Marginalia Fall 2022

Dear Friends,

More than two millennia after its founding, the Great Library of Alexandria remains a powerful symbol of knowledge and scholarship. While most people think about its massive collections of papyri and the disaster of their loss through fire, the Alexandria library was also known as a place for scholars to gather in gardens, shared dining spaces, meeting rooms, and lecture halls.

Similarly, while a university library fills an important role providing access to research materials necessary for completing degrees or conducting world class research, the contemporary library is also a critical campus resource supporting engagement, conversation, and collaboration—the foundations for student success.

Getting students in the door and making them aware of our collections and services can be our biggest challenge—but if we can do that, we know they will be back. Connecting with colleagues in local secondary schools, we hope to introduce students to the importance of libraries before even setting foot on campus. And as students arrived in Logan this fall, the Merrill-Cazier Library invited the first-year class into our building for a festive party complete with pizza, dirty soda, and all kinds of fun activities. We have recently hired a new librarian whose role it is to provide ongoing outreach and programing to students.

This month, Marginalia highlights the excellent work our librarians are doing to engage students from simply drawing them into our building to providing them with high-impact internships. It is well established that the more students interact with the people and resources on their campuses, the more likely they will be to persist in their education and succeed academically.

The USU Libraries is committed to working with students in a variety of ways to support their success at all academic levels. I hope you enjoy reading about some of these impressive initiatives.

Jennifer Duncan, Dean of Libraries

The Library's Day on the Quad booth introduced new students to Library services and upcoming events this fall.

WELCOME NEW FACULTY!

Katie Luder | Outreach Librarian

Katie Luder received her bachelor’s degree in Secondary English Education from Kansas State University and a MLIS from the University of Arizona.

She has previously worked as a school librarian, serving students from kindergarten through high school. As a school librarian she planned everything from story times, in-depth research lessons, book clubs, and open house events. She is excited to utilize those skills in planning outreach events for USU students and the community.

She is also very excited to experience a Utah Fall, after living in Arizona for the last 5 years!

First-year students experienced another side of the Library at this year's After Hours event.

After Hours Event Welcomes Students

On August 26th the Library welcomed approximately 1500 first-year USU students to our inaugural Library After Hours event.

“Our goal for this event was to give students a fun opportunity to familiarize themselves with the building and discover library services with their peers,” First-Year Experience Librarian Katie Strand said. “We wanted to ease incoming students' anxiety about the library and let them know we are here to support them.”

Event activities included laser tag, video games, virtual reality, informational booths, pizza, custom sodas, break out boxes, and more! Raffle prizes including a desktop computer and an electric scooter were given away.

USU Libraries, USU Information Technology, USU Connections, and the Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library worked together to create funding for this event.

Bridging

the Gap

Between Cache Valley High Schools and USU Libraries

The Library hosted its first annual conference for high school educators, Bridging the Gap, during the summer.

“The Bridging the Gap Conference was created as an opportunity to begin a dialogue with local educators regarding USU Libraries’ resources, while also learning how to better support incoming USU students as they transition from high school to the university,” First-Year Experience Librarian Katie Strand said.

“Our hope was that we could form connections with our local secondary educators and find opportunities to support each other’s instruction efforts.”

Strand and Government Information Librarian Jen Kirk teamed up to organize the conference. Thirty-three local high school educators attended the half-day conference which focused on information literacy, using Special Collections & Archives materials, and digital resources.

Attendees were able to attend three sessions with topics such as building students’ confidence as scholars, exploring government information as primary sources, and Open Educational Resources.

Attendees of the Bridging the Gap Conference participated in a wide variety of panels, presentations, and discussion groups.

The Intermountain

West LGBTQ+ Oral History Project

In May of 2021, USU Folklore MA candidate John Priegnitz created the Intermountain West LGBTQ+ Oral History Project with the goal to document and preserve the lived experiences of this often marginalized community throughout the region.

This project is not only valuable to historians and folklorists, but also serves the public good by promoting visibility and inspiration to younger queer people who may feel cut off from their community. The culmination of the project will be a digital collection and exhibit housed by the Libraries' Special Collections & Archives with a launch date tentatively scheduled for Spring 2023.

Explore more Library digital collections and exhibits by scanning the QR code above! Or visit: library.usu.edu/archives

Photos featured in the Intermountain West LGBTQ+ Oral History Project digital exhibit and collection explore LGBTQ+ history throughout the region.

Friends Fund OER Grants

This year, USU Libraries issued its first statewide call for Open Educational Resources (OER) grant project proposals. OER are teaching and learning materials that are free for anyone to access, adapt, and share. Not only do they make education more affordable, but instructors can make their learning materials more culturally relevant, diverse, and inclusive than standard commercial materials.

Out of 16 proposals, the Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library are generously funding five projects. These projects come from the Theatre, Music, Mathematics, Biology, and Applied Economics departments.

Thanks to the Friends, USU students taking these classes will save at least $21,000 in the first year—and that’s only the beginning! Other instructors at USU and nationwide plan to adopt some of these materials, greatly amplifying the student savings and impact.

(Left) OER Program Manager Stephanie Western introduces students to the benefits and opportunities awarded by OER.

(Right) Each dot on this board tells how much a student spent on textbooks that semester. OER, on the other hand, are free.

COVID-19 Collection Project

A pertinent digital project began taking shape this fall as Tameron Williams—Library Graduate Fellow from the USU Department of History—worked to collect oral histories of USU faculty, staff, and students’ experiences of the covid-19 pandemic.

Williams began working on this project in January under the direction of project manager and Archival Librarian Todd Welch. They developed planning documents, explored outreach methods, and prepared the wide range of collected materials. Williams led a number of oral history interviews, including an interview with USU President Noelle Cockett.

Over 100 oral histories were added to USU Special Collections University Archives and will be made accessible through the Libraries’ Institutional Repository. The Graduate Fellowship position was generously funded by USU Central Administration.

Williams said he hopes that twenty years from now, these collections will provide crucial first-hand experiences for researches on how people responded to difficult circumstances and especially how lasting the lessons from the pandemic were.

Library Graduate Fellow Tameron Williams.

Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library

3000 Old Main Hill

Logan, UT 84322-3000

BECOME A FRIEND

of the library

Two ways to give: Visit library.usu.edu/support/friends

Marginalia © 2022

Published by: Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library

Issue Coordinator: Trina Shelton

Graphic Designer: Shay Larsen

Photographers: Devin Greener, Kellianne Gammill

Contributors: Kellianne Gammill, Shay Larsen, John Priegnitz

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