This month’s cover features a 1965 image highlighting the timeless and universal message “Books are Windows to the World.” The photograph conveys one of the most important missions we have as librarians—providing a collection of books that explore identities and experiences generating compassion for the uniqueness that each individual and group contributes to society. The image is a reminder of how reading cultivates harmony for humanity by protecting these opportunities for gaining new wisdom for all.

The photograph is part of a new digital collection from the Joliet Junior College Library, the Dr. Robert E. Sterling Local History Collection. The collection features nearly 5,000 images of the Joliet, Illinois, area and surrounding communities taken from 1895–1978. This collection and other historic content from Joliet Junior College, America’s first public community college, can be viewed at https://library.jjc.edu/collections/archives.