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

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.

kristi maxwell
dior stephens

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. 

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Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

source

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.

New exhibit displays The Art of Bookplates

On display on the 5th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library through the end of spring semester, The Art of Bookplates features various bookplates found in the collections of the University of Cincinnati Libraries.

A bookplate, sometimes called an ex libris plate, is a label affixed inside a book to indicate ownership or to honor an individual, gift or collection fund.

the history of bookplates. the oldest known bookplate is a hand-colored wood-cut created by Hilbrand Brandenburg in the 1470s or 1480s

UC Libraries has numerous bookplate designs to represent various collections, libraries, funds and gifts. In addition, some books in our collection include bookplates from other universities where they were housed before finding a home in UC. The exhibit showcases just some of the bookplates found throughout our libraries.

some bookplates that are found at our libraries. besides our university bookplates, we have bookplates that exist here from other universities.

The Art of Bookplates was curated, designed and produced by Lexi Davis, design co-op student on the Communications Team. Want to learn more? A handout available at the exhibit includes an article by William Jensen tells more about bookplates found in UC Libraries Oesper Collection.

Join us for the workshop The Visual Cento: Fonts of Inspiration

Join the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room for a hands-on discussion & workshop about creating visual cento poetry.

Dior Stephens, poet and PhD graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, will kick things off with an introduction of the cento form. Katie Foran-Mulcahy, librarian and head of the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services Library, will provide an overview of library collections and how to navigate the stacks before sending participants to explore and collect lines and possible visual elements from various texts. D.J. Trischler, assistant professor of communication design at UC’s Ullman School of Design in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning will then talk about found art as the canvas and give tips on how to use text and images to express meaning.

This will culminate in participants creating their own cento poetry – no prior experience required.

The event is free and open to all to attend.

the visual cento: fonts of inspiration

Join us Feb. 12 for an afternoon of poetry at the next Poetry Stacked

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, Feb. 12 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:

poets Aditi Machado, Abigail Rudibaugh and Whitney Hendrix

Aditi Machado is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Material Witness from Nightboat; a novel translation from the French; and several pamphlets of nonfiction prose and poetry. Soon-to-be published works include a book-length translation of Swiss poet Baptiste Gaillard’s In the Realm of Motes and the collaborative mistranslation project Ancient Algorithms headed by Katrine Øgaard Jensen. Machado is an Associate Professor at UC and an Advisory Poetry Editor at The Paris Review.

Abigail Rudibaugh is a writer and teacher. Her writing has been published in Pensworth Literary Journal, Noble Pursuit Magazine, and Fathom Magazine. Abigail holds a Masters of Arts in Teaching through the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry through Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She calls Cincinnati, Ohio home with her husband and two daughters.

Whitney Hendrix is an undergraduate senior at the University of Cincinnati. Raised in a small conservative town in Northeast Ohio, she much enjoys the Cincinnati student lifestyle. She will graduate this Spring with degrees in English Creative Writing and Film and Media Studies. Whitney mainly writes poetry but is inspired by all genres and forms of storytelling. Her work explores themes of identity, the mundane every day, memory, and childhood. Most of Whitney’s literary inspiration comes from her dream journal and her favorite fiction novelist Ottessa Moshfegh. 

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Major upgrade coming to the Library Services Platform (LSP)

The OhioLINK consortium, which includes the University of Cincinnati Libraries, is upgrading the Library Services Platform (LSP) in summer 2025 to Ex Libris Alma/Primo VE, a state-of-the-art systems software, and the most-used academic library system in the United States. More than 65% of Association of Research Libraries use Alma.

This cloud-based, enterprise system software is the backbone of day-to-day library operations (acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, etc.), and generates the underlying data that drives library business decisions and reporting. The new system will provide user benefits to help students, faculty and other library users find (and access) information critical to learning, teaching and research. Its user-friendly interactions will be more user intuitive.

book stacks

Primo, the new user interface, will streamline search functions and access to local resources and scholarly research. It will offer new and improved features and benefits for library users, including:

  • Faster searching – search electronic and print resources in one search,
  • Enhanced discovery – explore automatic recommendations, citation trails, availability in multiple formats and track requests, including finding resources across the OhioLINK network,
  • Personalized features – save preferences, searches, citations and export to citation management systems,
  • More intuitive user experience, and
  • Mobile friendly – a responsive user interface designed specifically for mobile devices.

Although UC Libraries is working to minimize disruption to services, the transition to the new system will impact acquisitions and summer borrowing of print materials among other OhioLINK institutions. Most immediate, March 1, 2025 is the last date to purchase or license new materials during this fiscal year (ending on June 30, 2025).  Please contact your subject librarian as soon as possible for spring needs. Purchasing and licensing will resume after the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2025. More information about the resumption of purchasing/licensing will be shared as information becomes available.

More details and updates can be found on the Libraries LSP web page, which includes an FAQ. Check this page throughout the spring for project updates.

Langsam exhibit looks back at the Cincinnati Subway and Street Improvements project

The latest University of Cincinnati Libraries exhibit showcases historic images of Cincinnati from the Archives and Rare Books Library’s Urban Studies Collection. On display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Cincinnati Subway and Street Improvements exhibit features photographic prints and negatives from 1920 to 1956 from an extensive archive of the City Engineer, City of Cincinnati.

The collection of over 8,000 photographic negatives and prints were taken by the city’s Rapid Transit Commission as part of a failed subway development project in the 1920s, along with photographs documenting various street projects from the 1930s through the 1950s. It provides a glimpse at the interior views of homes and businesses damaged during the construction and follows the growth of the city through various street improvement projects that took place between the 1920s and 1950s.

The Cincinnati Subway and Street Improvements exhibit was designed by Francesca Voyten, communications design co-op student.

cincinnati subway and street improvements collection exhibit

Health Sciences Library celebrates opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab with two events scheduled in January

The Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library announces the opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab to enhance the study of the human body. Located on the E level of the library, the 10 specimens placed throughout the space provide the opportunity for close study of torsos, a hand, foot, kidneys and other body systems. The specimens coupled with the Sectra Virtual Anatomy Table, also located in the space, provide an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the structural and functional complexities of the human body.

To celebrate the opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab, the Health Sciences Library is holding two events:

Open House

Thursday, January 16, 3:30-5pm
Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library – E Level

Brief remarks by: Dr. Gregory Postel, senior vice president of health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine; and
Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian


Lunch & Learn

Human Anatomical Models: History & Development of Plastination

Thursday, January 23, 11:30am
Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library – The Anatomy Learning Lab, E Level

RSVP requested.

lunch and learn invite

Dr. Efrain Miranda, CEO of Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. will review the history of three-dimensional models to study anatomy, including wax models, paper mâché models and other techniques and materials, culminating with the present, utilizing 3D computer-based systems and plastination.

Both events are open to all to attend in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, 231 Albert Sabin Way.

Langsam Library offers extended hours through exams

Need a place to study for exams? Working late on a class project? The Walter C. Langsam Library has extended building hours beginning Sunday, Dec. 1st through exams.

The Desk@Langsam will maintain regular hours.

extended hours. langsam library open until 3am, sunday-thursday, dec. 1-11

Extended Building Hours:

Sunday, Dec. 1: 8am-3am
Monday-Thursday, Dec. 2-5: 8am-3am
Friday, Dec. 6: 8am-10pm
Saturday, Dec. 7: Noon-10pm
Sunday, Dec. 8: Noon-3am
Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 9-11: 8am-3am
Friday, Dec.12: 8am-5pm

Winter Break hours begin Saturday, Dec.13.