Category: Recently in Academic Libraries

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Sand, trees, and grass at the Japanese Garden in Portland

I almost didn’t get this post out in time. Earlier this month, my family and I traveled to Portland for a week. I thought I had tied everything up before we left, but turns out I missed closing the loop on a couple key projects. But rejoice! Those are done now. So without any more delay, here’s what happened in academic libraries in June.

News and announcements

The University of Washington Libraries hosted a student video contest. The 2024 edition of their #IHeartUWLibraries contest asked students to create original videos showcasing the libraries through the lens of their experience. The top prize of $1,500 was awarded to the creator of this video (above).

A GIS librarian at UNC Libraries teamed up with an art historian to create an interactive map of local art galleries and exhibit spaces as part of “Loving Your Local Art Scene” summer class. I can’t not love the final paragraph: “We need to hire more librarians, give them better budgets and storage, and support any archival process they think they need to invest in. Librarians are the unacknowledged champions of the research process.” Amen!

At my place of work, we frequently talk about ways we can foster a culture of reading among undergraduate students. To that effect, Loyola University Chicago Libraries is hosting summer reading bingo. Students are encouraged to read in a variety of categories, such as queer romance, poetry, banned books, and books “published the year you were born.”

reading bingo card with rules
Summer Reading bingo card, created by LUC Libraries

Off-site and high-density storage facilities for libraries provide engaging ways to talk with students and faculty about the role of libraries in preserving human knowledge and how to continually grow their collections. UC Berkley Library recently wrote about their tour of the Northern Regional Library Facility for their legacy/estate donors group.

I’m amazed at the complexity of this seemingly all-staff library assessment project (aka “data party”) from Duke Libraries. Every two years, they run a large student satisfaction survey. Small teams of staff code thousands of comments to create dashboards. Then more than 50 staff dig into the results and brainstorm solutions to address the problem areas uncovered by the survey. The recommendations are then presented to library leadership, who then parcel out the next actions.

Speaking of library assessment, what does that have to do with bird watching? Well, Temple University Libraries has an answer for you. 

On social

Every social media manager should have the agency and opportunity to take a social media break. I love how Santa Clara University Library [Instagram] made their announcement. 

photo of black with two toggles, one for Instagram (off) and one for vacation (on).
@scu_library on Instagram

University of Wyoming Libraries [Instagram] created a video offering highly specific book recommendations.

UTA Libraries [Instagram] has a super profresh Reel about how they support experiential learning.

Grand Valley State University Libraries [TikTok] has a Black book exchange in a Little Free Library posted near their building.

If you’ve been on X/Twitter for a while, you might remember 2023 when UK Libraries [X] was photoshopping their building into famous images daily (for 365 days!). This week they posted a throwback in conjunction with Inside Out 2. I am always impressed when library creators commit to the bit. 

Interesting events and exhibits

Michael Flierl, an associate professor and student learning librarian at The Ohio State University Libraries hosted a virtual presentation on future considerations for artificial intelligence and information literacy, including questions about the role of librarians in all of this. 

“Let’s engage in historical capitalism!” The Virginia Tech University Libraries hosted a workshop entitled, “Archival Adventures: Decades of Advertising in Pulp Magazines.” Archivist Anthony Wright de Hernandez explored advertisements in speculative fiction magazines. The event was live streamed on Twitch (cool) and is part of a weekly series.

Penn Libraries hosted their first Death Cafe earlier this month. Distinct from bereavement support, counseling, or therapy, Death Cafes are an opportunity to talk candidly and openly about death and dying. And there’s cake! 

They might be old school, but I love a good book display. Duke University Libraries created a “Read like a Celebrity” display that included titles mentioned by celebrities in interviews or on social media. 

Next week, Yale Library will host its annual public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the oration by Frederick Douglass in which he asked: “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” The event runs 90 minutes and is not live-streamed, but from what I can gather from the website, it’s a popular event!

Notable mentions

Pride and Juneteenth inspired a number of libraries to post about recommended readings, LibGuides, and special collections materials. Here are two quick roundups of some examples from across the field.

That’s it for this month! Do you find this useful? What would you like to see next time? Let me know in the comments! 

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sepia toned photo of reading room with ornate bookshelves and soft chairs

The updates from academic libraries are slowing down this month as many colleges and universities transition into the summer sessions, but there are still quite a few updates and events worth highlighting. I’ve shortened the lists to include only my top 5 announcements, social posts, and events, but (I couldn’t help myself) I included a “notable mentions” list at the end. 

While not necessarily represented below, I’m noticing a few trends, including AI, retirements, renovations, and podcasts. Perhaps I’ll dedicate a future post to a news roundup of one of those topics. 

News and announcements

The University of Michigan Libraries is offering free borrowing privileges for Native and Indigenous peoples not already affiliated with the institution.

Interviewers from Berkley Library’s Oral History Center presented their work on the Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Project at the annual meeting of the National Council on Public History and wrote about the experience of traveling to Topaz (Utah) where some 8,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly incarcerated during World War II.

The University of Arkansas Libraries processed a new photo history collection of photographs by Geleve Grice, depicting daily life in the Black community around Pine Bluff. Notable figures in the photographs include Muhammad Ali, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Maya Angelou, Wiley Branton, Edith Irby Jones, Ida Rowland Bellegard, Raymond Miller, Lawrence A. Davis, Martin Luther King Jr. and Silas Hunt.

The Olin Library at Rollins College is hiring for an Artificial Intelligence Librarian. Couched firmly in the context of information literacy, this position seeks to bring together the ACRL Framework and AI into the classroom.

The University of Virginia Libraries is funding “research sprints”: an intense 1-3 working day collaboration between faculty and librarians to support specific research projects.

Notable mentions

On social

I love what Bass Library (Yale) is doing on Instagram. They are using a balanced mix of popular audios, high quality photo/video, and humor. Someone is obviously having a lot of fun over there.  

The University of Michigan Library has an informative video that explains what a leafcaster does [YouTube]. This informal style of a BTS perspective (talking to the camera vs. voice over), especially in the lab setting, is engaging without begin boring. 

Fondren Library at Rice University announced on Facebook that it is launching a seed library.

RIT Libraries just uploaded a bunch of “Hey Listen” episodes to its YouTube page. The series was created by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology and featured deaf panelists, audience members, and hosts. 

Northwestern University created a fabulous video [YouTube] to highlight its university archives. The intro graphic and music choice are superb and the pacing is just right. I’m assuming this was produced as a collaboration between the library and the uni’s main marketing arm. 

Notable mentions

Interesting events and exhibits

Bookbinding event at UPenn Libraries

The University of Cincinnati Libraries is hosting a 21-day anti-racism challenge on topics including structural racism in health care, white privilege, and the difference between “not-racist” vs. “anti-racist.” The self-guided work culminated in a synchronous virtual discussion.  

Yale Library currently has an exhibit on the copying sacred texts. In addition to highlighting some notable works, including those of Kyeongho Kim, it aims to encourage the meditative practice of hand-copying texts. 

Drexel University Libraries annually honors members of its campus community who authored publications in the last year. This year, they honored their highest number faculty, staff, and student in the 12 years of the program: 118! 

The University of Michigan Libraries hosted “Dragademia,” a part lecture, part performance on the cultural issues surrounding drag performance. Apparently singing was involved. 

Penn Libraries is hosting a workshop on stab-stitch binding.

That’s it for now! As I was preparing this post, I began to notice many of the Pride Month posts rolling out. So while not included in the list above (which mostly covers late May), I’ll pull those together for the next roundup!

top image credit: SMU Digital Libraries on Flickr

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library with high arching ceilings, chandeliers, and alcoves full of books

Last month, I was working on a project to review how other academic libraries structured their donor web pages. During that review I noticed some amazing projects, and this led me down a rabbit hole. I ended up searching through more than 250 library websites to seek out some of the happening at other academic libraries. What follows is a list of my most notable finds, including announcements, social posts, and events. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but if this is the sort of thing you enjoy or find useful, let me know in the comments! 

News and announcements

Librarians at Auburn University worked with faculty to study the effects of open access on citation counts. 

“To find out whether paying these APCs is worthwhile for authors, Stevison’s interdisciplinary team analyzed five years of bibliographic records totaling 146,415 articles in 152 biology journals offering both open and subscription-access options. […] They found that while paying APCs to make articles open via the “gold” route did yield increased citations, a more economical model of open access provided similar benefits.”

The Drexel University Libraries recently completed a project to digitize more than 6,000 graduate theses and dissertations that were previously available in print format only. 

“Many of the newly digitized theses and dissertations were produced by students enrolled in Drexel’s College of Medicine and its predecessors, including the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Hahnemann Medical College, Hahnemann University, MCP Hahnemann University, and Allegheny University.”

Fordham University Libraries has an article about Adelaide Hasse, creator of the SUDOC classification system.

“Unhappy with the Dewey Decimal System, she set about creating a classification system all her own beginning, sensibly enough, with the Agriculture Department. She developed a system organized not by title or author, but rather by department. A for agriculture, D for defense, T for treasury, etc. It may seem confusing at first, but it has a strict and coherent internal logic.”

The University of Illinois Chicago library gives out awards to faculty members through its “Open Textbook Faculty Incentive Program” to support creation of open educational resources. 

“This award recognizes faculty who demonstrate exemplary use of open educational resources in their classrooms and leadership in using and advocating for open course material. Examples include incorporating free educational materials in courses, including open textbooks, and creating original open educational resources.”

large bound volumes stacked on a shelf
image source: Northwestern University Libraries Blog

Northwestern University Libraries recently completed a project to box up large bound volumes of newspapers: “Step 5: Put on a brave face and open compact shelving again.” I would need a brave face when confronting the above as well!

I love this “Meet Your Librarian” series that University of Oregon Libraries is currently running!

“‘It all starts with the students,’ is Morning Star’s philosophy. With her expertise and knowledge in art research, she is eager to assist anyone seeking help, and does more than offer her services as a subject librarian to help them find what they’re looking for.”

Also at UO, the librarians recently evaluated more than 100,000 volumes in an effort to revitalize and make space in their Northeast campus library. The storytelling here about the process (click on “virtual presentation”) is top-notch:

“Their efforts led to the removal and reuse of more than sixty aisles of book shelving from throughout the building at no cost to the University.”

Maps are definitely cool again (see also: LAPL’s Epic Map Battles of History [TikTok]). So it’s no surprise that ASU Library has a “Map of the Month” series:

“As with all of our Map of the Month features, if you’d like to get a scanned copy of this map, please submit a Map and Geo Service Request and we’ll be sure to get back to you within two business days, but typically sooner.”

Cornell has an exhibition of Vladimir Nabokov’s butterflies: 

“During his time as professor of Russian literature at Cornell (1948-1959), Nabokov collected hundreds of butterfly specimens from across the United States which he donated to the Cornell University Insect Collection.”

Students at the University of Dayton used the library’s media production studio to create Barbie-themed explorations of feminist theory:

“When teaching inspiration strikes, we all should feel supported. Creativity, innovation and collaboration make library work and education exciting. ‘This project would not have come to fruition without the library’s spaces and people.’”

UT Arlington held its second annual 24-hour Datathon:

“Datathon presented students with realistic data challenges. These challenges involved looking at a question and then collecting, processing, analyzing, and interpreting data to help solve a problem.”

Georgia Tech Library has announced its third artist-in-residence, Bojana Ginn:

“Interested in the microscopic worlds of the body and environment in the age of digital and biotechnologies, Ginn explores human identity, mental health, AI and virtual reality, the techno-sphere, and trans-humanism.”

Related: LeHigh is inviting students to enter a design contest for a new art installation to be on display in their Fairchild-Martindale Library atrium.

Other quick picks:

  • James Madison University Libraries is helping students explore alternative options to expensive learning materials with this helpful info graphic.
  • Congratulations to NC State University Libraries for being awarded their Chancellor’s Creating Community Award at the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity’s Recognizing Excellence in Diversity Event! 
  • Northeastern University Library has a monthly “reading challenge” award for students (file under: fostering a culture of readers).
  • Hesburgh Library at Notre Dame is celebrating its 60th anniversary. I love how they have identified 60 milestones in the library’s history to honor the occasion.
  • The University of Buffalo Libraries has a story about an item from the Challenger that now resides in its collections.
  • Penn Libraries has a detailed description of their attempts to stabilize and repair a rare Persian codex.
  • Washington University in St. Louis has an article about the illustrated editions of the raven from Edgar Allan Poe’s eponymous poem. 
  • DePaul University Library created this infographic to highlight common reference desk questions.

On social media

  • Texas A&M Libraries has what might be the most charming library orientation video I’ve ever seen (above): YouTube.
  • University of Florida Libraries are asking students what they think is the oldest library on campus: Instagram
  • University of Oregon has a nice use of the campus mascot to promote finals use of the library: Instagram
  • Syracuse University has a well done video on the importance of accessibility and the staff who do that work: Instagram
  • MIT Libraries created this “Circulation: A Day in the Life of Library Books” video: YouTube
  • I love how some libraries are encouraging graduating students to use their spaces as backdrops for their grad photos. Here’s an example from Stony Brook University: Facebook
  • Fairfield Library has a good use of BTS video of a graduation photo shoot: Instagram
  • This Reel from NYU Libraries is a great use of audio to offer quick research tips: Instagram

Interesting events

sets of letterpress stationary
image source: Dartmouth Libraries

Notable themes

API Heritage Month resources:

Mental Health Awareness Month:

Student research awards:

Profiles of student graduates:

That’s it for now! Let me know what I missed. Again, if this is something you find useful, let me know in the comments. Maybe I’ll do it again next month!