At this month’s forum, Special Collections librarian Ed Vermue conducts a tour of the Letterpress Studio at Oberlin College, followed by a screening of the film Proceed and Be Bold! At 40 years of age, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. abandoned the traditional American Dream to follow his own. Unsatisfied with his comfortable, middle-class life, Amos traded in his computer for a printing press and his white collar for a pair of overalls. Armed with life, liberty, peanuts, and a meager yearly income of $7,000, Amos cranked out a new, mutinous declaration of independence.
Please meet in the lobby of the Mudd Library at Oberlin College, 148 West College Street, Oberlin, Ohio.

Kathryn Hanratty is a landscape designer and owner of Enviroscapes Landscape Design in Chardon, Ohio. Enviroscapes is a landscape design and consulting company specializing in the creation of beautiful, natural and sustainable landscapes. She has written numerous articles for various local publications and taught classes for local organizations including the Holden Arboretum and the Cleveland Botanical Garden. In addition to her work as a landscape designer. She volunteers as a Great Lakes ambassador for Audubon and the Ohio Environmental Council and serves as co-chair of the Native Plant Promotion Committee of the Lake Erie Allegheny Partnership for Biodiversity and on the board of the Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio. At this month’s forum,  Ms. Hanratty will talk about four of her favorite books about Native Plants.

30th Annual NOBS Akron Antiquarian Book & Paper Fair 
Friday, April 6, 2012, 3:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Saturday, April 7, 2012, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
John S. Knight Center, 77 East Mill Street, Akron, Ohio

More than 35 dealers will be on site, offering selections that are:  “Old and Rare, Readable and Collectible, First Editions, Children’s Books, Americana, Maps, Prints,
Illustrated Books, Mysteries, Science Fiction, Cookbooks, Civil War, Aviation,Art, Literature, Travel and More!”

General admission: $5.00,  Students: $3.00,  NOBS Members: FREE. Click here for more information.

Wendy Wasman, librarian at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, will present a visual lecture on The Art of Science & Exploration: an Illustrated Journey through (Mostly) 19th-Century (Mostly) Ornithological Books. This survey of some of the most important illustrators of scientific works, such as Joseph Wolf, Edward Lear, and John Gould, clearly demonstrates the intersection of science and art.

What’s on your summer reading list? Now’s the time to share your interesting, unusual, and otherwise noteworthy reads with other bibliophiles at our semi-annual Show and Tell session.  Anything goes: you can bring treasured tomes and tell us about them, or you can bring odd curiosities you know nothing about and let group members tell you what they think.  Either way, there’s always something to learn and some great books to discuss.  Bring a book and join us!