2:53 p.m., April 7, 2009----William C. Roselle will share “A Moving Experience” as part of the University of Delaware Geography Department's weekly seminar series on Friday, April 17, at 3:30 p.m., in Room 127 Memorial Hall.

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Roselle, retired director of the Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will talk about the historic transfer of the American Geographical Society's Library from New York City to Milwaukee 31 years ago.

Described as “the largest privately owned geographical research collection in the western hemisphere,” the library today includes more than 1.2 million items, from maps and atlases, to books and periodicals, photographs, LANDSAT images, and globes.

Roselle and Barbara Borowiecki, professor emeritus of geography from UW-Milwaukee, will receive the American Geographical Society's Samuel F. B. Morse Medal in an awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 15, at the Louise and David Roselle Center for the Arts for their role in overseeing many of the details of the library's relocation.

Founded in New York City in 1851, the American Geographical Society built a priceless collection of materials supporting research in geography.

By the early 1970s, the society initiated a national search for a secure, new home for this magnificent collection. Following years of investigation, deliberation, legal proceedings, and contractual arrangements, the collection was relocated to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1978. The move took place from July 26 through Sept. 12, 1978, in 16 full-size moving vans.

Roselle will relate the story of this unique move and the unprecedented effort that has today made this collection of more than a million items one of the world's pre-eminent geographical research libraries.

A native of Pennsylvania, Roselle holds his bachelor's degree from Thiel College and M.L.S. from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to entering librarianship, he served two years of active duty in the U.S. Army and two years as a teacher at the Milton Hershey School. During his career as an academic librarian, he held posts at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Iowa before going to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he served two decades as professor and director of the Golda Meir Library.

He is the brother of David Roselle, who retired in 2007 after serving 17 years as president of the University of Delaware.