Jo Burgess recalls her son Sam reading the encyclopedia for fun. “Sam loved books from the time he was tiny,” she said. “I wanted to honor that.” As Jo spoke with Kyra Triebold, recent graduate and winner of the 2018 Sam Burgess Undergraduate Research Award, she described her son, a young man lost too soon through a tragic 2006 accident.
“You don’t want that name, your child, to be forgotten,” Burgess said. As a long-time IU librarian, she was able to find a way to not only remember Sam, but also to encourage young people on the campus by funding an annual cash award celebrating excellent research.
In spring 2018, Triebold’s paper, “Theroux’s Mothballs: The Importance of Translators’ Archives” was nominated for recognition by IU professor Christoph Irmscher. In his recommendation, he stated that her work “reminds us that literary archives don’t ‘archive;’ instead, they reveal, disclose, provoke and stimulate.”
Still actively contributing to the fund, Burgess appreciates the continued impact of her gift, and the way previous winners have built on their undergraduate academic successes.
For the many friends of IU Libraries, it is the pervasive impact of libraries that inspire giving. Whether supporting new collection acquisition, Lilly Library rare book conservation, student scholarships, library places of connection, or endowed librarian positions, supporters recognize the powerful, intentional way libraries reach all students and scholars.
Winning the Burgess Award may have a lifelong impact on Triebold. While currently the managing editor of the Journal of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Meridians, she tells Burgess she is thinking about a future in academic libraries. The now retired IU librarian could not be happier.