Northern Kentucky University

Past Events

Best-Selling Author Kim Edwards at Steely Library

April 4, 2007.

Kim Edwards, the Kentucky-based New York Times best selling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter and author of a short story collection, The Secrets of a Fire King, which was an alternate for the 1998 PEN/Hemingway Award and has won both a Whiting Award and the Nelson Algren Award, read from her work. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Edwards currently teaches writing at the University of Kentucky.

An Evening with Celebrated Novelist Silas House

October 25, 2006.

The First Public Reading of Richard Taylor's New Novel Sue Mundy

November 9, 2006.

The Schlachter Family Archives

November 2004.

An event was held in November 2004 to celebrate a grand gift from donors Mark and Rosemary Schlachter. The Schlachters gave the lead gift in the campaign to renovate and upgrade the Archives. The Library marked their generosity with the unveiling of the Archives’ new name: The Schlachter Family Archives at Northern Kentucky University. A crowd of about 100 people enjoyed the evening with refreshments accompanied by the sounds of a faculty-led jazz ensemble, supplied by the NKU Music Department.

Congressman Ken Lucas

January 2005.

NKU accepted the official papers of Congressman Ken Lucas, a long time friend and supporter. The collection included memos, notes, and others correspondence accumulated during Congressman Lucas’ three terms in the U.S. Congress. Nearly 100 people braved a wintry storm to show appreciation to Congressman Lucas for his generosity at a reception held in the Steely Library Loggia. Lucas, a Grant County native, served on the University’s Board of Regents for 23 years and the University’s administrative building is named for him.

Honorable James Callahan

June 2005.

NKU received the career papers of one of the Commonwealth’s most respected political leaders. The event was a celebration of the acceptance of the State Legislative Leadership Papers of the Honorable James Callahan, majority caucus chair of the State House of Representatives. The event took place in the Steely Library Loggia. Representative Callahan was joined by a host of family and friends for the event. Callahan is credited as a key force behind Kentucky’s higher education reform efforts which greatly benefited NKU. Many attendees honored Representative Callahan by contributing to the Preservation of Political Papers Fund in his honor.

Rick Bass

April 22, 2006.

Rick Bass is the author of twenty-one books, including The Watch, Where the Sea Used to Be, The Hermit’s Story, and Caribou Rising. His stories have been awarded the Pushcart Prize and the O. Henry Award and collected in The Best American Short Stories. His newest story collection, The Lives of Rocks, is from Houghton Mifflin.

Gwyn Hyman Rubio

March 15, 2006.

Northern Kentucky University's Department of Literature & Language and the Friends of Steely Library presented a reading, followed by a signing, by Gwyn Hyman Rubio, author of the New York Times Bestseller Icy Sparks (an Oprah Book Club selection) and The Woodsman's Daughter.

John Ruthven

Ron Ellis