Axe News

Phase 4 Axe Library Renovations 2019

Coming Soon!! Axe Library will undergo a transformation this summer 2019.

Beginning in the Summer of 2019, Leonard H. Axe Library will start Phase 4 of its renovation. This phase will remodel the first floor.

Images below provide a sneak-peek of the plans underway. The furniture choices in the images do not reflect accurately the final decisions. These are just concept design placements.

The exciting additions include:

An Open Floor Design
Additional Study Rooms
A Newly Redesigned Axe Grind Coffee Shop
Centralized Information Service Points
Dedicated Tutoring Spaces

Keep an eye on our social media accounts for more information. Or contact Dean Randy Roberts at 620.235.4878 for more information.

High School Art & English and Modern Languages Day

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

8:30 AM - 2:00 PM

Axe Library

April 3rd Axe Library in conjunction with the PSU Department of Art and Department of English and Modern Languages will host approximately 200 students from various High Schools from around Kansas. The two events are occurring simultaneously between the Overman Student Center and Axe Library.

As part of a partnership with the Art Department, the high school students have been working on Sketchbook over the last few months. These sketchbooks will be added to the general collection on the second floor.

In addition, the English department, for the first time, is hosting this event in the library. Three professors are presenting their events on Science Fiction "Building Worlds: Writing Scince Fiction", Alien Speak: Writing Science Fiction", and "Wall-e Goes to College: Cultural Analysis of Science Fiction."

The Little Blue Books at 100: Haldeman-Julius’s Revolutionary Publishing Venture

In March 1919, socialist publisher Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, of Girard, Kansas, began publishing what would become the Little Blue Books. Girard had been a major location of socialist and Free Thought publishing since the 1890s, and the home of the Appeal to Reason, the nation’s largest socialist newspaper. Haldeman-Julius took over the Appeal in 1919 and shortly thereafter began publishing the small, pocket sized booklets on a variety of subjects and titles. These little books went through a series of names before Haldeman-Julius settled on “Little Blue Books” in 1923. During the course of his career, which spanned over thirty years, Haldeman-Julius printed and sold an estimated 500,000,000+ Little Blue Books, with over 2000 different titles.

Haldeman-Julius, with help from his wife Marcet, revolutionized, if not created, mass-market publishing, making his products affordable to all. He also pushed the boundaries of publishing norms by being one of the earliest publishers to publish sexual education information. He created the self-help/improvement book, and was among the earliest to decry racial segregation and was the first to publish African-American literature anthologies. He also first printed the philosophical works of Will Durant.

The bulk of the Little Blue Books were printed prior to 1930, and Haldeman-Julius developed other publications and newspapers throughout his career. He developed a Big Blue Book series in 1925, issuing similar titles as his Little Blue Books throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Upon his death in 1951, back copies of his the publications continued to be sold by his son, but a fire in 1978 destroyed the Girard warehouse holding the remaining stock, effectively ending the Haldeman-Julius Printing Company era.

Keep checking this site for information about registration, lodging, and symposium schedule. For more information, contact Steve Cox at (620) 235-4883; spcox@pittstate.edu