University Libraries

By Maureen Schlangen and Katy Kelly

As the University Libraries mark National Library Week April 23-29, the 2023 theme, “There’s More to the Story,” casts a wide spotlight far beyond stories found in books.

In today’s academic and public libraries, the items on the shelves only tell a part of the story. In the University Libraries, our story also includes:

• Book a Librarian, an online appointment system for scheduling research consultations and other support.
• Innovative spaces such as Concourse D, a project development studio; the Story Studio, a one-stop audio-video recording and editing suite; and the Dialogue Zone, a space for the University community to  facilitate civil, productive discourse on sensitive or challenging issues.
• Reservable study and team rooms.
• Thought-provoking exhibits such as the Marian Library’s East Meets West, an upcoming display of contemporary Ukrainian icons, plus highlights from a Ukrainian Marian collection built by a longtime Marian Library staff member.
• Collections of rare and beautiful art, as well as dozens of works by UD and Dayton-area artists on permanent display.
• Enthusiastic faculty, staff and students, all of whom have their own library stories, such as a finals week memory by a 2006 graduate and a quest to find an obscure title using an even more obscure set of clues from a patron.

A Story of Commitment — and an Invitation to Share

Dean Kathleen Webb shared her own library story on Twitter as part of the 2023 One Day, One Dayton giving day, and this week, members of the University community have been jotting down their library stories and posting them in the lobby of Roesch Library.

Knowledge New and Old, Accessible to All

Every year, the Libraries add more collections to eCommons, UD’s open-access institutional repository, to tell more of the University of Dayton’s story. Some recent additions:

• Almost 400 digital reproductions of UD’s student newspaper, now called Flyer News, were made available in March.
• More than 300 articles from the University of Dayton Rivers Institute blog became available April 18.
• More than 500 student research projects from the 2023 Stander Symposium are now online for browsing and research.
• Honors and graduate theses and dissertations are made available every semester.
• University of Dayton Law Review is now being published on the eCommons platform, and much of its old content is now available in eCommons.
• University of Dayton Review, published from 1964 to 1998, has been converted to digital format, and its addition to eCommons is in progress.
• Items from the Marian Library’s seminal exhibit Juggling for Mary are now available as well.

More to the Story Since 1850

Several years ago, University Libraries professor emerita Kathleen Tiller composed a brief history of the University Libraries, tracing it from a small collection of books in a corner of the St. Mary’s School for Boys in 1850 to the construction of Roesch Library in 1971 — eight stories! — to the major renovation known as “Roesch Refresh” in 2017. It illustrates well that throughout the Libraries’ history, there’s always been “more to the story.”

— Maureen Schlangen is e-scholarship and communications manager in the University Libraries. Katy Kelly is a professor in the University Libraries and coordinator of marketing and engagement.