Insight

              INSIGHT
A Newsletter from the Illinois State Library • July/August 2000
J E S S E W H I T E • S E C R E T A R Y O F S T A T E A N D S T A T E L I B R A R I A N
Inside INSIGHT
State Library celebrates decade in
new building
Free access to library resources
“Equipment to Books” grants awarded
   
Exhibit examines architectural
influence of George Washington
 
George Wash-ington,
Architect, a
traveling exhibit, is on
display in the Illinois
State Library atrium
through Sept. 3.
The 12-panel
exhibit explores a
little-known aspect of George
Washington’s life as a highly-accom-plished,
self-taught builder. He never
attended college or traveled in Eu-rope,
but formed his design ideas
from reading English pattern books
and seeking advice from local work-men
and neighbors. His home at
Mount Vernon has become an icon
chitectural legacy,
“Mount Vernon is
one of the most
widely imitated, if
not the most cop-ied,
house in this
country...Easily the
most famous house
in the United States.”
The exhibit examines not only
Washington’s design of his Virginia
plantation and his vision of a grand
American capital city, but his life
and times through the prism of the
18th century.
The exhibit was made available
through the cooperation of the
“Mount Vernon is one of the
most widely imitated, if not the
most copied, house in this
country...Easily the most famous
house in the United States.”
— RICHARD GUY WILSON,
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN
Illinois State Library
July 28 - September 3
Berry named
ALA president
Illinois librarian John W. Berry
will assume the presidency of the
American Library Association begin-ning
in July 2001. He was elected on
May 4 by the ALA Election Commit-tee
that meets an-nually.
“As president
of the ALA, I will
be committed to
furthering its role
in an evolving
global informa-tion
society and
addressing our
broad-ranging
but shared agendas,” said Berry.
He currently serves as executive
director of the NILRC, a consortium
of 55 community colleges , universi-ties
and four-year colleges. Berry also
has served as chairman of the Illinois
Center for the Book, working closely
with the Illinois State Library on past
Illinois Authors Book Fairs.
Berry will succeed 2000 ALA
President Nancy Kranich at the end
of her term next July.
John Berry
(see Washington on page 2)
of early-American design.
For nearly two centuries, archi-tects
and designers have adapted
Washington’s designs in their struc-tures.
As noted by architectural his-torian
Richard Guy Wilson in the
exhibit’s section on Washington’s ar-
Springfield Section of the American
Institute of Architects, Renaissance
Architects, Inc. and Secretary of State
and State Librarian Jesse White. It was
organized by the American Architec-
George Washington, Architect
Exhibition
Mount Vernon