All University of Cincinnati Libraries locations will be closed Sunday, May 25 and Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day. Regular library hours for all locations will resume Tuesday, May 27.
We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!
Category Archives: Langsam Library
Patrick Bois joins UC Libraries as evening and weekend supervisor
We are delighted to announce that Patrick Bois joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on May 12 in the role of Langsam Library evening and weekend supervisor. Patrick will be working Sundays – Thursdays, providing critical staff coverage for Langsam’s seven-day-a-week schedule during the academic year.
Patrick is a UC alumnus in history and is currently working on his MLIS at Kent State, with a concentration in archival studies. Before coming to UC, he worked in the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Libraries since 2021, and this experience will be a great asset in his new role. He is excited to work in an academic library that he experienced as a student.
Welcome back to UC, Patrick!
Check out “Poetry in the Library”
Interested in poetry in UC Libraries? Check out the new exhibit on display in the Walter C. Langsam Library’s 6th floor east installed in celebration of National Poetry Month.
The display features the poets and events hosted by the Elliston Poetry Room. Located in 646 Langsam Library, the Elliston Poetry room houses the University of Cincinnati’s vast repository of twentieth-century and contemporary poetry. Among the tens of thousands of volumes are rare and signed first editions, historic broadsides, printed ephemera and archival recordings of visiting writers dating back to Robert Frost’s first visit in 1951. The Elliston Poetry Room hosts poetry events throughout the year. Highlighted in the display are event planning documents and promotional materials, as well as images and information about visiting poets.
In 2022, the Elliston Poetry Room partnered with UC Libraries to create Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks. The display includes information and images from previous readings along with the Poetry Anthology.
Poetry in the Library was curated by Michael Peterson, assistant research professor and curator of the George Elliston Poetry Collection, and Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communications. It was designed and produced by Lexi Davis, UC Libraries communication design co-op student.
The Preservation Lab presents “More than Conservation” Thursday, May 1
Join us for the Annual Preservation Lab Open House, Thursday, May 1, 2-4pm, 3rd floor Langsam Library. “More than Conservation” will include tours of the lab, demonstrations of projects and treatments, cookies, bookmarks, and stickers!
Want a sneak peek of the work of the Preservation Lab? Stop by Langsam Library’s 4th floor to learn about artist’s books and book arts, Tuesday, April 15, 2-3:30pm; and Thursday, April 17, 10:30am-noon to learn about the anatomy of a book.
Formed in 2012, the Preservation Lab is a book and paper conservation lab. The Preservation Lab provides the full suite of preservation services to the University of Cincinnati Libraries and, for a fee, to other cultural heritage institutions. The Preservation Lab’s expertise is in book and paper conservation, with services available in general circulating materials repair, single-item conservation treatment, housing, exhibition prep, and preservation consulting.
And the winners are…results of the 2025 International Edible Books Festival
The University of Cincinnati Libraries celebrated the International Edible Books Festival on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
This year, we had 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.
Popular books represented on screen and now as edible books were “Dune,” “Bridgerton,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Twilight.” Children’s books made for popular edible books. This year we had “Charlotte’s Web,” “Freckle Juice,” “Too Many Carrots,” “Black Hearts in Buttersea,” and “Matilda.” Young Adult books made a presence this year with “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Harry Potter.”
Animals were a theme this year with “Penguin Island,” “Dragons Love Tacos” and “How to Eat Fried Worms.” Both fiction, “The Warmth of Other Suns,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “The Silver Bone” and “White Teeth,” and non-fiction, “Eyes on the Prize,” “An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits,” and “How Infrastructure Works: Inside Systems that Shape our World” were represented. Along with the 18th-century classic “De montibus, silvis, fontibus”
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. Thank you to the two esteemed judges: Brian Gray, associate dean for collections (non-edible collections), and Usha (oo-sh-uh), student staff member in the CECH Library. And the winners are…
- Melissa Cox Norris – Penguin Island – Most Adorable
- Sam Norris – Too Many Carrots – Most Noteworthy
- Carly Fledderjohann – The Cheese Touch (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) – Most Noteworthy
- Deborah Weinstein – Charlotte’s Web – Most Imaginative
- Stephen Norris – The Silver Bone – Most Outrageous
- Avery Rice – Pride and Prejudice – Most Checked Out
- Melissa Cox Norris – Difficult Women – Most Out of this World
- Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy – How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World – Most Creative
- Luahna Winningham Carter – Freckle Juice – Most Gruesome
- Jakob Elliott – Dune – Silliest
- Jessica Ebert – Black Hearts in Battersea (“buttercream”) – Most Delicious
- Josh Zack, Tim Zack, and Debbie Tenofsky – Eyes on the Prize – Most Frightening
- Nainika Kovelamudi & Priyanka Rao Siripurapu – Bridgerton – Most Beautiful
- Olya Hart – White Teeth – Most Wordly
- Olya Hart – Bunnies on Ice – Most Whimsical
- Jenny Mackiewicz – Matilda – Most Taboo
- Jenny Mackiewicz – Twilight – Most Humorous
- Holly Prochaska – How to eat fried worms – Most Clever
- Yu Mao – Atomic Habits – An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones – Most Literary
- Alex Temple – De montibus, silvis, fontibus – Most Technical
- Suzanne Bratt – The Warmth of Other Suns – Most Timely
- Lisa Haitz – The Grapes of Wrath – Most Fun
- Clara Kelley – Harry potter sorting hat – Best Student Entry
- Lexi Davis – Dragons Love Tacos – Best Overall
Congratulations to all the edible books creators! View the entries and the winners on the UC Libraries Facebook Page. See you next year for Edible Books 2026!
Join us April 16 for Poetry Stacked + music, dancing and art!
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 16 at 4:30pm, a celebration of both National Poetry Month and the final event of the academic year, three poets will read their work:
Paige Webb is an interdisciplinary poet-scholar. Other categorical boxes to aid legibility: they’re a queer, neurodivergent being of settler descent and a doctor untrained in basic CPR. The aim of their work is to create space for curative touch in concert with the creative vitality in all beings (thanks to Gabrielle Civil, Hortense Spillers, and CAConrad for help with this language). They are a Charles Phelps Taft Fellow at the University of Cincinnati and recipient of [accolade], [accolade], [accolade]. You can find some of their work at Anomaly, Blackbird, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, DIAGRAM, Indiana Review, The Kenyon Review, Poets.org, Poetry Northwest, Verse Daily, Vinyl Poetry and Prose, West Branch and the chapbook Tussle.
Kristi Maxwell is the author of nine books of poems, including Wide Ass of Night (Saturnalia Books, 2025); Goners (Green Linden Press, 2023), winner of the Wishing Jewel Prize; Realm Sixty-four (Ahsahta Press, 2008), editor’s choice for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize and finalist for the National Poetry Series; and Hush Sessions (Saturnalia,2009), editor’s choice for the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize. She’s the director of creative writing and an associate professor of English at the University of Louisville. Kristi holds a PhD in literature & creative writing from the University of Cincinnati and an MFA in poetry from the University of Arizona.
Dior J. Stephens is a Black, Queer poet, writer and the co-editor-in-chief of Foglifter Journal and Press. They are currently in the final year of their PhD in philosophy with a focus on creative writing at the University of Cincinnati. Dior’s debut full-length poetry collection, CRUEL/CRUEL (2023), was nominated for the 2024 Ohioana Book Award, and their collection Atomic I is forthcoming from Nightboat Books. A Cave Canem, Sewanee and Lambda Literary fellow, Dior has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net. Their work critically engages with themes of language, identity, and resistance, contributing to the broader conversations in poetics and the Black/Diasporic experience.
Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.
Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.
In this issue of Source, Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian, writes about how UC Libraries is taking advantage of funding opportunities to Invest in Strategic Priorities. The Archives and Rare Books Library announces receipt of a national grant to process historic Cincinnati schools desegregation case records.The Carl Solway Gallery Archive in the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) Library is featured. Ted Baldwin, head of the Sciences Libraries, writes about how the razing of the iconic Crosley Tower will necessitate the move of the current Chemistry-Biology Library space to Braunstein Hall where it will merge with the Geology-Mathematics-Physics Library to become the Science Library opening fall semester.
Beginning in 2025, the Preservation Lab expanded its mission to provide expertise and services to the larger cultural heritage community, moving to a regional lab model. Under this new model, the Preservation Lab is now entirely managed, staffed and equipped by the University of Cincinnati. Two articles: Re-introducing the Preservation Lab and Exploring Historical Bindings: A Hands-On Workshop at UC’s Archives and Rare Books Library celebrate the Preservation Lab. Open Access publishing opportunities are discussed in this issue and upcoming Library Events are listed.
Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.
Come Get Some Ink on Your Hands at a Cheap Copies! Workshop
Before social media, even before xerox-copied zines and flyers, marginalized communities used simple copying techniques- hectography (gelatin printing) mimeography (stencil printing) and spirit duplication (alcohol transfers, also known as “ditto”)- to make their voices heard. From political activists struggling for independence in India to the early gay rights activists in New York City, and from the dissident writers of Samizdat (self publishing) in the Soviet Union to the striking migrant farm workers of Southern California, these analog copiers were used to spread the word through words and pictures in the 20th century.
Each year, librarian, zinester and lover of “arcane technologies” Rich Dana sets out across the US on a series of in-person workshops to demonstrate these low-cost techniques and how contemporary artists and writers can use them to publish editions of zines, chapbooks, prints, and flyers. The Archives and Rare Books Library and the Elliston Poetry Room are sponsoring Rich’s Cincinnati stop of his Obsolete Roadshow series on April 7, 2025.
Rich will present a hands-on workshop for UC students in the morning (sign up online or via the QR code below; space is limited to 25). In the afternoon, the public is invited to hear Rich talk about the history and use of the technologies and receive a hands-on experience, as well.
Both events will take place in the Elliston Poetry Room (Langsam Library 646). Come join us and get some ink on your hands!
Check out library Spring Break reduced hours, March 15-23
Most University of Cincinnati Libraries locations have reduced hours for Spring Break, March 15-23. Check the library website for a list of hours by location.
Have a safe and rejuvenating Spring Break, Bearcats!
UC Libraries seeks books good enough to eat for the International Edible Books Festival
Know of a good book to eat?! Create an Edible Book for UC Libraries International Edible Books Festival!
It’s time once again for the fan-favorite International Edible Books Festival scheduled for Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 11 a.m. on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library. UC Libraries is seeking people interested in creating an edible book for the enjoyment of all in attendance. There are few restrictions – namely that your creation be edible and have something to do with a book – so you may let your creativity run wild.
As in previous years, entries will be judged according to such categories as “Most Delicious,” “Most Creative,” “Most Checked Out” and “Most Literary.” Those awarded “Best Student Entry” and “Best Overall” will win UC swag.
If you’re interested in creating an Edible Book, fill out the entry form Edible Books Entry by Tuesday, March 25. And if you’re looking for inspiration, visit The Facebook Album to see Edible Books from years past.
