snow cooperating.

On the second day of our event in Willmar, MN, old man winter dumped on us all day.  That didn’t discourage our guests from trudging though and coming to see the exhibit.

Not that snow is anything new for Minnesotans. Josh and I lived in the Twin Cities for a few years, actually, until we started traveling with MRA.  Besides, I am pretty sure that any Minnesotan that would let cold weather bother them flew south a long time ago.

There aren’t many things that make me nervous.  I’m a pretty adventurous person, but being asked to do a live radio program took me by surprise.  When Todd Bergeth from Willmar’s KWLM Talk News invited me to come on and chat about the Gateway to Knowledge tour, I had no idea how I would fill the 45-min program.

My mother would roll her eyes here; as she puts it, I am blessed with the gift for gab.  While being interviewed for the tour is nothing new and I have done live TV, going into a radio station was a first for me.  I have to admit I was very nervous.  Luckily, Todd was a joy to work with and took it easy on me.  Honestly, it was fun; it’s easy to see how someone would love doing it for a living.

Packing up the exhibit was cold, soggy work for this one.  The stuff was pretty much stuck to anything on the windward side.  This job is not always as glamorous as you might think.

Gateway to Knowledge Schedule Updated

We have just updated the online schedule of visits by our “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition. Up next are Willmar, Minn. (today and tomorrow); Brainerd, Minn.; Eau Claire, Wisc.; Fond du Lac, Wisc.; Janesville, Wisc.; Rockford, Ill.; Merrillville, Ind.; and Macomb, Mich. Keep checking our Gateway microsite for details!

The Art of War

This is a guest post by Sarah Rouse, a volunteer in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. “War experience just hypnotizes young men.” So said Victor Lundy, a World War II veteran who recorded many of his war memories through his sketchbooks, now donated to the Library of Congress. I interviewed Lundy for …

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Gateway to Knowledge Guest Post #9

This is the ninth in a series of guest posts by Abigail Van Gelder (from a stop Oct. 22–23 in Anderson, Ind.), who with her husband, Josh, is journeying across the country on the Library’s “Gateway to Knowledge” traveling exhibition: As the weather is turning colder our welcome to communities is getting warmer.  With summer …

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