Loraine G. Vosper

Any celebration of the life of Robert Vosper also must recall his beloved wife and partner, Loraine G. Vosper.

This exhibition can only suggest how the nine eventful years of Robert Vosper’s leadership of the University of Kansas Libraries unfolded, year after year, to show his zest for learning, joy in bringing together people from all parts of the world, and an eager openness to new ideas and ways of thinking. All of this he accomplished with a spirit of fun and adventure.    It must also be remembered that even as the written and photographic record of Loraine Vosper’s part in these years is limited, as is so typical of those times, the oral tradition among KU library people, others who held University leadership positions, and so many faculty of that era is rich in recollections of “Loraine” as an integral part of the story.

Indeed, one need read only a few of Vosper’s descriptions of events in the life of the KU Libraries, in the staff newsletter, The Gamut, especially those that he wrote from afar, to gain a sense of the adventures that so often were shared with Loraine and at time also with their children.   From reports made from cool summer vacations in Colorado to accounts of journeys to others parts of the United States and across the seas, he frequently would mention with evident pleasure his and Loraine’s adventures, especially meeting many librarians and scholars (and other “book people”) who had enjoyed the Vospers’ famed hospitality in Lawrence. The Vospers’ contributions to this community were a delight not only to KU people and other Kansans, but also to so many, many people around the world who came to call them dear friends

William J. Crowe
Dean of Libraries, 1990-1999
University of Kansas