Ligman chosen as Craig Fellow

Olivia Ligman, a 2020 graduate of Amherst High School, was recently chosen for an E. Lingle Craig Fellowship at Indiana University-Bloomington, where she’s pursuing her Master’s degree in History and Library Science.

The daughter of Brian and Cheryl Ligman of Amherst and granddaughter of Eleanor Ligman, Olivia received her Bachelor’s degree in African Cultural Studies and International Studies with an emphasis in political policy, politics, and economics from UW-Madison. Her graduate studies were determined by her desire to become a public services librarian working with communities.

Her Fellowship project focuses on welcoming communities and patrons into libraries by making zines, individually printed small pamphlets or booklets focusing on a specific group’s activities and interests, such as fans of a particular television series or movie franchise. In Ligman’s case, she’s concentrating her efforts on encouraging small groups to create their own zines about their library and its offerings in an effort to overcome the overwhelming nature of large libraries. With maker spaces available in many libraries, creating such publications is easier than ever before.

Ligman’s efforts for her project include leading a zine-making workshop on a day this past April. In addition to providing a history of zines, Ligman showed attendees how to make their own out of a single 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper, folded and cut to make an eight-page mini-zine.

1. Lingle Craig, who died in 2001 at the age of 96, was the Head Reference Librarian at Indiana University Libraries for more than 30 years and saw the libraries as his family. His generous donation funds the Craig Fellowship.

For more information on Ligman’s Fellowship, visit libraries.indiana.edu/spotlight-craig-fellow-olivia-ligman.