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Back in January, I joined the board of the Library Marketing and Communications Group, the team that runs the Library Marketing and Communications Conference. This annual gathering of library folks involved in marketing, communications, public relations, social media, and outreach in academic, public, and special libraries, is my favorite professional event of the year.

The first LMCC was held in 2015 in Dallas, TX, with nearly 200 attendees. I first attended LMCC the following year in 2016. In the decade since, the conference has more than doubled in size; and this year will be my fifth time attending.

I’ve written before about how much I enjoy this conference. What makes it so rewarding is the opportunity to be with folks who understand my day-to-day:

“Regardless of whether we work in academic libraries, public libraries, as librarians or as professional staff, we all speak the same language. We understand that not everything can go on the website. We know that fliers are a net waste of everyone’s time. We know that creating social media content is a specialized skill that few people actually do well. We realize that more promotion does not equal more awareness. We understand the power of storytelling. We value having a consistent brand. And yes, we all spend too much times on our phones, but secretly (or not) we enjoy it.” 

If you’re going to LMCC 2024 this week, stop me and say hello! I look forward to seeing you there. Here is what I’m planning to attend:

Tuesday, Nov. 12

  • 9:00a: Board Planning Retreat
  • 1:00p: Pre-Conference: Maximize Your Library Impact With Strategic Collection Promotion by Angela Hursh and Caleigh Haworth

Wednesday, Nov. 13

  • 9:00a: Very Demure, Very Mindful, and Very Asian Futures in Library Marketing by Michelle Li
  • 10:00a: Bite-Size Market Research Tools: Micro Surveys and Usability Studies by Mark Aaron Polger
  • 11:15a: Marketing Library Services to Transgender Patrons by Zephyr Rankin
  • 1:30p: Social Media Strategy Survivor: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast by Tanner Lewey
  • 3:00p: Beg, Borrow, Steal: Finding and Implementing Ideas for Library Outreach by Meghan Kowalski
  • 4:30p: 10th Anniversary Opening Night Reception

Thursday, Nov. 14

  • 9:00a: Been There, Done That, Do It Again – A Conversation with Experienced Library Marketers with Jennifer Burke, Meghan McCorkell, and Nicole Fowles
  • 10:00am: IDEA in Action: Your Voices Best Practices – Empowering Students, Building Bridges by Kara Price, Laura Dowell, and Michele Villagran
  • 11:15am: Building a Video Powerhouse: Project Management, Quality Standards, and Staff Development for Effective Library Marketing by Rachel Yzaguirre
  • Lunch
  • 1:30pm: Embracing Short Form Video by Keith Keslerand Krystal Ruiz
  • 4:15pm: LMCC Open House

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men and women painting on a landscape model

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how academic libraries structure their support for external communications. By “external” I mostly mean on campus, though sometimes this can include communications beyond campus, especially in the case of large state universities, R1 schools, and those with fundraising needs.

This isn’t a topic I have explored in the published literature yet, but I have been poking around library websites to see what info I can glean from staff directories and organizational charts. The various configurations for managing comms I have found generally fall into four types (I call them “tiers” below), though there appears to be little consistency beyond these broad categories. If a research study on this does not already exist, I would find it worthwhile to investigate it further.

In my experience, there are three factors that make academic library communications effective: consistency, strategy, and quality. That is:

  1. creating consistent messaging, branding, and tone; 
  2. developing strategic objectives and determining metrics of success; and 
  3. maintaining a high level of quality content production and execution. 

Of the four models for communications outlined below, only libraries in tiers 1 and 2 can guarantee high levels of all three factors. This is not to say that libraries within tiers 3-4 cannot be successful, but only that it is far more difficult.

Tier 1: The comms team

I suspect this mostly exists in R1 institutions or large campuses with multiple libraries. This is when the library employs an entire team of professionals to manage its communications needs. This might include a full time social media manager, graphic designer, writer, project manager, event manager, development officer, and/or videographer. Assuming that everyone on the team has the requisite skills and experience, this is the most desirable option and the one that securely enables consist, strategic, and high quality communications.

Tier 2: The comms director

Most likely to be found at mid-size university libraries. This is when you have a single full-time person entirely dedicated to communications. Their work might also involve planning and hosting events, and may vary considerably depending on (1) whether they are a librarian or staff and (2) whether they are housed within the reference department or administration. Assuming this person has the requisite skills and experience, this is also a desirable option, though without the balance and support of a team, there is the risk that either consistency, strategy, or quality could fail over time (also, burnout is a significant threat). Nonetheless, it’s a viable option.

Tier 3: The comms hat

Also may be found at mid-size universities, but more likely to be found in smaller colleges. This is when you have a full-time staffer who has been given the extra hat of communications. This might be a solo reference and instruction librarian, a collections librarian, or even a department head but it’s not their primary role. It’s almost a certainty that one of the three success factors will, out of necessity, fall by the wayside. 

Tier 4: The comms committee

This is the least desirable arrangement: communications by committee. While I don’t doubt there are some effective uses of this model out there, I would bet most are ineffective relative to the time and effort involved. This is when no one is in charge of outreach and it just happens depending on the variable bandwidth of the members of the group. Even with the best of intentions and structure, you cannot guarantee a consistent tone or level of quality. 

Finding the right fit

Academic library outreach and communications is a different beast than what one may experience in other types of libraries. For one, an academic library’s primary audience is a limited and captive one: students and faculty. Moreover, the distance, both physical and conceptual, that messaging needs to travel is relatively short. It’s in the secondary and tertiary audiences that variety comes into play: are donors a key demo? Campus senior leadership? State officials? How important is reaching the off-campus community? 

I don’t know what might be a best practice when it comes to structuring an outreach department, but I would venture that most libraries evolve from Tier 4 to Tier 1 over time, though most will never reach beyond Tier 2 due to staffing constraints. What I do know is that working in team environment has a number of benefits, including exponentially increased bandwidth, a mutually reinforced creativity engine, and a burnout buffer. However, it is essential that all members bring the requisite level of skill and experience to the table to make this work efficiently. 

Coda: The line between outreach and communications is a fuzzy one. The terms are frequently used interchangeably (guilty) but the latter has a much deeper and longer history of best practices, theory, and scholarship, mostly outside LIS. I think many libraries slap the term “outreach” on job descriptions and titles without giving much thought to the practical skills and knowledge necessary to make that work. That might be a topic for another time.

(header photo: library_of_congress on flickr)

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News and announcements

🛳️🇵🇦📸 The Northwestern University Transportation Library has digitized a collection of photographs from the construction of the Panama Canal. “The photos show both construction sites of the canal and more leisurely photos of towns and people in Panama at the time […]. Parades, family portraits, and days on the beach are all shown in the photos.” It’s a relatively small collection (153 photographs and 30 postcards), but the photographs are fascinating! 

🔍🤖✨ The University of Arkansas Libraries are testing a new natural-language search tool, powered by generative artificial intelligence, as part of its discovery interface. More importantly, they provide a brief overview of how it works for students. I love that the instructions include the step “look for the sparkles.”

🆓👩‍🏫📚 The University of Virginia Libraries has an interview with two of the faculty involved in its Open Educational Resources Learning Community, which it co-sponsors with the university’s Center for Teaching Excellence. Through the interview, they talk about the library’s role in supporting OER, student support, and offer their advice to other faculty interesting in doing similar work.

🦋🪻🐝 The Woodruff Library at Emory University recently took a patch of grass and converted it to a pollinator garden. I love to see how academic libraries take responsibility for their spaces in ways that reach beyond simple building maintenance. 

🎙️👨‍🎓🐺 A fairly recent alumni from NC State University Libraries is creating an endowment to help fund an oral history program called “Wolf Tales,” designed to help the library capture the stories of NC State alumni though video narratives and interviews. 

On social

This TikTok from the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester [TikTok] does not have nearly enough likes. I don’t know whether this pinch-zoom idea is original (though it feels meme-ish, I haven’t seen it used elsewhere), but it’s brilliantly fun and an engaging way to show off large spaces. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@rivercampuslibs/video/7392311781915446559

I have been wanting to do a “view from a book” style video for ages now. UNC Libraries [Instagram] did a fun version. The soundtrack choice is perfect. Related: Also from UNC Libraries [Facebook], they asked their followers to help them name their book trucks. The results [Instagram] did not disappoint.  

The University of Kansas Libraries [Instagram] hosted a plant swap that included crafting and items from special collections. The resulting video makes good use of b-roll footage. Reminds me that I need to capture more video at our events!

I don’t know if this counts are sponsored content or a collaboration or what, but the University of Missouri Libraries [Instagram] made a video highlighting a local ice cream shop and the joys of reading. The two best parts of summer!

Notable mentions

Renovations 

Summer time for most colleges is the season of projects that can’t be easily accomplished during the school year. Not surprisingly, it’s often the best time to renovate or make substantial progress on long-term construction projects. A number of colleges are in the midst of renovations and upgrades. Here is just a sampling, in no particular order: 

UNC Charlotte, Cornell, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Arkansas, Texas Christian University, University of Central Florida, Rowan University, MIT, Stockton, UC Santa Barbara, Harvard, Northeastern, University of Georgia [Instagram], UT Dallas, Florida Atlantic University [Instagram], UC Riverside, and Northwestern

(header photo: Transportation Library, Northwestern University Libraries)

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I jokingly referred to “Rule #2 of the outreach team” in a meeting last week to which someone aptly responded, “So what are the other rules?” That’s a good question. We like to stay flexible on my team (it’s necessary when most of your work is collaboration-based), so there are rarely hard and fast rules. But here are a few maxims we live by.

  • Rule 1: Make something people want
  • Rule 2: Save everything to Box
  • Rule 3: Invite more people to the table
  • Rule 4: Dirty hands make it right
  • Rule 5: “Yes and”

Of course, rules are meant to be broken so here are the notable exceptions:

  • Rule 5 (with caveat): Yes and… but we can’t say yes to everything.
  • Rule 4 (with caveat): Dirty hands make it right… but don’t be a hero.
  • Rule 3 (with caveat): Invite more people to the table… but always be clear who will make the call.
  • Rule 2 (with caveat): Save everything to Box… [actually, there’s no exception to this rule]
  • Rule 1 (with caveat): Make something people want… but sometimes you have to make them want to want it first.

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fireworks on the horizon of Marina del Rey

O for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.

Henry V, William Shakespeare (1599)

This year, I pledged myself to reading and watching the entire works of Shakespeare. Since January, I’ve been working through his opus in roughly chronological order of production as well as watching recorded performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I am just about halfway through, having read the following:

  • 1-3 Henry VI
  • Richard III
  • Venus and Adonis
  • The Comedy of Errors
  • Edward III
  • Sonnets
  • Rape of Lucrece
  • Titus Andronicus
  • Taming of the Shrew
  • Two Gentlemen of Verona
  • Love’s Labour’s Lost
  • King John
  • Richard II
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • The Merchant of Venice
  • 1-2 Henry IV
  • Merry Wives of Windsor
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Henry V

A few thoughts on the process thus far. Not surprisingly, the more that I read, the easier it gets. I’m picking up the vocabulary (sack, to jar), the cadence and form, and most importantly of all, the style. The more I read, the deeper my enjoyment. As an English major in college, Shakespeare was required (I’m currently reading from the Riverside 2nd edition which I bought as an undergrad) but I did not enjoy it at the time. Perhaps because I didn’t understand it or didn’t grasp the genius of it. Or because I was rushing a fraternity and hadn’t slept in three days. Either way, its beauty was wasted on my youth, but I’m trying to make up for that now. 

What I’m reading 

🤖✍️👨‍🎓 AI and the Death of Student Writing by Lisa Lieberman. “When I used to read good writing like that, my heart would leap with joy. The students are getting it! I’d think. Now my heart sinks because I know those sentences/paragraphs/whole essays are probably computer-generated.”

🫏🇺🇸🗳️ This Isn’t All Joe Biden’s Fault by Ezra Klein. “Even if top Democrats believe Biden should be replaced, they face a collective action problem.”

Garden update 

sapling in dirt and straw

This summer, I’m attempting to grow pumpkins for the first time. If the quickness with which these sprouts emerged is any indication, I will have quite a lot of vines on my hands.

Links to the past 

  • 1 year ago: “I would love to see a separate award for excellent marketing, communications, and strategic outreach (and/or programming) for higher ed libraries. The needs of our communities and the best practices for reaching them differ just enough from our colleagues in public libraries to merit our own arena.”
  • 5 years ago: I was taking some time off the grid, off email, and off projects to reflect, reconsider, and reconnect.
  • 10 years ago: I was moving content to this here site!

Overheard online 

I feel like a perfume called The Conservator would just be lanolin (for knitwear) and a whiff of an unknown but clearly toxic solvent. 

@curatedjenny on Mastodon

banner photo: Marina del Rey fireworks seen from the Westchester bluff

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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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three women working inside the fuselage of an aircraft

Folks often ask if it’s slower at the library during the summer. Yes, there are fewer students and faculty around. Many classes are online and the building is quiet for the first time in months. For the outreach team, however, we keep moving forward! From now through August, my team leans heavily into planning mode: outlining new project workflows, coordinating people and resources, preparing annual reports, and most importantly taking the time to update and fix what we couldn’t to pay attention to during the academic year. 

We have nine summer projects we’re hoping to complete before students return in August:

  1. Universal design for learning and events: Using principles from UDL, my team is looking for ways to improve our programs and events, making them more accessible for a wider range of attendees.
  2. Comms coordinating meeting: Our current way of coordinating external comms usually involves asynchronous messaging on Teams. We are looking at creating a more formal structure and timeline for both ideation and creation of materials.
  3. New event assessment tools: We just wrapped up a year-long pilot test of a new survey tool for library programs. Now, we need to take what we learned to create custom survey instruments for each event.
  4. New library merch: We’ve emptied out our library merch pile! It’s time to design and order new library branded merch for fall. 
  5. Update exhibitions guidelines: There are a number of recurring pain points in our hosted exhibitions program. I’m hoping updated guidelines with clearer expectations for our exhibitors will help.
  6. Improving partnerships protocols: We work with more than 40 partners throughout the year to host events and reach students. I’d like us to “up our game” by examining what makes a good partner, determining best practices, and updating our protocols.
  7. Banned books exhibit: Our banned books exhibit needs a refresher. We’re planning to update how we contextualize and talk about banned books beyond simply highlighting commonly challenged titles and listing annual stats.
  8. Student job descriptions: We’ve used the same job description for our department’s student workers for the past 5+ years, but the nature of the job has changed significantly since 2020. It’s time to rewrite the job description and possibly restructure the program.
  9. Finding the lights: A simple one, but one long overdue. For some of our larger events that happen in the evenings, we oftentimes need to adjust the lighting. Unfortunately, in our large, mostly open area building, it’s not always clear which switches control which lights. So break out the label maker! We’re going to finally figure this out.

There you have it. If you need me this summer, I’ll likely be plugging away at one of these projects above. For my academic librarian friends: what group projects are you and your teams working on this summer?

image credit: The Library of Congress 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!

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Four men in suits and hats are seated in chairs on the front porch

All words are pegs to hang ideas on.

Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit (1887)

A few weeks ago, Meredith Farkas posted on X about her experience as a blogger in 2024. I understand the frustration. Once upon a time, there was a robust community of LIS bloggers. In the years between 2005-2012 in particular, I had to regularly cull my Google Reader (rip) because I would subscribe to more RSS feeds than I had time to reasonably consume. 

I recently when looking for some of those sites and was pleasantly surprised to find that Everybody’s Libraries appears to still going strong. And others have emerged, like Ryan P. Randall. Like Meredith said, most seem to have disappeared or gone silent: Librarian in Black, Pegasus Librarian, Academic Librarian, The Waki Librarian, Pop Goes the Library. 

Of course, it wasn’t just the LIS world. Blogging in any field was at its height in the late aughts. There was a deep and thoughtful conversation happening then that feels lost now, owing in part to the move away from long-form text. The recent rise in email newsletters seems to be bringing this back (have you seen the comment threads on an Anne Helen Petersen post recently!?), but what made it so special then was that the conversations seemed to be happening on people’s own domains, rather than walled communities like Substack’s Notes. Even if those domains were a free Blogger site, when you visited someone’s page, it felt like walking up to their front porch.

I know. “Back in my day.” But what if…

What would it take to bring blogging back, at least in small pockets? Intentionality. Back then, setting up a full WordPress or Typepad site was the simplest way to participate in the conversation. The conversation moved slower, but that’s all we had. Social media drastically lowered the barrier to entry and accelerated the speed, but that came with a cost: the loss of the personal. Yet with a little bit of coordination and purpose, a dedicated group of LIS writers could bring back the blogosphere.

Here’s how it might work:

  1. Gather a group of writers. Each would need to have their own website. The site would need to have commenting and trackbacks functions built in. We can work out the technical bits later (though, I would look to IndieWeb): the key factor is having a space for conversation.
  2. Depending on the size of the group, each writer pledges to write 1-2 posts per month/quarter/year. I think the ideal frequency would be for the group to put out at least 1 post per week. You could go even further and select monthly themes, but it’s probably best to let folks write on what they are most knowledgeable or passionate about.
  3. In addition to regularly posting on their own site, each writer should plan to post at least 1 long-form response post to someone else in the group. This could be planned in advance or not, but the key here is to create [hyper]links among the group.
  4. Each writer should plan to comment on every other writers’ post.

Of course, what I’m describing is what we used to call a “blogring.” This happened organically among communities of writers (we even had site badges for it!). And since it happened on our own domains, it still felt like a community of individuals and less homogeneous than the UX experience of today’s social media. 

I know. “Back in my day.” But what if some things once forgotten could return. Would we welcome them?

What I’m reading

💻🌿💡 We Need to Rewild the Internet by Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon. “Rewilding the internet is more than a metaphor. It’s a framework and plan. It gives us fresh eyes for the wicked problem of extraction and control, and new means and allies to fix it. It recognizes that ending internet monopolies isn’t just an intellectual problem. It’s an emotional one.”

🤪🔗📄 The internet used to be fun. I stumbled across this page after writing the section above, thankfully, because this is a rabbit hole I plan to dive into for a few days! “I’ve been meaning to write some kind of Important Thinkpiece™ on the glory days of the early internet, but every time I sit down to do it, I find another, better piece that someone else has already written.”

⛴️🪝🌏 The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat. I’ve seen this article shared repeatedly over the past week. It’s a #LongRead but worth the entire ride. So much of our infrastructure relies on an aging feet and diminishing workforce.

Links to the past

  • 1 year ago: I was reminding myself that projects or initiatives carried on the backs of individuals is not sustainable. Moreover, it’s bad leadership.
  • 3 years ago: Reading about writing, parenting, and wisdom.
  • 10 years ago: They could see into my soul.

photo credit: Missouri State Archives on Flickr