Introducing a new opportunity for donors to ensure that students, faculty and researchers at KU continue to have access to the journals they need for their essential work: Adopt a Journal at KU Libraries.

Library subscription costs to high-quality research journals have been on the rise for more than a decade, and the trend continues: double-digit annual increases are common in many subject areas. In times of fiscal belt-tightening and flat budgets, these increases put a core service of KU Libraries at risk.

The program's inaugural gift came from Kirk McClure, KU professor of urban planning, and his wife Jeannie. Their gift is a subscription to the award-winning World Shakespeare Bibliography Online, an electronic resource published by the Shakespeare Quarterly, which is the most comprehensive record of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide between 1960 and 2011.

View a list by subject area of prioritized journals and related resources (PDF)

Donor Honor Roll (coming soon)

Make a gift (list your journal selection when asked to specify the purpose of your gift)

For more information, contact KU Libraries Development Director Debbie McCord at dmccord@kuendowment.org or (785) 832-7400.

Here's what Dr. McClure had to say about the gift:

My wife, Jeannie, and I are both KU graduates. I worked my way through college as an hourly employee with the Circulation Department at Watson Library. It seemed like a natural job for me; my father was a printer and bookbinder. Jeannie was an English major with the normal affection for books and libraries found in all English majors. This makes the libraries at KU near and dear to our hearts. Jeannie has a love of Shakespeare, which she passed on to our daughter. As part of a grade school independent education project, our daughter completed a study of many of Shakespeare’s plays, which we, as a family, read aloud, each taking different roles. This project led to a family visit to England to see the Royal Shakespeare Company. The study and the trip created many lasting memories. It seems only appropriate that our family help KU libraries by adopting a Shakespeare journal.

Titles included in this program are effective as of January 2011 and subject to change without notice. Sponsorship calculations are based on anticipated annual increases.