Staff Picks: Recommendations from the collections of UC Libraries

Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, a graphic novel, documentary and historical fiction can all be found in the Staff Picks exhibit on display on the 4th floor lobby of the Walter C. Langsam Library. Highlighting the collections of UC Libraries, the exhibit gives recommendations and blurbs from library staff and includes such titles as: “The Feather Thief,” “Being Human,” “Lincoln in the Bardo,” “Monarch,” “The Glass Hotel” and so much more.

staff picks book covers

A bibliography is available for pickup at the exhibit and displayed below.

Staff Picks was curated by Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communication, and designed by communications design co-op student Lexi Davis.

Happy Reading.

bibliography

Hosting an online meeting? Langsam Library has a Teams Room.

The Walter C. Langsam Library now offers a Teams Room that can be scheduled for online meetings. Located in Langsam 410, the room is outfitted with Teams Room technology designed to facilitate collaboration and video conferencing using Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex. 

group meeting in Teams room

Outside of the room, the Room Scheduling Panel shows the room’s availability and allows users to use a QR code to book the room for upcoming meetings. The resource name LANG410 can also be used when scheduling Teams, Zoom or Webex meetings via Outlook.

A Touchscreen Control Panel is placed on the meeting table for easy management of the room’s Teams meetings. It allows users to:

  • Start or join a meeting with one tap.
  • Adjust audio/video settings.
  • Share content or switch between cameras.

A high-quality wide-angle camera is positioned to capture the entire room.

The Rally Bar soundbar has a built-in microphone, speakers and a high-quality wide-angle camera positioned to capture the entire room. When more than one person is in the room, tracking cameras automatically focus on the person speaking.

The Langsam Teams Room is available for use by all UC faculty, staff and students. It is a collaboration between UC’s Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) and UC Libraries and is part of a university-wide initiative to increase collaboration spaces and provide consistent experiences.

More information can be obtained from the DTS knowledge base article on Microsoft Teams Rooms.

Join us in the CCM Library Wednesday, Oct. 23 for an afternoon of poetry and music

The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the poets and composers for the next Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series. This session is a collaboration with the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), and is the first off-site event, which will be held in the Albino Gorno Memorial (CCM) Library, 600 Blegen Library.

At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:

poetry stacked poets mauricio espinoza, brett price and lili alimohammadi
  • Brett Price is the author of “Ordinary Dissonance” (Midwestern Press, 2019).  He lives and writes in Cincinnati, OH, where he does various kinds of home renovation and handy-work, teaches at The Art Academy of Cincinnati, hosts readings occasionally at his house and plays in the band, The Actual Fuck.
  • Mauricio Espinoza, poet, translator and researcher. He is associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at the University of Cincinnati. He holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literatures and Cultures from The Ohio State University. He has published the poetry books “Nada más que silencio,” “Respiración de piedras,” which won the 2015 University of Costa Rica Press Poetry Prize; and “Pez de fieltro.” His poetry also appears in “The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States” and in journals such as barzakh and Rio Grande Review.
  • L​ili Alimohammadi studies psychology and creative writing at UC, where they’re curatorial intern for the Elliston Poetry Collection and president of the undergraduate poetry club, Cincinnati Poetry Collective. They’ve received awards for their poetry, fiction, essays, paintings and textiles, and they edit the quarterly zine Braids.

This session of Poetry Stacked will also feature three composers who have created and will perform original musical pieces to accompany one of the poet’s readings:

  • John Stork has been a staff member of UC Libraries since 2000 and currently works primarily with interlibrary loan. After taking years of piano lessons in grade school, he picked up the guitar in high school, eventually attending CCM as a classical guitar performance major for three years. While he moved to other interests academically (graduating from UC with a degree in classics), he has kept playing for enjoyment and can be seen playing ‘non-classical’ guitar in the band Jack Burton Overdrive.
  • Siyuan Kang composes music inspired by folk songs and arts. Her work was performed in Toronto by Untitled Ensemble; piano solo work performed by Mingfei Li in Chicago in May. She holds a diploma from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is now pursuing a DMA degree.
  • Andrew Strawn is an established young composer whose talent and dedication has already gained attention and respect within the musical community. His music is known for its romantic expression and highly polished orchestration, with topics often drawn from visual art and literature. He currently studies music composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) with Douglas Knehans, Michael Fiday, and Ellen Harrison; and saxophone performance with James Bunte and Carly Hood.
composers john stork, siyuan kang and andrew strawn
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“Finding My Space:” Meshia Anderson recounts her experience at this summer’s IDEAL conference

By Meshia Anderson, interlibrary loan specialist, UC Libraries

Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Belonging are often terms associated with those in marginalized communities. Finding a space that allows one to be authentic, feel a sense of belonging and add value to the lives of others is what I set out to do. Just over a year ago, I sought to find unique professional development opportunities that would allow me to serve as a key contributor to Equity and Inclusion practices, enhance current skills and adapt new ones and contribute to the support of marginalized communities.

IDEAL Conference 2024, Association of Research Libraries, ARL, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives (IDEAL) Conference. Photo by Harry Choi.

As a result of my pursuit, I was selected to serve as member of the ARL/IDEAL Conference Planning Task Force and to additionally serve as Production Committee Co-chair. The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) offered a great opportunity for me to connect with those exhibiting my same passion for Equity and Inclusion practices. The task force consisted of 10 members outside of ARL, primarily deans and department heads, in addition to multiple ARL directors, which presented a significantly inclusive experience for me. More than 70 volunteers across the United States and Canadian Universities, along with additional ARL staff, contributed to the conference success serving well over 500 attendees.

My role as a task force member allowed me the opportunity to provide suggestions and/or feedback for the conference working groups as conference plans progressed. The Production Team in particular was responsible for overall onsite conference support. As co-chair, I oversaw all aspects of onsite conference check-in and information support locations throughout the conference, providing training for multiple shifts in those work spaces and providing support for my co-chair who oversaw most other volunteer spaces. Initial training lead by ARL leadership for task force members and volunteers helped to establish conference standards and safety expectations.

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UC Libraries Names Jéanne Brooks Associate Dean for Operations and User Services

jeanne brooks

Jéanne Brooks will join the University of Cincinnati Libraries on September 30, 2024, as the new associate dean for operations and user services. In this role, she will have managerial responsibility for circulation, reserves, interlibrary loan, facilities and the user experience.

Brooks has an MBA in marketing from the University of Tennessee and an EdD in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne. She comes to UC from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she served as the senior director of library operations and development. In this role, she led staff and student assistants across five library units as well as communication, fundraising and facilities projects.

While at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Brooks implemented operational excellence principles, leading to improved efficiency and service quality, equitable library policies and higher employee morale. She also oversaw student-centered facility projects, including a new Graduate Resource Center, pop-up instruction space, tech lending storage and the Maker Studio expansion.

“I look forward to working with Jéanne and welcome her to the UC community,” said Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian. “As we embark on a new strategic plan, her expertise and background will be a true asset as we work collaboratively to advance the mission of UC Libraries.”

Registration open for UC DATA Day scheduled for Oct. 8

UC Libraries is pleased to announce the 10th UC DATA Day scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 9:30am-3:00pm in MSB E351. Registration is now open

The UC DATA Day keynote speaker is Kira Bradford, co-lead of the Data Management and Consultancy Group for the NIH HEAL Data Stewardship Group. The HEAL project, or Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, is a large-scale project focused on ending opioid addiction through basic science research and data sharing. The project brings together scientists, community members, the private sector and multiple levels of government and is a model for researchers navigating the new NIH data management and sharing policy. 

kira bradford

In addition to the keynote speaker, the DATA Day schedule will include student lightning talks, workshops and a resource fair. A more detailed schedule is available on the DATA Day website. DATA Day is free and open for all to attend and is sponsored by the Office of the Provost through a universal provider grant. Lunch will be provided for registrants. Register today!

Alex Temple officially joins UC Libraries as Reference Services Coordinator in the Archives and Rare Books Library

The Archives and Rare Books (ARB) Library is pleased to announce that Alex Temple has transitioned to the position of reference services coordinator effective September 9, 2024. Alex has worked as a contract archivist at ARB since September 2021 working on many projects, including the archival processing of the Al Gerhardstein papers, coordinating an inventory of the rare books collection, providing reference services and supervising student employees.  

alex temple

In his new role, Alex will be responsible for coordinating reference services at ARB, both in-person and remote, managing the reading room to ensure professional and prompt service to visiting researchers, providing primary source instruction, creating subject guides and outreach tools for ARB’s collections and scheduling and supervising student employees.

Alex is a familiar face around the University of Cincinnati Libraries, first helping out in the Preservation Lab in 2013 before moving to ARB and the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions. It’s safe to say Alex has a thorough knowledge of our archives and special collections. Welcome, officially, to Alex! 

Collections Shift at the Archives and Rare Books Library

The Archives and Rare Books Library (ARB) will soon begin utilizing new space at an offsite storage facility maintained by the University of Cincinnati Libraries. This will free up much needed collections space in Blegen Library for new acquisitions and newly organized materials. Consequently, ARB staff be taking part in a major collections shift during the weeks of September 16th and September 23rd.

During that time, services at ARB may be disrupted. This includes fielding reference questions and communications. We apologize for any inconvenience during this time but look forward to enhancing collection services following the shift!

Frederick A. Marcotte Library Digital Displays

UC Clermont Library maintains three monthly displays that pertain to timely issues; one is inside the library and two are in display cases in the Snyder and Edith Peters Jones buildings. You’ve probably seen these throughout campus and maybe even checked out materials from one. For these physical displays we lay out books, DVDs, periodicals, and QR codes relating to a particular topic. We feature all the materials available in these physical displays on our digital display website so that you can explore what is on our physical display shelves from the comfort of your home, access electronic materials, and request items from each display. Our display topics for the month of September 2024 are Appalachian and Rural Studies, US Elections, and AI.

Join us Sept. 11 for an afternoon of poetry at the next Poetry Stacked event

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, Sept. 11 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:

  • Armando Romero, poet, narrator, literary critic and UC Charles Phelps Taft Emeritus Professor. He belonged to the initial group of Nadaism, literary avant-garde in Colombia. He has lived in numerous countries in both America and Europe. Armando has published numerous books of poetry, fiction and essays. In 2022 his book No era aquí. Álvaro Mutis: faces and traces of Maqroll el Gaviero, appears in Madrid published by the Center of Modern Art. His anthological book of prose poems, Poeta di Fiume, is published this year by the Fili D’Aquilone publishing house, Rome, Italy. Armando will be accompanied by his wife, Constance Lardas, who will read English translations of his poems.
  • James O’Bannon is a Black writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. His writing reflects on grief, Black mental health and how we engage with our own memory. James owes everything to his grandmother, who instilled a love of reading and language in him from a young age. James is a Tin House Workshop Alumna, and a finalist for the Ghost Peach Poetry Prize. His work has appeared in Waxwing Literary Journal, Nomadic Press as part of the Nomadic Ground Series, Triquarterly, Northwest Review, among other journals.
  • Erin Noehre is a poet currently writing and studying at the University of Cincinnati, where she is an Albert C. Yates Fellow. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University where she was a 2020-2021 June Jordan Teaching Fellow. Her work has been featured in Pigeonholes, Sonora Review, Passages North and elsewhere.
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