News and announcements
The University of Texas Libraries have digitized and published, with transcripts, more than 160 episodes of the radio program Latino USA. “The newly published episodes consist of over 80 hours of material covering Latin American and Latina/o topics, including interviews with figures such as labor activist Dolores Huerta, singer Little Joe Hernandez, San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, and writers Claribel Alegria, Américo Paredes, and Sandra Cisneros.”
The NC State Libraries have put together family backpack kits for students who are parents of young children. Similar to the UVU post from earlier this month, I love seeing libraries support non-traditional students, especially those trying to juggle caretaking. The kits contain age-appropriate books, activities, and toys. NC State developed this in consultation with their campus’s Student Parent Association and by examining what other academic libraries do to support parents.
Chemistry. Lasers. Medieval manuscripts. Boy, you do know the way to this librarian’s heart. Dartmouth Libraries worked with their chemistry department to identify pigments in several of their pre-1600 manuscript fragments using Raman spectroscopy. What an amazing experience for their students! (I’m sure the librarians were into it as well).
File this under “things I want to do at my library.” LeHigh University’s Fairchild-Martindale Library has selected the winner of its library design contest. I highlighted this back in May. The winning submission, Mossgrove (prototype seen above), was co-developed by two students. “Studies show that indoor plants improve one’s productivity, focus, and wellbeing. Combining this with our personal experiences in nature, it made sense to create a timeless, biophilic design,” said one of the students.
Indiana University Bloomington is preserving the history of its state’s independent music scene through its Secretly Canadian publicity records, which consists of publicity material created and collected by the label from its founding in 1996 through 2012 including Bon Iver, Danielson, War on Drugs, Dirty Projectors, and more bands that I constantly have on repeat.
“Libraries are more than spaces for study—they are engines of opportunity, places where ideas are born, and futures are shaped.” Leo Lo, library dean at the University of New Mexico, recently spoke at the Global AI Forum 2024, and three institutions in Hong Kong. His reflections on artificial intelligence and the role that libraries could play in that field’s evolution is worth considering, if anything for its exploration of the adjacent possible.
The University of California system, most of the California State University schools, and 30 private academic and research institutions (including my own place of work) have reached a comprehensive four-year transformative open access agreement with Oxford University Press through the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC).
The University of Maryland Libraries is working with Project STAND’s $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to support residencies that will “solicit 16 fellows from student organizers, memory workers, artists, and community organizers to think collectively about safeguarding histories of student-led liberation while imagining and developing primary resources to support the ongoing advocacy and education that make these critical histories accessible.”
Notable mentions
- The University of Chicago Libraries recently acquired an 8th century Buddhist artifact called a hyakumantō darani (pictured above).
- Quite a few libraries hosted Douglass Day transcribe-a-thons, including Marquette University, William & Mary, and Fairfield University.
- Speaking of William & Mary’s Swem Library, they also showcased their extensive collection of love letters by hosting a “Love in the Archives Open House.”
- UNC Wilmington is hosting a FlashLit competition. The theme for 2025 is artificial intelligence. Students are challenged to write pieces of 500 words or less.
- Georgia State University Library hosted a panel, pop-up exhibit, documentary viewing, and archival donation ceremony on the legacy of Atlanta hip-hop.
- Western New England University’s D’Amour Library hosted a faculty-student research speed networking event.
- Fresno State Library acquired an extensive collection of over 6,500 volumes on pre-Columbian Aztec and colonial Mexican art history
- Columbia University Libraries currently has an exhibit on Edward Said’s library.
- I loved this graphic from Villanova University for Love Data Week.
- The University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries have secured an agreement to acquire U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s senatorial papers.
Finally, as February is Black History Month, many libraries pulled together relevant resources from their collections. Notable examples include: University of San Francisco, Binghamton University, Stockton University, Southern Methodist University, Elon University, Emory University, Wake Forest, University of Cincinnati, Touro University, Berkeley, University of Arkansas, UNC, UC Davis, and Duke.
On socials
I am a glutton for well-produced video content. The KU Libraries created a promo video highlighting their participation in Douglass Day, during which students, faculty and staff joined a nation-wide effort to transcribe historical documents from the Library of Congress in honor of Frederick Douglass’ birthday. I love the mix of faculty and student voices, the b-roll footage, and the elegant lower-thirds. Very well done.
Speaking of simple, but elegant, I also love this collection highlight from UC Davis Library of their Food and Wine collections. Curator Audrey Russek gives a brief overview of the Beaulieu Vineyard Records. If I ever leave my current job, I hope it would be to work on a collection like this.
Not only is William & Mary Libraries’ Diversify It reading challenge a brilliant idea (Pizza Hut’s Book It anyone?), but this promo video is equally compelling. I love the challenge from a student spokesperson to prove the haters wrong! The thumbs up from the circulation staffer is the icing on the cake.
I don’t know if this is an original idea, but the Fondren Library Instagram Reel about bad ideas for bookmarks had me clutching my librarian pearls the entire time. The camera person not being able to control their laugh at the end was ::chef’s kiss::
Finally, long-form video can be difficult to pull off but a recent information literacy video from UF Libraries had me watching the entire time. April Hines, journalism and mass communications librarian, has a presence that is equally engaging, inspiring, and affirming. It’s clear she’s used to regularly connecting with students in the classroom.