IRIS Photos

Events and Exhibits

Library Picnic
Come one, come all to the CUL picnic on the Arts Quad from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 3.  There will be plenty of good food and drink, and, hopefully, sunny skies. 

Railway Maps Exhibit
The Map & Geospatial Information Collection (M&GIC) is proud to present a new exhibit, Historic Railway Maps, which will be up until August 15th.  It is mounted in the display cases on the lower level of Olin Library.  The maps chosen for this exhibit reflect the development of the railway system in New York State over the course of the nineteenth century and give an interesting picture of the place of Ithaca and Cornell in that system as it grew and declined.

Our exhibit brings together railway maps from the M&GIC, the general book collection, Rare and Manuscript Collections (RMC), and one from a site on the Web.  Here are early maps of Tompkins County, Ithaca, and the Southern Tier, broadening out to New York State, the East, and the nation.  We invite you to imagine the slow climb out of Ithaca through the switchback on South Hill or to join the rowing enthusiasts filling the festive trains on the Lehigh Valley line up the east side of Cayuga Lake who cheered the Cornell crew teams to victory in the early twentieth century.

Historic Railway Maps was designed and assembled by Howard Brentlinger, the collection development assistant and map assistant.  Howard is a railroad enthusiast with a broad interest in railroad literature and cartography.  Feel free to stop by M&GIC to talk to Howard about railroads and maps.  Susann Argetsinger, a preservation technician and map assistant, and Pat Fox, the preservation technician, have once again mounted an elegant and attractive display.  Thanks also to Eleanor Brown, an archivist in RMC, and Rhea Garen, a digital technician in Digital Libraries & Information Technology, for their help in preparing the impressive Map Showing the Rail Roads Leading to Ithaca, New York.  Special thanks to Elaine Guidero, the temporary map assistant, who patiently scanned and rescanned, plotted and replotted many of the maps for the exhibit.  Elaine provided endless energy and enthusiasm during the assembly.

We hope you enjoy the exhibit.

The Great Gatsby: The Geography of Privilege
A cartographic reflection on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, this exhibit will begin on the lower level of Olin on August 16th as part of the Library’s participation in the New Student Reading Project.

Next: Shorts