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Beginning Anew: The 2022-2023 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Report
By Liz Kiscaden, Dean and University Librarian Announcing the 2022-2023 University of Cincinnati Libraries Annual Report. My tenure as dean and university librarian began in mid-August 2023, a time of great growth at the University of Cincinnati. I’ve spent these past six months learning as much as I can about the Libraries – how our mission to “empower discovery, stimulate learning and inspire the creation of knowledge by connecting students, faculty, researchers and scholars to dynamic data, information and resources” supports the university’s NEXT Lives Here Strategic Directions. Documents such as the Annual Report have been key to my education. In this Annual Report, we look back at the top…
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RESPECT announces first group of awarded mini grants
The UC Libraries RESPECT (Racial Equity Support Programming to Educate the Community Team) announces its first group of awarded mini grants. The committee sought proposals from UC Libraries faculty and staff for programming designed for the University of Cincinnati and its community that explicitly addresses the role that systemic racism plays within society. Four successful mini-grant proposals were awarded $1500 each: RESPECT has as its charge to use library resources to expand programming and resources that provide library users with the tools to understand systemic racism in order to begin dismantling it. The mini-grants program is one way it is working to meet its charge. In addition, the team plans…
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CEAS Library’s historic murals: engineering a restoration
By Ted Baldwin, Director of the College of Engineering and Applied Science Library The CEAS Library murals represent the first University of Cincinnati student-funded art acquisition. In May 1916, the senior class of engineering raised the funds for the work through a very successful Ohio River boat cruise that included live orchestra and dancing. The murals were completed and dedicated a year later. Francis Wiley Faig, painter of the murals, was well-regarded in Cincinnati art circles. Faig had been a favorite student of Cincinnati’s famed painter Frank Duveneck, who also attended the dedication of the murals. Faig also held deep connections to the college and its disciplines. Her husband, John T. Faig, was a professor of…
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UC Libraries hosts local elementary school students
By Participants Elaine Grigg Dean, Mark Chalmers, Ted Baldwin, Chris Harter, Katie Foran-Mulcahy, Rachel Hoople and Aja Bettencourt-McCarthyn Throughout the Fall 2023 semester, UC Libraries collaborated with College Mentors for Kids to host local elementary school students in library locations across the campus. Students from Oyler School and Evanston Academy visited the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) Library, the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services (CECH) Library, and the Archives and Rare Books (ARB) Library along with the Oesper Museum to learn more about UC Libraries collections and the work of librarianship. What is CMFK? College Mentors for Kids (CMFK) is a non-profit organization that works…
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New acquisition is a resource for radical publishing history
By Christopher Harter, University Archivist and Head of the Archives and Rare Books Library “President Cancels Student Debt for 150K Borrowers. – The Hill, February 21, 2024“40 Percent of Student Loan Borrowers Missed Payments in October.” – Politico, December 14, 2023“Is Rising Student Debt Harming the U.S. Economy.” – Council on Foreign Relations, August 22, 2023 Between pandemic relief efforts and election cycles, student debt remains a hot topic in the media and among politicians, pundits, parents and students. And for good reason. As of March 2023, an estimated 44 million U.S. borrowers owed over $1.7 trillion in federal and private student loans. However, a recent acquisition by the Archives…
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Poetry Stacked – beyond the bookshelves
Tasked to enrich and engage the University of Cincinnati campus and community, UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room partnered to create Poetry Stacked, a interdisciplinary reading series staged in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library and curated with 21st-century values. Poetry Stacked brings faculty, staff, student and community poets together in-person and live streamed. After only a year and a half of programming, Poetry Stacked has enjoyed many successes, addressed challenges and expanded past just the poetry readings with exciting plans for the future. Poetry Stacked coordinators Melissa Cox Norris, director of library communications, Ben Kline, assistant department head of research, teaching and services,…
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DAAP Library exhibit celebrates Renaissance painter Catharina van Hemessen
By Christopher Platts, assistant professor of art history On display from March 8 through April 8 in the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library for Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP), the exhibition, Rediscovering Catharina van Hemmessen’s Scourging of Christ: Women Artists, Patrons and Rulers in Renaissance Europe, features paintings, woodcuts, engravings, illuminated manuscripts, and illustrated printed books from the special collections of UC Libraries as well as a local private collection. Catharina van Hemessen was arguably the most important woman artist in Northern Europe during the 16th century, and her paintings are currently the highlights of numerous exhibitions and installations worldwide. Museums everywhere are actively trying to…
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Note from the Dean: Creating a shared vision for UC Libraries
My tenure as dean and university librarian for the University of Cincinnati Libraries began in mid-August and I feel privileged to have joined such a highly talented team during a time of great growth at the University of Cincinnati. While higher education and academic libraries are certainly not new environments for me, like we say in this profession, “if you’ve seen one library, you’ve seen one library.” I am grateful to have such a welcoming community within UC Libraries to get me up to speed and support my transition, this experience has made me proud to be a Bearcat! For more about my professional background and my thoughts on trends…
