Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum facts for kids

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
Type	Research library
Scope	Comic art
Established	1977
Location	Columbus, Ohio
Coordinates	39°59′59″N 83°00′32″W / 39.9996°N 83.009°W / 39.9996; -83.009
Branch of	Ohio State University Libraries
Other information
Director	Jenny E. Robb, Curator and Associate Professor Lucy Caswell, Founder and former Curator Wendy Pflug, Associate Curator and Assistant Professor Caitlin McGurk, Associate Curator for Outreach and Assistant Professor
Website	cartoons.osu.edu

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is a special library and museum. It is part of the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. This place is home to the world's largest collection of original cartoons and comic strips.

It has many types of cartoon art. This includes comic books, daily and Sunday comic strips, and graphic novels. You can also find magazine cartoons and sports cartoons here. The collection has over 450,000 original cartoon drawings. There are also 36,000 books and millions of comic strip clippings. The museum is named after a famous Ohio cartoonist, Billy Ireland.

How the Museum Started

The Cartoon Library began in 1977. It started when the large collection of cartoonist Milton Caniff was given to Ohio State University. Lucy Shelton Caswell became the first person in charge of this collection.

She explained that Caniff loved his university very much. He believed his education helped him succeed. So, he wanted his work to be kept there. Lucy Caswell was offered a job to take care of his collection. She has been working there ever since.

At first, the collection was in two classrooms. One room was for reading, and the other was for storage. Back then, there were not many places to learn about comics. Lucy Caswell had to figure things out as she went along. She contacted other places with cartoon collections. She found that no one had a collection as big and detailed as theirs. No one else was trying to grow a collection like they were.

Over time, the collection grew bigger. It moved from two classrooms to three. Then it became part of the University Libraries. By 1989, the library needed an even bigger space. It even had to use storage places outside the main building. At this time, it was called the Cartoon Research Library.

Growing the Collection

The museum's collection grew a lot over the years. Here are some key moments:

• In 1992, United Media gave the museum over 83,000 original cartoons. These were by 113 different cartoonists.
• In 1998, the museum got the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection. This made it the largest collection of newspaper comic strip clippings in the world. Six large trucks were needed to move this collection from California to Ohio!
• In 2007, King Features Syndicate donated over two million comic strips.
• In 2008, the International Museum of Cartoon Art collection moved to the Cartoon Library & Museum. This added more than 200,000 original cartoon artworks. It included comic strips, comic books, and animation art.

A New Name for the Museum

In 2009, the museum got a new name. It became the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. This was thanks to a large gift from a person who wished to remain unknown. This gift helped pay for big renovations to Sullivant Hall.

The museum was named after William Addison Ireland. He was a self-taught cartoonist from Ohio. He worked for The Columbus Dispatch newspaper. He drew both editorial cartoons and his Sunday comic, The Passing Show. His work was shown at the museum in 2003.

Past Names of the Museum

The museum has had a few different names:

• Milton Caniff Reading Room (1977)
• Library for Communication and Graphic Arts
• Cartoon, Graphic, and Photographic Arts Research Library
• Cartoon Research Library (1989)
• Cartoon Library and Museum (July 2009)
• Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (September 2009)

What You Can Find There

The museum has many amazing collections. The Milton Caniff Collection is huge. It has 12,000 original drawings by Caniff. It also includes many boxes of his personal items and business papers.

Other important collections include:

• The Nick Anderson Collection
• The Jim Borgman Collection
• The Walt Kelly Collection
• The Bill Watterson Collection (who created Calvin and Hobbes)
• The Bud Blake Collection, with over 5,800 original Tiger comic panels.
• The Will Eisner Collection, famous for his comic books.
• The Jay Kennedy Collection, with over 9,500 underground comic books.

The museum also has work by Anne Mergen. She was the only female editorial cartoonist in the United States for a long time. They also keep records from groups like the National Cartoonists Society. There are files on over 5,000 cartoonists.

Exhibitions and Events

The library often puts on special shows about cartoon art. They also lend art for exhibits in other places. They host speakers, workshops, and conferences. Some of their physical exhibits can also be seen online.

Since 1983, they have held the Festival of Cartoon Art every three years. This event has lectures, discussions, and exhibits. It brings together cartoonists, scholars, fans, and students. Many famous cartoonists have spoken at the festival. These include Lynda Barry, Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman, and Bill Watterson.

Museum Staff

Lucy Caswell was the curator from 1977 to 2010. She has written several books about cartooning.

Jenny E. Robb became the new curator in 2011. Before coming to Ohio State, she was a curator at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Wendy Pflug joined as an associate curator in 2011. Caitlin McGurk helps with outreach, like teaching, exhibits, and tours.

Books and Publications

The Ohio State University Press publishes books about comics and cartoons. This series is called "Studies in Comics and Cartoons." It covers the history of comics from the 1800s to today's online comics.

In 2017, a new journal called Inks started. It publishes research about sequential art and cartooning.

New Home at Sullivant Hall

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum moved to a renovated Sullivant Hall. This historic building is next to the Wexner Center for the Arts. The new space is much larger. It grew from about 6,800 square feet to over 40,000 square feet.

The new building has a special reading room for researchers. It also has three museum-quality galleries. There is more storage space with good temperature and security controls.

In 2009, Jean Schulz, the wife of Charles M. Schulz (who created Peanuts), gave $1 million. She also promised to give more if others helped raise money. The project cost $20.6 million and was finished in 2013. Sullivant Hall now holds both the museum and Ohio State's Department of Dance.

Awards

• In 2011, Lucy Caswell received the Silver T-Square Award. This award is from the National Cartoonists Society.

Online Gallery

Some of the museum's collections are available online. You can see them as part of the library's Digital Exhibits.