Centennial gift highlights support for Watson Library

With its celebratory dinner, “Rhapsody in Jayhawk Blue,” held September 19, KU Libraries set out to honor the centennial anniversary of Watson Library and show appreciation for its most stalwart supporters. But, in a surprise twist, donors expressed their own deep gratitude for the libraries by presenting Dean of Libraries Carol Smith with a $100,000 gift.  

The festivities commemorating the 100-year milestone took place in the study space under the library’s iconic Gothic windows with a roaring 1920s theme, a nod to the era when Watson Library first opened its doors. The evening featured dinner and dancing, with a seven-piece jazz and swing band.  A swelling piano solo of George Gershwin’s 1924, “Rhapsody in Blue,” performed by Ellen Sommer, KU associate professor of piano practice, welcomed guests to Watson’s lobby. Guests posed for photos by a vintage Model T and experienced a live painting of the event by Octavia Lawson-Solorio, a KU senior studying visual arts from Paola, Kan. Remarks from university leadership and a keynote address by Crosby Kemper, former director of the national Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), shaped a heartfelt program.  

The libraries volunteer Board of Advocates, led by board chair Ken Stephens and past chair Janet Cinelli, collaborated with KU Endowment development director Amy Gray to rally the Board of Advocates and raise funds for the surprise donation. 

“I've never had a check like this,” Smith said, fighting back joyful tears while accepting an oversized check on stage. “It's large. I mean that in multiple ways." 

During preparations for the centennial celebrations, Cinelli and Stephens served on the Watson Library Centennial Council. This planning committee, also comprised of libraries faculty and staff, brainstormed a slate of fall activities to engage the libraries communities and highlight the library’s history.  

As preparations for the appreciation dinner came together, Cinelli and Stephens hatched a plan to surprise Dean Smith and honor the work of the libraries as part of the evening’s program. Approximately 150 guests were in attendance when they took the stage to reveal the gift. 

The program of speakers at the event centered around the impact of libraries on the KU community throughout history, and the modern, interdisciplinary and technology-infused work of today. 

“We're here because we all value and love to learn because it makes us better people and it makes the world a better place, and libraries are the foundation of that,” Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer said in her remarks.  

“[Libraries] embody everything that we aspire to as a society. Academic libraries are engines of democracy and progress,” Smith said. “They are places where anyone can access knowledge and people and tools to succeed. In the history of Watson, we can find the story of KU. And we can also find the story of Lawrence and we can find the story of Kansas.” 

In Smith’s introduction of keynote speaker Kemper, she revealed that he had an unexpected connection to KU Libraries -- an overdue book checked out from Watson Library 40 years prior when he took classes at KU. To the crowd’s delight, Kemper returned the book to Smith on stage before his keynote address and Smith declared the evening “fine free.” 

“Our rights are an important thing, but so are our obligations,” Kemper said in his remarks. “One of the things that I love about librarians is they know that. They feel an obligation to knowledge. They feel an obligation to their community. And they feel an obligation to the transcendent nature of education in a democracy, in a republic…this great institution is one that should be important and supported.” 

Watson Library is the flagship of KU’s library system, which at 5.8 million volumes is the largest library collection in the state and welcomes nearly half a million visits annually.  

Campus and greater community members can honor the centennial and support the libraries through the Watson Centennial Launch KU campaign. Gifts assist in Watson’s continued evolution as a welcoming and empowering environment for discovery and learning. 

More information about Watson’s ongoing centennial celebrations and a calendar of events are available on the centennial webpage, lib.ku.edu/watson100.