Tiffany Grant Awarded the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty

tiffany grantTiffany Grant, PhD, assistant director for research and informatics and co-director of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research and Data Services Unit, in a ceremony held April 4, was honored to receive the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty. Named for the celebrated civil rights activist, this award is designed to showcase current campus-affiliated individuals and groups whose efforts relate to diversity, equity and inclusion and who have had a positive impact on the university.

Nominated by her colleagues, Tiffany was commended for her commitment to promoting awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion; exhibiting sensitivity to people of various cultures; facilitating growth among colleagues and peers; preparing students, faculty and staff to thrive in a diverse and global workforce; and collaborating with colleagues to create and implement initiatives and policies that build an equitable and inclusive environment. One nominator wrote of Tiffany that she, “embodies the spirit and dedication to spreading awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all her work at the University of Cincinnati.” Continue reading

And the winners are…Results of the 2023 UC Libraries International Edible Books Festival

The University of Cincinnati Libraries celebrated the International Edible Books Festival on Monday, April 3, 2023.

carrots

Ellie Alfieri – It’s a Mystery – Best Overall

This year saw an impressive 22 entries from students, librarians, faculty and staff throughout the university and from the Cincinnati community. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book – namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book. Submitted entries include intriguing titles such as “Hello, Lighthouse,” “Banned Books” and “Blue Water.” Along with classics “Catcher in the Rye” and “The Four Million.” Animal-named books are popular this year with “Bone Dog from Nettle and Bone”, “The Nest”, “Grey Bees”, “Ducks” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Out-of-this-world titles “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “An Immense World” will have people looking up. Thrillers such as “My Heart is a Chainsaw,” “Frankenstein” and “1984” may frighten attendees, while numerous children’s books will make people smile with such titles as “Winnie The Pooh”, “Cheese? Save some for me please,” “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “The Grump Truck” and “The Day the Crayons Quit.”

In addition to promoting the reading of books, we also use this event to promote and “judge” the creativity of our colleagues and friends in creating edible books. Once again, your entries are remarkable. The two esteemed judges were Meni Johnson, senior human resources coordinator, and Isabelle Brun, student assistant in the College of Engineering and Applied Science Library. And the winners are…
Continue reading

Langsam Library exhibit in honor of National Poetry Month features the poets of Poetry Stacked

poetry exhibit bannerIn celebration of National Poetry Month, an exhibit installed on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library features work by the 2022/23 Poetry Stacked poets. Included in the exhibit are poems from 13 of the University of Cincinnati student, faculty and community member poets that read at the series. Included in the exhibit are UC faculty poets: Aditi Machado, Rebecca Lindenberg, Felicia Zamora and Simone Savannah.

Rebecca Lindenberg

Bottle Brush Bees

The red-blossomed bush
furred out in the corner
of the narrow yard sizzles
with bees, bristled
cylindrical flowers tipped
with yellow pollen lure
their fuzzy thieves. Once
or maybe twice a month
barefoot she or her sister
might find one, lightning
in the grass; they
devised a whole lexicon
for sting – bee-branded,
bumble-shocked,  bee-
needled, honey-rung –
despite all their words
what she’ll remember is
not how it feels to be stung,
but their constant song.

Rae Hoffman Jager, Manuel Iris, Yalie Saweda Kamara, Caroline Plasket and Kari Gunter-Seymour represent poets from the community.

Manuel Iris

Witness

Your daughter is dancing, says my wife
touching her belly.

For the past five months
I have been a witness
to what happens there,
under her hands.

My wife is a house inside my house
and I am outside of my own heart.

I am sure she is happy, she says
and I would give up poetry
in exchange for having, inside me, my daughter.
For feeling that dance that bonds them
to all beginnings.

But that option does not exist
and I do what I can:
cooking, fulfilling cravings,
writing a poem in which I say what I can see
from this side of the skin
in which mystery embodies itself.

And I testify, with loving envy,
that an everyday miracle
is a miracle

and nothing less.

A highlight of Poetry Stacked are the UC students who read at each session. Students featured in the exhibit are: Dior Stephens, Romie Hernández Morgan, Hussain Ahmed and Casey Harloe.

Casey Harloe

for me, from me

I am here in
this world
to roam the
unknown
but stay stuck
in one home
fields remain
endless to
explore, yet
here I stand
at the door,
staring
at the ceiling
to mourn
the boredom
I carry &
the adventure
I crave
the journey
doesn’t begin
until you move
so I decided
to walk away
from what I
already knew

The exhibit was curated and designed by Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communications. A bibliography of the poets’ works is available at the exhibit and online.

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month is a special occasion that celebrates poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters.

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And don’t miss the next Poetry Stacked event, scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 at 4pm, featuring Kari Gunter-Seymour, Poet Laureate of Ohio, and celebrating poetry by graduating University of Cincinnati doctoral students: Nick Molbert, Marianne Chan, Connor Yeck and Taylor Byas. Following the poetry readings, attendees are invited to a reception in the Elliston Poetry Room as we mark the successful conclusion of the 2022/23 Poetry Stacked series.

poetry stacked

April 12 Poetry Stacked to feature Poet Laureate of Ohio and celebrate UC poetry graduate students

The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

The next event, scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 at 4pm, will be an expanded program in celebration of National Poetry Month. The poetry reading will feature Kari Gunter-Seymour, Poet Laureate of Ohio, and celebrate poetry by graduating University of Cincinnati doctoral students: Nick Molbert, Marianne Chan, Connor Yeck and Taylor Byas. Following the poetry readings, attendees are invited to a reception in the Elliston Poetry Room as we mark the successful conclusion of the 2022/23 Poetry Stacked series.kari gunter seymourKari Gunter-Seymour is the Poet Laureate of Ohio and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Her poetry collections include Alone in the House of My Heart (Ohio University Swallow Press 2022), and A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen (Sheila Na Gig Editions 2020) winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award. She is an artist in residence at the Wexner Center for the Arts, a Pillars of Prosperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, the founder/executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project and editor of its anthology series Women Speak. Her work has been featured in Verse Daily, World Literature Today, The New York Times and Poem-a-Day.  Continue reading

Langsam Library offering Extended Hours March 19 – April 26

Beginning Sunday, March 19, just in time for the semester crunch time, the Walter C. Langsam Library will offer extended hours. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, March 19 through April 26, the library will remain open until 3am.

The Desk@Langsam will continue to close at midnight, but library space will be available for studying.

BONUS EXAM HOURS: Wednesday and Thursday, April 19 and 20, Langsam Library will be open until 3am.

The full list of library hours is available online.

langsam extended hours

Hungry? Bite into an edible book with UC Libraries

Celebrate books good enough to eat at the International Edible Books Festival April 3rd

unicorn cake

2022’s Best Overall – Rebecca Tabaja’s “Fairy the Farting Unicorn”

Once again, the University of Cincinnati Libraries will celebrate the International Edible Books Festival with an event scheduled for Monday, April 3rd from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

At the event, nearly 20 participants will present edible creations that represent a book in some form. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book – namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book.

Submitted entries include intriguing titles such as “Hello, Lighthouse” and “Blue Water.” Animal-themed books are popular this year with “Bone Dog from Nettle and Bone”, “The Nest”, “Grey Bees”, and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Thrillers such as “Frankenstein” and “1984” will intrigue attendees, while numerous children’s books will make people smile with such titles as “Winnie The Pooh”, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “The Day the Crayons Quit.”

cakes and pretzels

2022’s Best Student Entry – Milly Diaz Perez’s “To the Boy Who Lived”

As in past years, entries will be judged according to such categories as Most Literary, Most Delicious, Most Adorable and Most Gruesome. In addition, the Top Student Entry and Best Overall Entry will receive UC swag. After the entries are judged they will be consumed and enjoyed by all in attendance.

According to the International Edible Book Festival website, the edible book was initiated by librarian and artist Judith A. Hoffberg during a 1999 Thanksgiving celebration with book artists. It became an international celebration in 2000 when artist Béatrice Coron launched the Books2Eat website. Traditionally, the event is celebrated on April 1st (April Fools’ Day) to mark the birthday of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), a French lawyer and politician who became famous for his book, “Physiologie du gout” (The Physiology of Taste).

The Libraries International Edible Books Festival is free and open to the public. Following the event, pictures of the edible books and their awards will be posted on the Libraries Facebook page. Come to celebrate (and eat) “books good enough to eat.”

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Interested in creating an edible book for the judging and enjoyment of all? E-mail melissa.norris@uc.edu by March 24 with your name and the name of your entry.

UC Libraries upgrades its Digital Resource Commons repository

The University of Cincinnati Libraries has migrated its Digital Resource Commons (DRC) repository to a modern software platform. The former site ran on outdated software with broken features and security vulnerabilities that could not be resolved. The new site includes an updated interface and the potential for additional upgrades and features.

drc

Some of the new site’s features are not yet available, but our software vendor is continuing to fix issues and add enhancements. We are aware that images must be downloaded to view them, and some thumbnail images are not displaying. We hope to have these issues resolved soon. Additional enhancements and fixes will be made to the DRC when our vendor releases a software update later this spring. 

Questions or comments about the site are welcome as we continue to develop the DRC.

Check out library Spring Break reduced hours, March 11-19

spring break vine with lemons

Most University of Cincinnati Libraries locations have reduced hours for Spring Break, March 11-19. Check the library website for a list of hours by location.

Have a safe and relaxing Spring Break, Bearcats!

Edward Snyder officially joins UC Libraries as endpoint specialist

edward snyderAs of Monday, Feb. 27, Edward Snyder is now a full-time member of the UC Libraries staff as an endpoint specialist in LibraryIT Services.

Eddie has been with UC Libraries since October of 2020 both as a co-op and student assistant providing IT support throughout the various library locations and units. Since graduating from UC in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, he has worked full-time with the Libraries as a temp employee. In that time, he has proven to be a valuable member of the IT team and we are happy that he has decided to continue his employment with us.

Welcome, officially, Eddie to UC Libraries!