J.D. Williams Library Jumpstarts Fundraising Campaign for Ignite Ole Miss

The J.D. Williams Library kicked off its crowd-sourced fundraiser for a new studio in the libraries on campus this past Tuesday.

The library has recognized a need university students expressed in feedback: more technology. More specifically, the students desired a place to create and edit video since multimedia is a part of their coursework.

Debra Riley-Huff is the head of web services and an associate professor at the UM Libraries. She is also a co-owner of the new project for the J.D. Williams Library: Studio One. She said, “We did do a small technology survey recently. Basically the students preferred having a digital media lab to having personal items available for checkout.”

She said, “We think the studio will have a very positive impact on the Ole Miss community. We have noticed so many ways that students can use this type of lab! We hear all the time how they need to make a video and they don’t have equipment or need a place to start. Being able to put together digital video content that looks good and tells a story is becoming every important in the digital age and we want to give our students a head start.”

Angela Barlow, director of development and special projects for UM Libraries, said, “Our students are in much need of this technology and service. The library is dedicated to serving all students of our university while providing the best environment for study, research and education. We hope through the help of students, parents and alumni and faculty and staff and many gracious others we will reach our goal to make this resource a reality in the J.D. Williams Library.”

The studio will be a digital video recording studio with lights and cameras alongside an editing suite with both Mac and PC editing software for both beginner and advanced courses. The Penn State’s One Button Studio is the inspiration for the Studio One.

“Studio One will allow library users — students, faculty and community members — a service for producing short videos,” dean of UM Libraries Julia Rholes said. “No prior experience with video production will be needed as it’s a one button process. We hope that the community likes this idea and supports it by helping us reach our fundraising goal so that we can have the studio in place by fall.”

The cost of this innovative studio will be $20,000. Anyone who desires to help out can donate any amount to the campaign via Ignite Ole Miss. There, one can select the University of Mississippi Libraries Studio One Project to make a donation. This campaign will last for 30 days.

Tina Hahn, director of Communications at University of Mississippi, said, “We’re really excited about our crowdfunding campaigns. Your donation impact will be doubled thanks to the generous offer of Ole Miss Athletics to match all gifts up to $10,000.”

These charitable donations are tax deductible. Thus far the libraries have raised a little over $2,000.

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Callie Daniels is a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.