UCBA Library’s Women’s History Month Featured Books

by Lauren Wahman

Women's history month book display banner

The UCBA Library is featuring a selection of books highlighting the 2023 theme for Women’s History Month – “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.” These featured books focus on women from all forms of media and storytelling. Visit the Women’s History Month virtual featured books to view a small selection or stop by the UCBA Library during open hours to browse the full selection and check out an item with your UC ID.   Continue reading

UCBA Library’s March Spotlight: Memoirs

by Christian Boyles

The UCBA Library is excited to showcase titles in our collection which we hope will be of interest.  We will feature different genres, authors, or themes, so watch for new titles at the start of each month. Spotlight titles can be found at the Library’s Information Desk.

book covers

March’s Spotlight is Memoirs.

  • Poet Warrior by Joy Harlo
  • Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif
  • Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz
  • Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan

Interested in more titles? Ask Us!

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!

The Chemical Atlas – A gem from the Oesper Collections

Edward Livingston Youmans’ The Chemical Atlas was recently returned to its home in the Oesper Collections in the History of Chemistry library after receiving conservation treatment from UC Libraries’ Preservation Lab. Youmans’ famous book features eye-catching illustrated and hand-colored plates that frequently motivate myself and others to display the item and engage visitors of the Oesper Collections with stunning visual depictions of the unseen world of chemical processes.

Edward Youmans was a renowned science communicator and popularizer in the 19th century United States. In the 1850’s, a reviewer called his Chemical Atlas “without exception, the best popular work in the English language” (Miles, 1964). When he was a young teen, he was afflicted by a disease of the eyes which grew more severe with time, leaving him nearly blind and suffering from frequent eye inflammation between the ages of 13 and 35. During these years, Youmans was unable to read, and learned as much as he could through the second-hand teaching of his sister, Eliza Youmans. His second-hand learning caused him to imagine and visualize chemistry concepts. As he overcame his misconceptions and worked to make his understanding more definite, he wanted to share his scheme for picturing atoms and their combinations. This led to him creating chemical charts which visually depicted atoms of different elements, binary compounds, and more as well as an accompanying book, Classbook of Chemisty. The Classbook of Chemistry was a huge success. “Brief, clear, and devoid of technicalities, it has an astounding and continuous sale; it was revised and sold more than 144,000 copies in its three editions. This was truly a remarkable record and would be envied even in these days of widespread chemical instruction” (Oesper, 1957). Continue reading

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!

Show your love for UC Libraries and get a library sticker

library sticker graphicDid you know UC Libraries is comprised of 10 locations? In addition to the Walter C. Langsam Library, there are libraries located throughout campus with collections and resources customized to the various colleges and departments.

Recently, representatives from Student Government contacted us with the desire to increase awareness of the study spaces and resources available in the various college and departmental libraries (C&Ds). Coincidentally, communication design co-op students Norah Jenkins and Jakob Elliott had just created stickers representing each library; thus, a promotional plan was born.

bearcatalog

The Bearcatalog in the DAAP Library

The promotional plan encourages students to visit the various library locations, take a photo with/of the Bearcatalog foam cutout located near the entrance, post to social media tagging @UCLibraries with #selfieforsticker and then visit the help desk for a sticker of that library.

In addition to promoting the various C&D libraries, having students visit the desk is a friendly way for them to get introduced to the helpful people who work in the libraries so that when they have questions or need research help they are more comfortable seeking assistance.

The campaign runs March 2-31 with posts to the UC Libraries Twitter and Instagram feeds throughout the month.

We encourage everyone on campus to show your ♥️ for UC Libraries. Visit one of the UC Libraries 10 locations, take a photo with/of the Bearcatalog foam statue, post and tag @uclibraries using #selfieforsticker. Visit the desk for your library sticker. Hours vary per location, so be sure to check before heading out.

Have fun!

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 Monday, April 3, 2023, 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.

crazy plant lady edible bookAs 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 are interested in creating an edible book, e-mail melissa.norris@uc.edu by Friday, March 24 with your name and the title of your creation.

Looking for inspiration? Visit UC Libraries on Facebook to see photos from the previous festivals.

Nimisha Bhat joins UC Libraries as assistant librarian

nimisha bhatNimisha Bhat joined the University of Cincinnati Libraries on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 as assistant librarian and liaison to the departments of History, Anthropology, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Students.

Nimisha holds an MS in library and information science from Pratt Institute, School of Library and Information Science.

She comes to UC from Smith College where she was the visual arts librarian, planning and implementing research, instruction and reference support for faculty and students, as well as developing and managing collections in print, electronic and other formats for the visual arts, architecture, film and media studies. Prior to Smith College, Nimisha worked at Columbus College of Arts and Design and The Ohio State University Libraries.

Welcome, Nimisha!

Join us Wednesday, March 8 for an afternoon of poetry…and dance

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, March 8 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their work.

march poetsFelicia Zamora is the author of six books of poetry including, I Always Carry My Bones, winner of the 2020 Iowa Poetry Prize (University of Iowa Press, 2021) and the 2022 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry, and Body of Render, Benjamin Saltman Award winner (Red Hen Press, 2020). She won the 2022 Loraine Williams Poetry Prize from The Georgia Review, a 2022 Tin House Next Book Residency, and a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, AGNI, The American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2022, Boston Review, Georgia Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, Orion, Poetry Magazine, The Nation and others. She is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for the Colorado Review.

Caroline Plasket’s work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including, Gulf Coast, Sycamore Review, Pleiades, Copper Nickel, The Cortland Review and Threadcount Magazine. She was a mentee in the AWP Writer to Writer Program. She currently teaches writing at Northern Kentucky University. She is working on three books and is fulfilled sharing her love of writing (and the power that lies within it) with others. She lives in Northern Kentucky.

Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. His poems are featured in AGNI, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, A Public Space, The American Poetry Review and elsewhere. He is a winner of the 2022 Orison Poetry Prize, 2022 finalist for the University of Wisconsin Press’s Brittingham Prize and Felix Pollak Prize poetry competition, 2021 Semi-finalist Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and several others. He is the author of a chapbook “Harp in a Fireplace” (Newfound, 2021) and a debut collection “Soliloquy with the Ghosts in Nile” (Black Ocean Press, 2022). He is currently an Editorial Assistant for Seneca Review and Cincinnati Review. Continue reading