The blog of the University of Cincinnati Libraries
The University of Cincinnati Libraries Archives and Rare Books Library has completed processing the papers of University of Cincinnati professor emeritus Dr. Kenneth E. Caster.
CECH Library Reading Room Grand Opening Celebration
Tuesday, April 21
2:30-4:30pm (brief remarks at 3pm)
400 Level of Teachers-Dyer Complex, 2610 University Circle
The start of spring semester saw the opening of the CECH Library Reading Room. Located on the 400 level of the Teachers-Dyer Complex, and totaling more than 3,000 square feet, the reading room is accessible via the staircase in the CECH Library or directly with a Bearcat ID. It offers a variety of seating, library collections and a reservable study room (400B) with adaptive lighting and study and focus tools.
At the Grand Opening Celebration, tour the space, enjoy refreshments, hear remarks from UC Libraries and CECH and enjoy the refreshed space. At 3:30pm, venture downstairs to the 3rd floor CECH MakerLab for an informal showcase of innovative Making and STEAM kit projects created as part of the School of Education’s digital pedagogical support initiative.
The Grand Opening Celebration is open to all, so bring a colleague and a friend.
The University of Cincinnati Libraries celebrated the International Edible Books Festival on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The event marked the 25th year of UC Libraries participating in Edible Books — and it was a momentous occasion!
This year, saw an impressive 24 entries from students, librarians and staff, along with family, friends and retirees. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book – namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book. Today’s entries covered all genres – from fiction to non-fiction, animals, food, classics, contemporary titles and more.
Contemporary fiction Seared on the Heart, The Song of Achilles, Holes, The Names, Intermezzo, along with classics Frankenstein and The Tell-Tale Heart were well represented. Non-fiction titles Feeding Ghosts, The Hidden Lives of Trees and Dirt: The Scoop on Soil were sure to educate and delight.
Numerous children’s books made people smile with The Hundred Dresses, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Do You Have a Hat?, Great Sharky Shark, Extra Yarn and The Day the Crayons Quit.
Food-themed titles I am Grateful for Chicken Pot Pie (which was a virtual entry), Cakes and Ale, Triceramisu and Amaze! Rocky Road Cookies were delicious.
This year also saw two sets of identical entries — the fan-favorite Heated Rivalry and the popular book about to be a film Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Continue readingTwo exhibits on display on the 4th and 5th floor lobbies of the Walter C. Langsam Library feature the work of Cincinnati’s Foodshed: An Art Atlas, a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration through the past, present and future of the Cincinnati Tristate region’s food economy. The exhibit features timelines and storymaps to celebrate the people, innovations and businesses that have shaped the local food movement.
Food mapping is one way to analyze data and share stories of how the physical environment intersects with the lived experience of food access. The exhibit displays maps created in partnership with neighborhood associations and by walking the area.
The exhibit promotes the availability of UC Libraries Research & Data Services – informationists and librarians that can assist researchers in managing and preserving research data, finding and acquiring external data, and in utilizing GIS techniques and software. People wanting to create their own map or work with spatial data and need assistance, can work with GIS research consultants available to help.
A bibliography of related UC Libraries resources is available for takeout at the exhibit for people who want to learn more about the topics covered in the exhibit.
Cincinnati’s Foodshed: An Art Atlas was written by Alan Wight, PhD. The exhibit was curated by Alan Wight and Amy Koshoffer, assistant director of RDS. It was designed by Reece Guthier, communication design co-op student.
The Langsam exhibits correspond with a similar exhibit on display in the Karl J. Schlachter and Robert A. Deshon Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP). Cincinnati’s Foodshed: Art, Ecology and Community features a selection of works from the book. The exhibit is on display at the entrance to the library.
Frontline accounts of military conflicts provide a glimpse into the world of the war. The historical record reflects numerous descriptions of soldier’s and military doctor’s accounts of the bloodiest war ever engaged on American soil – the Civil War. The Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions announces the launch of the narratives of the 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry doctor, the Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. Civil War Letters Benjamin L. Askue, Jr. Civil War Letters on JSTOR.
Askue was born in November 1833 to Benjamin and Rowena Cordelia Askue in Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1853, he married his cousin Flavia Pritchard. The letters he wrote to Flavia during the American Civil War demonstrate that they had a happy marriage. The couple had five children together.
During the 19th century and early 20th century, physicians often received their training through apprenticeships. Askue followed this path becoming a homeopathic doctor. In 1861 he joined the 23rd Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry, Company B in the Union Army. Askue served as a cook, nurse, hospital steward, and in the 23rd Regiment’s infantry. He left the Union Army In July 1865. Askue returned to Ashtabula to farm and practice homeopathic medicine. He died in 1906.
Askue’s archives and artifacts were donated to the Winkler Center. While his archives hold numerous documents and artifacts, the highlight of the collection consists of letters written to Flavia beginning in June 1861 and concluding in July 1865. He described the 23rd Regiment’s travels, battles, camp life, politics, family in Ashtabula, Ohio and Askue engaged in philosophical analysis of the era.
UC Libraries is pleased to welcome Jordan Finkin, PhD, as the new head of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library. Jordan joins UC from Hebrew Union College, where he most recently served as deputy director of libraries, overseeing a four-campus system, as well as serving as the rare book and manuscript librarian. He brings extensive experience in library leadership, collection development and the stewardship of rare books and manuscripts.
Jordan holds a doctorate in Near Eastern studies and is the author of several scholarly monographs and numerous academic articles. He is also a productive literary translator from Yiddish, German and French, and the founder and director of the Naydus Press, a nonprofit publisher of Yiddish literature in English translation. His work with multilingual collections, together with his administrative experience, positions him well to steward the Classics Library’s exceptional collections and serve UC Libraries’ mission.
The John Miller Burnam Classics Library at the University of Cincinnati possesses one of the world’s largest and most distinguished collections of Classical Studies with particular strengths in Greek and Latin philology, Aegean Bronze Age archaeology, and Latin palaeography. It is unique in housing under one roof the full spectrum of sub-disciplines within the broad definition of Classics — language and literature, art and archaeology, history, philosophy, religion, law, science and medicine in addition to Modern Greek studies, papyrology, epigraphy, palaeography and more. The collection spans five millennia of recorded history and the vast geographic areas of Ancient Greece and the full expanses of the Roman Empire, including Eastern Rome (Byzantium) in addition to sizeable collections covering the Near East and Ancient Egypt.
The Classics Library is located at 417 Blegen Library and features a Reading Room, Palaeography Reading Room, Epigraphy and Papyrology Reading Room and impressive stack floors.
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.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, April 8 at 4:30pm, Amy Lemmon, UC alumna along with five undergraduate student poets: Madison Crock, Grace Harsh, Nate Murphy, Iris Rokvić and Madeline Schrand.
Amy Lemmon is the author of the poetry collections Saint Nobody (Red Hen Press) and The Miracles (C&R Press) and coauthor, with Denise Duhamel, of the chapbooks ABBA: The Poems (Coconut Books) and Enjoy Hot or Iced: Poems in Conversation and a Conversation (Slapering Hol Press, 2011). Her poems and essays have appeared in The Best American Poetry, Rolling Stone, Prairie Schooner, The Hopkins Review, The Cincinnati Review, The Journal, Marginalia, and many other magazines and anthologies. Recipient of fellowships from the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Sewanee Writers’ Workshop, and Antioch Writers’ Workshop, Amy is Professor of English at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY, where she teaches writing, literature, and creativity studies. She has performed her poetry widely including the KGB Bar-Lit series, the Montevallo Literary Festival, and the New York Public Library. She lives in Astoria, Queens.
Join the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry for a Lunch & Learn about inventions that save lives. Scheduled for Monday, April 20, at noon in the Science Library’s Intersect Space (240 Braunstein Hall), Bill Heineman, distinguished research professor emeritus in chemistry, will speak on Leland Clark, Jr. – his life and legacy as a scientist and inventor.
Leland Clark, Jr. has been widely acknowledged as one of the founders of biosensors. His inventions are numerous and highly impactful. He invented the first blood-oxygen sensor, glucose sensor and made fundamental progress on the heart-lung machine. He served as a professor of research pediatrics and head of the division of neurophysiology at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation from 1968 until retirement in 1991.Clark’s achievements led to numerous honors, including special recognition as the “Father of Biosensors” at the 1992 World Congress on Biosensors and the National Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Fritz and Delores Russ Prize, an award that recognizes bioengineering achievement, in 2005. Heineman, accepted the Russ Prize on Leland Clark’s behalf, co-authored his obituary published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics and was a friend and colleague. Clark’s papers are housed in the Winkler R. Center History of the Health Professions.
The Lunch & Learn is open to all to attend. A pizza lunch will be provided.
The Archives and Rare Books Library is excited to announce that the Robert F. Laufman papers have been processed, and a finding aid has been created.
Continue readingDesigned to support collaboration in research and teaching, the Data Visualization and Interaction (DaVInCi@Langsam) space, offers a large display screen and specialized software to allow everyone in the room to share content and interact. It is a collaborative environment that brings data into focus to generate insights, communicate findings and make better decisions.
The space creates an atmosphere where students and faculty build a community of visual thinkers at the University of Cincinnati to solve today’s biggest challenges.
DaVInCi@Langsam is a collaboration between the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the University of Cincinnati Libraries and is located in room 418 of the Walter C. Langsam Library. Join us Thursday, April 2, 2026, 9:30-11:30am at an open house to learn more about the space. Enjoy refreshments, see tech demos and learn how to reserve the space.
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