NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Milner Library at Illinois State University has received a $268,000 award to digitize a collection of circus route books dating back to the 19th century.The library in Normal, Illinois, announced the award Wednesday. The nonprofit Council on Library and Information Resources in Washington, D.C., is providing the funding for the project to preserve circus history.
Circus route books contain information about people, positions and events during a circus show’s season.
Milner Library will work with Circus World in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, to digitize 315 circus books from their collections and create a single portal to access the information.
