Appalachian Book Initiative

Appalachian Book Initiative Statement:

In the spirit of uplifting marginalized voices and to enhance the profile of regional research and creativity, the Sherrod library collects, preserves, and maintains monographs authored by Appalachians. To accomplish this goal, the library should accomplish three basic objectives. 

1. Maintain relationships with relevant campus partners including but not limited to the Archives of Appalachia and the English and Appalachian Studies departments. 

2. Comprehensively collect monographs authored by Appalachian authors, particularly those publishing in the East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina regions. 

3. Make items in this collection easily discoverable and clearly identifiable. 

The 2004 Oxford Companion to U.S. History defines Appalachia both demographically and geographically, calling the region "A land inhabited by a people with distinct memory, history, and culture." It explains that Appalachia is a region which encompasses a range of states from as far north as Maine, and as south as Georgia, but acknowledges that term often applies to a region between the Allegheny and Smokey Mountains. 

East Tennessee State University sits perfectly nestled within this region. From the institution's early days as a teaching college, ETSU has had one primary mission: To improve the lives of people in Appalachia. Whether through the training of teachers, dedicated to educating in rural, overlooked districts, or through cutting-edge medical research, ETSU has upheld this mission for decades, giving back to the region and the people that inhabit it.

In this spirit, the Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University has begun a new collecting initiative, geared towards collecting books by Appalachians, about Appalachian life. The goal of this initiative is to bring attention to those often overlooked voices, to lend them strength by providing them with a permanent home in the Sherrod Library's broad collection of books both popular and academic. Thus far, the library has purchased titles as disparate as a 1984 photography book depicting coal mining, King Coal: A Pictorial Heritage of West Virginia Coal Mining, and Crystal Wilkinson's 2024 memoir/cookbook, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes From Five Generations of Black Country Cooks.

On this webpage you can find a number of titles that support this collection's mission of uplifting Appalachian voices. If you have a purchase suggestion or book donation for this collection, please fill out this form, or get in touch with the Sherrod Library's Dean, David Atkins, atkinsdp@etsu.edu. If you are interested in making a monetary donation to this collection, visit this webpage.

Shifflett, C. (2001). Appalachia.. In The Oxford Companion to United States History. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 9 Apr. 2025, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195082098.001.0001/acref-9780195082098-e-0102.