The School of Library & Information Studies at The Florida State University (FSU), College of Communication & Information, is pleased to announce that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of a birdhouse modeled after a classic Carnegie library in Osage, Iowa, will support the Jean E. Lowrie Endowment.

The birdhouse is the brainchild of Dr. Wayne Wiegand, American library historian and F. William Summers Professor at the FSU School of Library & Information Studies. Osage Public Library is one of four Midwest libraries featured in Wiegand’s forthcoming work “Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956” (University of Iowa Press).

Wiegand and his wife, Shirley, created The Jean E. Lowrie Endowment to support school library media students at the FSU School of Library & Information Studies with scholarships and fellowships. They did so to honor his former professor and mentor at Western Michigan University. Lowrie was instrumental in providing him with the opportunity to receive a National Defense Education Act Fellowship.

“Little did either of us know how much that fellowship would mean to me, how much easier it made my efforts to finish my education, provide for my family, and prepare for what has been a wonderfully rewarding career,” Wiegand said. “Despite the huge demands on her schedule, she somehow always found time to counsel and advise me. I am forever grateful to her.”

Lowrie was director of the School of Librarianship at Western Michigan University (1963–1981) and founder of the International Association of School Librarians. She served as President of the American Library Association and was the first recipient of their American Association of School Librarians Distinguished Service Award.

Wiegand had the idea for the birdhouse while visiting the Osage Public Library for his book. Constructed in 1910 with a $10,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie, it is similar in construction to hundreds of libraries throughout the United States. The building is still is use, now as Osage’s city hall.

Priced at $150, the birdhouse is available to Florida State University alumni, members of the Florida Library Association, and the Florida Association for Media in Education for a special price of $99 (shipping $10). To obtain the FSU alumni discount, enter the discount code “PLB1” upon checkout.

For information about contributing to the Lowrie Endowment, contact Mafe Brooks at Mafe.Brooks@cci.fsu.edu or at (850) 645-8312.