Along with the passing of the last day of February has come the end of Black History Month. March is not only set to bring warmer weather to campus, but also a new display in the corridor of the main library.

The new exhibit features Romanian poets, highlighting Andrei Codrescu, a faculty member at Louisiana State University.

“We are highlighting him because he gave his personal library to our Slavic and East European Library,” said Roxanne Frey, the library’s associate director for Development and Public Affairs.

The new exhibit will not be quite as expansive as February’s Black History Month display, but it is set to fill all six cases on the south side of the library corridor, Frey said. Two cases of materials will be devoted to Codrescu, and others will feature material by Romanian poets residing in Romania and Romanian poets living and working in the U.S.

“We’ve done so many things over the years,” Mitchell said. “We try to create displays that will interest the students as well as the faculty.”

Vera Mitchell, library specialist in the Afro-Americana Unit, planned the library’s Black History Month exhibit. This year’s exhibit centered around the history of the local black community, with displays highlighting the accomplishments of Champaign-Urbana’s black citizens in a variety of fields.

The focus on local black celebrities and pioneers made this year’s exhibit unique from those in years past. Miss America 2003 Erica Harold, late jazz artist Jack McDuff and rapper Christopher Bridges, commonly known as Ludacris, are all influential Champaign-Urbana natives that were featured in the display.

“We wanted to highlight the contributions and the lives of African-Americans in the Champaign-Urbana area and give some of the history of the area that doesn’t get talked about a lot,” Angela Clark, assistant program director of the African-American Cultural Program said. “There’s a lot of rich history in this area that we wanted to highlight.”

Essays written by area junior high and high school students for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Contest, sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Symposium at the University, accompanied the historical aspect of the display. The essays honor King’s legacy while reflecting on the students’ own experiences.

“It’s important to show how young people look at race relations and how they look at the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. on their lives today,” Mitchell said. “When you look at the writings of young people, then you see how they are experiencing life.”

Frey proclaimed this year’s display a success.

“We have some very distinguished people in the community, and I’m so glad it was focused on them,” Frey said. “We want the library to put its best foot forward.”