Due to the state holiday, the Office of the Secretary of State will be closed Monday, May 28. If you have business with the office, please plan accordingly.

Thirteen distinguished library directors in Tennessee graduated from the Public Library Management Institute recently, increasing their knowledge and understanding of the unique role libraries fulfill in their communities.

“I commend our directors and library branch managers on this great accomplishment,” Secretary Hargett said. “Our public libraries are more than places to check out books. Libraries also provide valuable services such as job training and Internet access. Tennesseans are fortunate to have library directors willing to demonstrate the additional commitment needed for our libraries to reach even greater heights.”

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After he began work at the Tennessee Department of Conservation in 1937, James L. Bailey crisscrossed the state, preaching the benefits of protecting our natural resources. Throughout his long career, he became such a widely-known advocate for proper use of land, development of parks and recreational areas, restoration of wildlife and protection of water sources that he was nicknamed “Mr. Conservation.” Also a talented photographer, he compiled an extensive collection of photographs.

Now part of that collection is available for public viewing as part of a new free exhibit at the Tennessee State Library & Archives. Bailey’s work is one of several collections featured in the exhibit. In addition to Bailey’s personal collection of photographs, the exhibit features many photos and postcards collected by the Department of Conservation through the years.

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To help commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) will host a free workshop on June 16 from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. in the TSLA Auditorium.

The workshop will shed a light on Tennessee's role in the war. Politically and militarily, Tennessee played a vital role in the War of 1812 and placed the state in the national spotlight for the first time.

The workshop will also focus on key questions: What caused the war? Why did Tennesseans want to fight? What is the legacy of the war in Tennessee? While the focus of the workshop will mainly be on the history of the War of 1812, the session will also examine what resources pertaining to the war are available at TSLA.

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As it celebrates a quarter century of existence, the White House Inn Library has become a victim of its own success.

The number of patrons with library cards has more than quintupled since the first year after the library’s opening. In fact, the total number of registered borrowers – 10,163 – is almost equal to the town’s total population of 10,255.

Over the years, the library’s collection of books has nearly quintupled, too – from 5,500 volumes to 25,250 – while the library’s size has not been expanded.

State Rep. Debra Maggart, State Rep. Joshua Evans and Secretary of State Tre Hargett will be working with White House Mayor Mike Arnold, White House City Administrator Gerald Herman and other community leaders to help the community on the border of Sumner and Robertson counties get a new library. A meeting of community leaders is expected to be held later this month to discuss the increased need for library services in the White House area.

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Representatives from the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Tennessee State Museum will be in Carthage May 11 to record and digitize Civil War memorabilia owned by local residents for a new exhibit.

Archivists will be at the Smith County Heritage Museum, 107 Third Avenue in Carthage, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. that day. During that time, they invite area residents to bring in photographs, documents and other artifacts related to the Civil War.

The archivists will scan or take digital photographs of the materials, some of which will be featured in an exhibit titled, “Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee.” The archivists will not actually take possession of the items from their owners.

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For more than 100 years the Tennessee State Library and Archives has been collecting and microfilming historical newspapers. Now through the Chronicling America project, selected papers from cities and towns across the state are being converted to digital format and made available for free searching online.

Thanks to a recent partnership with the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Tennessee, dozens of Tennessee newspaper titles have been scanned, indexed, and posted on the Internet. The focus is on papers from the Civil War era. All three of the state’s grand divisions are represented, with available newspapers from towns as small as Athens and as large as Memphis. More than 60,000 pages of Tennessee newspapers dating from 1850 to 1876 are now online.

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Digital images of one of Nashville’s most famous and historic venues are now available for viewing online in the Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA). These digital images highlight the history and architecture of the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. The exhibit includes photographs, letters, broadsides, programs, and tickets from the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) photograph and manuscript collections. These materials and accompanying information provide a pictorial and cultural history of this famous building and its origins, including images and writings regarding the Ryman Auditorium’s namesake and founder, Captain Thomas G. Ryman and his family.

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