Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Collection is open to research.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Books That Made the Difference Project Collection, Ms1985-003, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Books That Made the Difference Project Collection was donated to Special Collections in 1986.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Books That Made the Difference Project Collection commenced and was completed in 1986. Additional description was completed in 2010.
In a project jointly sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the College of Arts and Sciences of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech, the Books That Made the Difference (BTMTD) Project sought to discover how important a role books played in shaping people's lives. The project was planned, administered, and promoted by Ann Heidbreder Eastman, Director of Public Affairs Programs, College of Arts and Sciences, at Virginia Tech, and executed by Gordon Sabine, a professor of journalism at Virginia Tech, and his wife Patricia, an assistant professor at Ohio State University. The Sabines traveled across the country from July 1980 to March 1981, interviewed approximately 1,400 Americans, and asked them two questions: What book made the greatest difference in your life, and what was that difference? They interviewed a panoply of people, from celebrities and authors to farmers and laborers, who named books from the Bible to Raggedy Ann . The answers were collected for a book published in 1983 by Shoe String Press, Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us . In addition, the Books Make a Difference (BMAD) idea was promoted nationally with, for example, Gordon Sabine's interview on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" in which listeners were asked to write NPR about significant books in their lives, and as the theme of national library ceremonies, such as the American Book Awards. The concept was also used on a local scale, from promotional ideas for libraries given in the back of the book. In 1985 the Book-of-the-Month Club published an abridged version of the book.
The collection consists of Administration and Promotion subject files, Center for the Book material, magazine and newspaper clippings, correspondence, manuscript drafts, Book-of-the-Month Club material, and audio-visual material.
The Administration and Promotion subject files are arranged in rough chronological order. The Public Relations survey involved a form sent to public librarians asking about effective ways to promote read ing. The Spokane Public Library material includes ideas to promote adult literacy and information on their efforts to boost reading through the use of television. The Dana Library Public Relations Awards contest and the Library Awareness Idea Search were entered by Eastman with the BMAD concept. The BTMTD Kit, which is included with this material, never proved successful. Poster Sessions refers to the use of a BMAD exhibit at the 1982 American Library Association meeting. PM Magazine material includes information on the possibility of a BTMTD spot on the show. Susan Neuman material relates to this professor's research at Eastern Connecticut State University of children's reading habits and Neuman's inquiries to Eastman for duplicates of the recorded interviews. The Sabines' Houston presentation was made at Westfield High School in the Spring Independent School District, October 2-3, l984. The Sabines' conclusions focus on their summation about the difference books make to different people. Reader's Digest material consists of mostly manu script fragments of the book organized by Gordon Sabine for an article that was submitted to but never published by Reader's Digest . Miscellaneous administrative information consists mostly of memos, ALA and agent's information, notes, clippings, etc.
The Center for the Book material includes meeting reports of, and publicity for, the BTMTD project.
The clippings are primarily about the BTMTD project, with a few scattered throughout on other related topics.
The correspondence consists of copies of the initial letters Eastman sent to State Librarians about the project, requests for information and materials from librarians, letters of inquiry about the project to the Center for the Book, and Walter Matthau's 1980 letter to the Sabines about his most meaningful book. Also included in the correspondence are the letters written to NPR in response to their request for listeners' to write in what book made the difference in their lives.
The book manuscripts include a card file of notes for the book, as well as drafts and cut- up fragments of the book. Book copy refers to a xerox copy of the finished book. A first edition copy of the book, Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us is also included in the manuscripts section.
The Book-of-the-Month Club material includes a copy of its 1985 version of the book (pages 1-128 of the original Shoe String Press edition), as well as miscellaneous project material pertaining to the Book- of-the-Month Club.
The Audio-Visual material includes photographs, contact sheets, and negatives of interviewees in the project. One photograph is of Gordon Sabine at a teletype machine for deaf library users at the Free Library of Philadelphia and another is of him interviewing a woman on the beach at Sanibel. The order of the contact sheets and negatives follows the Sabines' trail around the country. See Container List for complete listing. Of the four 8-track tapes, one is of Susan Stamberg's NPR interview with Gordon Sabine, the second of an interview with Robert Cromie of Chicago, Illinois, the third is entitled "Eastman MS w/excerpts from BTMTD speech", and the last is of "various interviews." The slides are of interviewees. The videotapes include two U-matic cassettes, one labeled "Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Sabine, BTMTD, Black and White, no Sound", and the other of the BMAD slides which has a list accompany ing it. Another videotape is from the April 1981 BTMTD presentation for the Center for the Book, and a fourth is marked "Contents unknown". The interview tapes include conversations with such noteworthy people as Daniel Boorstin, Woody Hayes, Clare Booth Luce, Dottie Lamm, William G. Milliken, Studs Terkel, Andy Rooney, Edgar Bergen, Sam Bass Warner, Tony Randall, Barbara Tuchman, and Susan Stamberg. The interviewees on Tape are listed in a separate cassette index, appended to the back of the container list.
The collection is arranged by type of material.
The guide to the Books That Made the Difference Project Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).
Side A: St. Petersburg man; Emma Simpson, 81 year-old lady; 100-year-old lady; Manchild and the Promised Land ; Helen Bradley; Island of the Blue Dolphins
Side B: Edgar Bergen; Mr. Degruy; Master's student, encyclopedias; Cora Groff; Dan Runge; Sarah Cook; Harry Wharton, postal clerk; Joan Hopkins; Ringling Art Librarian; David Williams (blind); Frank Cucksey
Side A: Aldrane Schuchmann; Bill Stonex; Kercher; Dauthtroy; Ann Marie Costa; Dan Bernstein; Bruce Sparks; Mark Goumas
Side B: Morris; Blue; Steffan Mallory and Tonya; Lois Rice; Ken Stevenson
Side A: Librarian from Georgia; Anne Russell; Mary Rheay; Colleen; Thomas Moore; Jack Kraus; Mary Warren; Alma Greene; Sybil Bain; Roxanna Austin
Side B: Ella Yates, Hawaii ; Army rules and regulations; John Harte; Christopher Kane; Dr. Ellwood Boddie; France Fritzen; Judy Albright; Casper Jordan
Side A: Willis Johnson; Vincent Davis, Native Son ; V.P. Rush Honda, comic books; about George Bernard Shaw (Shaw Society)
Side B: About George Bernard Shaw (con't); Bonnie Miller; Weller; About Carol Burnett; Sue Stacy
Side A: Ft. Sumter (then speeds up, cannot be understood on this recorder)
"Family Business"
Side A: Gordon Canterbury; South African, Cry the Beloved Country ; Mark Grubham; Arthur Brown; Mr. Linstrom; Nancy White; Joy Culp, Spokane, WA
Side B: Leon Skip Roland; Utah Phillips; Barbara Scott; more on Joy Culp; info on Joy Culp's driver Kathy; Ron Dubberly
Side A: Mr. Stuntz, guide and ticket seller at Tom Edison's house, Dan Youman; Josephine Mannella; (static...); Elizabeth Bryan; James Letizia
Side B: James Letizia (cont.); Linda Letizia; Anne Dennis, Jonathan Livingston Seagull ; Dr. Marvin Odro; Bruce Hugh, Peter Marshall ; (static...); Teacher in Canada; Mrs. Payne
Side A: Joan and Malcolm Miller, High Ice
Side B: Malcolm Miller (cont'd); Mary Poppins ; Textbook; Cope Gall Jr., Grapes of Wrath ; Mr. Nelson; Gary Morris; Boy Scout Handbook ; Irv Brown, Cry the Beloved Country
Side A: Mrs. Pond, Seattle, WA; Wainwright; Virgina Burnside; Ken Ragland; Don Zoller; Ben Moon Railroad, sailor; Fisherman from Norway
Side B: blank
Side A: blank
Side B: Roy Beck; W. R. Henderson; Minton Moore; Mr. Meek; Luther Baker; David Perkins; Sterling and Elizabeth Hinman; Mr Beach; Mr. Dabney
Side A: Mark Couchman, The Monkey Wrench Gang ; Beth Stolzy; Jane Diaz; Rev. Ramsey; Jane Diaz (again); stewardess; Ed Byers; Seibel; Mary Anne Toliver: Mrs. DeReemer; Pauley
Side B: Pauley (cont'd); Ellen Crowley; Shirley Wittler; Halliburton Books; Boorstin's History Books; Little Anna of Lapland ; G. Henney's Books; Lawrence Webber, (children should be read to); real estate consultant; Edgar Rice Burrough's books
Side A: Tarzan , Zane Grey Books; Henry Shearouse; Lee Ambrose, The Fountain Pen ; college course called "Age of Johnson"; Glenn Holliday; Ellen Kessler, PASSAGES
Side B: Dottie Lamm, Working It Out ; Father Woodridge
Side A: Bill Barrett, author of Lilies of the Field and The Left Hand of God ; Howlet; John Gardner's Excellence; John Murdock; Owner of a gold mine, Jesse Peterson
Side B: Das Kapital , Mary Kennelli; Jahn McCardy; John Frantz; Jade Snow Wong; black writer
Side A: Autobiographies; Poet, The Literary San Francisco Coney Island of the Mind ; Positive Thinking , guide in Barringer Vineyards; Betty Theriot, Book of Mormon ; Books on child rearing, Peresia Jackson; Rrobert Yamada
Side B: Mary Kraetzer; Asst. Librarian; Gunther Barth
Side A: Ed McMillan; (Nobel)
Side B: Mendlesohn; woman who works on The Examiner ; Elwood Nestler
Side A: Greg Rayner; Louie Welch; Librarian; Mike Benedict; Penrod
Side B: Librarian; Boy Scout Handbook ; Chester Rozell; Willia Carey Graves; D.D. Lewis
Side A: The Late Great Planet Earth ; Stanley Marcus; Doorman; Patricia Sabine
Side B: blank
Side A: Sylvia Batenhorst
Side B: Sylvia Batenhorst; Green River Bar, Alice Wenner
Side A: Gerhard Zuther; Alex Lazzarrino; Lonnie Tilley, books by Roy Rogers; Frank Hulac
Side B: Joe Kimbrough; Fr. Alan Moss; Carol Chrislock; Gail See; Harold Kittleson
Side A: Zygmont Choroszy, concentration camp survivor
Side B: Zygmont Choroszy
Side A: Steve Nisbet; Louise Pratt Calcott; Roland Robbins
Side B: Roland Robbins
Side A: Roland Robbins (talking about Thoreau)
Side B: Robbins (cont'd); Edna Heidbreder; Jane Gorden at Alcott House
Side A: Bert Perkins; Edgar Allen , Sherlock Holmes ; Leonard Quintavalla, U.S.S. Constitution ; Durgur Park Waitress; David McCord; General Gavin
Side B: George Gloss; Fenn; Sam Bass Warner; Tonroy
Side A: Tonroy, Vanity Fair ; Florence Ladd; Writer in residence at Emerson College; Millions of Cats
Side B: Woman from Peron's Argentina (Manti); Newman's idea of the University , The Second Spring ; Jane Manthorne, The Little Matchgirl , The Man Without a Country ; Danny Thiel; Anthony Buscetti
Side A: Unidentified man; Clara Garcia; Alberto Barreto
Side B: Alberto Barreto (cont'd); Maria Sanchez; Mayor Willian Musso; Steven Aschoff; Jim Moomaw; Bob Van Dyne
Side A: Bob Van Dyne; Bea MacDdonald; Fred Crossland; Marie Davis; Mary Flournoy
Side B: Mary Flournoy; Hagemayer; Bill Andrews; Debbie Andrews; Wes Pippert
Side A: Ed Newman; Nina Keenan; Tom Keenan
Side B: Tom Keenan (cont'd); James Fox (cop); Family business
Side A: William G. Milliken (Governor of Michigan); Bob Cromie; Bill Veeck; Kerri Byrnes
Side B: Clare Booth Luce; Paul Tibbets
Side A: Paul Tibbets; Dr. Mayberry Mayo; Paul Tibbets; War and Rememberance ; Pat Bartlett
Side B: About Richard Burton; Bobbie Estrada; Jeanne Hart
Side A: Woman in Indian Community; Bundy; Paul Beach; Pat Walker; Stacy; Fellow Graduate from University of Wisconsin
Side B: Marcus Cohn; Minnie Pearl; Ann Eastman
Side A: John Gardner
Side B: Electronic reader for the Blind
Side A: Blank except for a small clip from a broadcast, Daniel Boorstin
Side B: blank
Side A: Ruth Boorstin
Side B: Susan Stamberg
Side A: Dan Fader, English Professor from Baltimore
Side B: Dan Fader (cont'd); Prof. John Forsythe; Mechanical Engineer; Phil Samson
Side A: Charlotte Huck
Side B: Charlotte Huck (cont'd); Les and Dorothy Moeller, The Limits to Growth ; Ralph Reeder; Earl Butz; Man at Nrao (astronomer)
Side A: Pastor's Wife, Sue Stacy; Forever Amber ; A Farewell to Arms ; Dick Stoufer; The New Science Politics ; Norman Cousins; Virginia Mathews
Side B: Virginia Mathews; Bookmobile; Bruce Oliver; Norman Cousins
Side A: Professor Stan Idzerda; Julie James; Elnora Betsy Ross (Ray of Hope); Tom McCall
Side B: Tom McCall (cont'd); Jim Green; Jane Anderson Gunn; Pat Walker (bar owner)
Librarian (cont'd); Russ Wiggins; Lady Bible ; John Hancock, Nuremburg Testimonies ; Joe Howland ( The Tru Believer ); Manager ( Education Our Daughter )
Side A: Sue Stacy; Edwin Busick; Kathy Coster
Side B: Kathy Coster (cont'd); Sue Stacy
Side A: Interview (no name given); Nancy Larrick on reading; Irish Tom Campbell
Side B: Sabines (miscellaneous)
Side A: Person in State Department of Commerce, Hawaii ; Mr. Amburgey, Asst. Commissioner of Education in Colorado; Utah Bookmobiles; John Zangmeister; Book Service to Alaskans
Side B: Book Service to Alaskans (cont'd), Woman from Syria, Great Expectations
Side A: Bess Sheller
Side B: Silvia Barsuyan; Henry Dubinsky; Becky Pippert, Camping and Woodcraft ; Head of Recreation, Richard A. Tapply; Man writing his memoirs; Eugene Power
Side A: Cat's Cradle ; Voltaire's Candide , Willard Thompson; Sue Stacy
Side B: Firefighter , Clough; Augusta Baker; Dr. Kein; Melton; Sue Stacy; Marie Davis
Side A: Pat Walker; Dorothy Moeller
Side B: Art Smith, Shakespeare; Postman, Our Plundered Planet ; Dan Lacy; Why people don't read (Nault); Susan Stamberg
Side A: The Scottish Chiefs , The White Company , The Belgian Twings ); Henry Taylor; Book about Clarence Darrow; Aristotle's Poetics ; Sol Gordon; Candle maker; The Deaf
Side B: Jane Howard; Doris Saunders; Betty Elliott; Minister's Daughter
Side A: Director of Energy Research Lab; Man in Washington who served on committee in State Department
Side B: The Americanization of Edward Buck ; Nevada State Librarian; Book service to "Cathouses"; The Adveturers (Shirley); Crime and Punishment ; Alaska mail delivery; Elizabeth Yon; Sue Stacey; Marie Davis; chatter
Side A: Woody Hayes; Ed Koopminers; Helen E. Lee; Reverend Mullins; Ed Koopminers; Bruce Dixon
Side B: Bruce Dixon; Zygmont Choroszy; Tim Melton; Hazel Dicken-Garcia; Tex Potter
Side A: Jimmy Carter's Pastor, The Book of Acts ; Bruce Edwards; Mortimer Adler; R. T. Kingman; Sue Stacy
Side B: Sue Stacy (cont'd); Nancy Lopez Melton; Bill Branch
Side A: Catherine Gillie on reading
Side B: Crawford Lincoln Sturbridge; Gerald Utley; Catherine Gillie; Milton Caniff; Betty Elliot
Side A: George Wilson (Director of Interlochen); Reading Researcher
Side B: Poet, ( Red Fox ); Former President of Union and Lumber Inspec- tor; Zygmont Choroszy, underground newspaper in Poland
Side A: Englishman, Reading Without Nonsense ; Washburn, Huckleberry Finn ; Bessie Moore, Dictionary; Nichols; Paul Ouelette-Silver
Side B: Jeff MacNelly; Timothy Johnson; W. Lyle Eberhardt; Ed Newman; Babbitt ; History book (no contact with non-whites); Speaking about Ghandi and Nehru; William Asp; Raymond Kuhn
Side A: Former bookmobile driver; Sue Stacy
Side B: Sue Stacy
Side A: Simon Michael Bessie, Harper & Row; Nathan Leblang, architect
Side B: Zygmont Choroszy; Robert B. Downs
Side A: M/chf. Ray Kuhn; Mac Bundy; Leon Somat; Rabbi Friehof; Don Lee Keith
Side B: Piano player; Ruby Bridges; Jeff McNelly; Connie Kay; Tony Randall; Andy Rooney
Side A: Andy Rooney; Barbara Bannon; Herb Simon; Zygmont Choroszy
Side B: Irv Kupcinet; Studs Terkel; Bob Cromie; Barbara Moro
Side A: Lady from Publishing Co.; Rita Furst; Clay Herrick; McClennan; Tom Barensfeld with Board of Education, Andre Cristo; Virginia Matthews, Nancy Oakley
Side B: blank
Side A: Cohn
Side B: Man who has passages in a book marked
Backup for Reel Tape of BTMTD Interview excerpts
Side A: Helen Hoke Watts
Side B: Helen Hoke Watts
WRNG in Atlanta - Ray Mooney interview show, August 2, 1980
"4/6/81 BTMTD"
Side A: Jonard
Side B: Linda Letizia
Side A: Linda Letizia (cont'd)
Side B: Ragland
Side A: Ross
Side B: Fleharty (in Alaska)
Side A: Hart
Side B: Branch
Side A: Blue Collar Journal
Side B: Ann Garcia
Side A: 60 Minutes Self-Examination
Side B: 60 Minutes (cont'd); Coster
Side A: Ross; Hart
Side B: Dottie Lamm
Radio Call-in Show with Jim Eason
1/27/81 Gordon Sabine Interview - aired as Public Affairs Pro- gram on WVWR in Roanoke, VA on 2/18/81
copy of Tape 70
Gordon Sabine speech about BTMTD (for Center for the Book?), April, 1981
"All Things Considered" interview—National Public Radio, 2/6/81. Gordon Sabine interviewed by Susan Stamberg.
"All Things Considered," National Public Radio, March, 1981. Susan Stamberg reads letters in answer to request for listeners to write in about significant books.
"Virginia Bookshelf"—Gordon and Patricia Sabine interviewed by Seth Williamson, 1981?