Due to inclement weather, the University of Cincinnati campus will close from 7 a.m. Dec. 2, 2025, until 7 a.m. on Dec. 3, 2025. This closure applies to all UC Libraries locations except for the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, which will be open Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As I’m writing this, it is my one-year anniversary as UC Libraries’ digital content specialist. Or, as I like to say, “social media girl.” It has been a year full of learning, collaboration and new experiences. One of those experiences being a trip to the great city of St. Louis, Missouri, to attend the 2025 Library Marketing and Communications Conference with my Comm Team partner, Melissa Cox Norris. This was not only my first conference as a UC Libraries staff member, but also my first conference as a working professional.
Throughout the two-day conference, we attended sessions covering topics such as how to build an engaging library program, maximizing the features of Canva, creating accessible graphic design materials and even finding the most efficient ways to measure the success and reach of social media content. Some of my favorite takeaways were:
We also had the chance to hear from some amazing keynote speakers. Scott Bonner, Director of Ferguson Municipal Public Library District, spoke about the library’s service to the people of Ferguson following the killing of Mike Brown in August 2014. He went into detail about how the library was able to provide safe spaces, as well as places for teachers to have class time while school was out of session due to riots. It was an incredibly real and insightful perspective on how libraries, and really any kind of public service, can make a difference during a crisis.
On a non-conference related note, I had the chance to enjoy some St. Louis staples, including a Blues game (they beat Calgary 3-2), Imo’s pizza and toasted ravioli and Charlie Gitto’s Restaurant on the Hill. And of course, I can’t forget about The Gateway Arch. Thanks to Melissa for all the fun suggestions! It was a great first conference experience, and I am so excited to visit St. Louis again in the future.
The University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy’s 175th anniversary was featured in the 2025 Cecil B. Striker annual lecture series on October 14th. The lecture series is an annual program of the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions. Esteemed pharmacy historian, Dennis B. Worthen gave a standing ovation lecture entitled Pharmacy Education In The Queen City: 1850—2025. Pharmacy Education in the Queen City: 1850-2025 – UC Libraries MediaSpace. Worthen traced the origins of pharmacy education in Cincinnati, beginning with Peter Smith’s Indian Doctor Dispensatory (1810), the first medical book published in Ohio, through today’s College of Pharmacy, which boasts PharmD joint degrees, online master’s and interdisciplinary degrees, graduates from the United States and over 23 countries. Worthen’s narrative of the 175th anniversary of the College of Pharmacy is honored with a year-long exhibition in the Stanley Lucas Boardroom, Health Sciences Library.
Dennis B. Worthen, Ph.D., served as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy where he taught the history of pharmacy courses from 1999-2017. He was also affiliated with the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati, OH as executive director and then the Lloyd Scholar from 1999 to 2013. He retired from Procter & Gamble Health Care as the director of pharmacy affairs in 1999. Dr. Worthen completed his undergraduate education at the University of Michigan and received his graduate degrees from Case Western Reserve University.
Continue readingThe 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, Nov. 19 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:
Kim Jacobs-Beck is the author of Luminaries and a chapbook, Torch. Her poems can be seen in Museum of Americana, Great Lakes Review, West Trestle Review, Nixes Mate, Gyroscope, SWWIM, and Apple Valley Review, among other journals. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Milk & Cake Press. Kim is professor of English at UC Clermont College.
Matt Hart is the author of 12 books of poetry, including most recently FALLING FINE: Selected & New Poems. His poems, reviews and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous print and online journals, including American Poetry Review, Big Bell, The Kenyon Review and Poetry, among others. From 1993-2019, he was a co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety. Currently, he lives in Cincinnati where he plays in the post-punk/indie rock band NEVERNEW and edits, solders, and publishes the poetry journal SOLID STATE.
Bella Gordo is a creative writing student at UC, where she is an intern for Short Vine Literary Journal and the vice president of Cincinnati Poetry Collective. She edits the zine Cincinnati Girlfriend with her roommate in hopes to spread awareness of the revolutionary potential of bug life in the Queen City.
In addition to reading their poetry, each poet will speak briefly on their experience as an editor.
Continue readingWhen William B. Jensen (1948-2024), the Ralph E. Oesper Professor of the History of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati from 1986-2024, was a student at the University of Madison-Wisconsin taking the History of Chemistry class, he sketched caricatures of the chemists he was learning about. While Aaron Ihde lectured, Jensen would select a chemist and caricature them based on the portraits found in Ihde’s textbook, “The Development of Modern Chemistry” (1964).
Now available online via JSTOR, the UC Libraries online collection contains the 33 original, hand-drawn caricatures of notable chemists and physicists Jensen penned between 1970 and 1974. They are held by the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry. The collection was scanned and digitized by the UC Libraries Digital Initiatives Team.
Throughout the years, Jensen would submit the caricatures to appear in scientific journals and publications, and reported that there was interest in reproducing them on t-shirts, coffee mugs and even an album cover. Jensen eventually published the caricatures in a 2010 booklet, “Chymists: That strange class of of mortals: Caricatures of famous chemists with a few physicists and biologists,” which was recently published digitally.
Upon Jensen’s death in 2024, the collection was acquired by the Oesper Collection in April 2025.
The Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry is a nationally recognized collection of scientific artifacts, books, journals, photos and prints related to the history of chemistry. They are a joint venture of the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the UC Department of Chemistry. They were founded in 1986 by William B. Jensen.
Two new exhibits have been installed in the Walter C. Langsam Library.
On display on the 4th floor lobby, Bronson v. Board of Education: Cincinnati Desegregation Efforts in the 1960s and 1970s chronicles the work of project archivist Julianna Witt as she completed the archival processing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s, Bronson v. Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati records. This collection contains material related to the class-action lawsuit Bronson v. Board from 1974-1984 and consists of legal documents created for court submission and records that originated from the Cincinnati Board of Education. The collection itself, housed in the Archives and Rare Books (ARB) Library, provides a detailed history of race relations in Cincinnati. A finding aid is available for more information.
Last November, the University of Cincinnati Libraries announced the award of an Archives Grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to ARB.
On display on the 5th floor lobby is an exhibit promoting The Libraries of UC. The exhibit includes images and descriptions of each of the nine University of Cincinnati Libraries, along with the fan-favorite Triceracopter. A map of the libraries is available for take away at the exhibit.
Both exhibits were designed by UC Libraries design co-op student Ashleigh Stout.
CECH Library is excited to announce that the new Study and Focus Tools Collection (SFTC) is available to the UC community. The collection is located on the 3rd floor of the CECH Library near the stairs and items can be checked out for one week.
The SFTC was created with your help through a survey and many of you have interacted with the collection at ‘sneak peek’ events in Spring 2025. With your help, we also named our fidget slugs: Gleeb, Glorb, and Grape Juice.
Continue readingJoin Poetry Stacked for the fall workshop: Masques & Personas, led by Kristyn Garza, Poetry Stacked alumna and PhD student in poetry at the University of Cincinnati.
Thursday, Oct. 30, 6:30pm ~ Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library
Learn about persona poetry over spooky snacks. Come in a costume and compete to win fun prizes!
A semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the mission of Poetry Stacked is to celebrate poetry and raise awareness of the collections of both UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room.
Available now on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Esports Zone @ Langsam includes five computer stations with pre-installed, free-to-play video games. Stations are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Log in with UC credentials to access the full game collection.
Monday, October 27, 2025 ~ 12:30-4pm ~ Esports Zone @ Langsam and Langsam 410
Presented by the UC Game Lab, in collaboration with UC Libraries, and in honor of the new Esports Zone @ Langsam and activities of the Immersive Learning and Emerging Technologies group, the UC Game Lab will showcase some recent and classic indie VR games, with an eye for innovative titles that spark the imagination. Come play or watch others play, and learn more about these new technologies.
Join UC Libraries and the Marcotte Library for a panel discussion that exploring copyright, course design, and open education resources on Wednesday, October 22 from 3-4pm.
Panelists
will share ideas, experiences and resources as well as answer questions. For more information and to register, visit Faculty OneStop.