University Libraries

By Katy Kelly

Our faculty and staff — and the services they develop and deliver — are what make us the University of Dayton Libraries. Instead of abiding by the adage “build it and they will come,” we proactively engage with the campus and wider community to know them and their goals. 

Expanding Our Reach

Research journals that are open access (not funded by subscriptions) charge an article processing charge (APC) in order for research to be published. APCs are a common practice in the publishing industry — and a barrier to researchers worldwide. 

To support UD students and faculty facing this challenge, UD Libraries’ Open Access Publishing Fund pays up to $1,000 per article to help offset open access publishing fees. “Without the help of the UD, I couldn’t publish this paper,” shared computer science doctoral candidate Samah Baraheem. This fund and other open access initiatives have helped 49 UD researchers (and counting) to share their research widely and enhance their reputation and UD’s.

Publishing Opportunities

eCommons, UD’s institutional repository and a service of the Libraries since 2013, publishes and hosts journals, promoting and providing free access to research. UD staff and faculty who noticed a gap in their disciplines used eCommons to launch the Journal of Dietetic Education and Research and Reflection on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Line by Line publishes first-year students’ outstanding work through a structured peer review process. 

As of early August, the works in the 14 journals hosted on eCommons have been downloaded 981,269 times. Libraries staff leverage eCommons to facilitate writing, reading and citing these journals, including UD scholarship by students, faculty and staff.

A Leader in Libraries

Our work in other areas has earned recognition at the national level. In the past two years:

• Positive ratings from UD students informed our rank as #22 Best College Library in 2024 by The Princeton Review.
• The Libraries were a recipient of the inaugural Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award, a national honor for commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion from Insight Into Diversity magazine. UD was selected for the Libraries’ work to implement an ambitious strategic DEI plan for its workforce, collections, programming, exhibits, and physical and virtual spaces. 
• The Marian Library’s newsletter, Tidings, earned the American Library Association’s top honor for born-digital advocacy and annual reports in its annual public relations awards competition. Read the latest issue of Tidings online.
• For his work and research, student success librarian and assistant professor Zachary Lewis was recognized with the John Brubaker Memorial Award, an honor bestowed annually to authors featured in Catholic Library World, the journal of the Catholic Library Association.
• The Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) honored collections librarian/archivist and associate professor Stephanie Shreffler for her outstanding leadership and service to the organization.

The field of librarianship is always changing to meet the needs of our communities, and we’re proud to be a leader. We advance our community-centered priorities with the help of alumni, friends and supporters like you. A gift of any size will ensure the University Libraries can continue to grow our positive reputation and support all UD students and faculty to do the same. 

Current priorities that will enhance our reputation:

• $75,000 to the Marian Library will fund a visiting librarian for a year to enhance access to special collections such as the Marian art and juvenile collections.
• $1,000 to $100,000 to the Brother Raymond Roesch, S.M., endowment will add new and much-requested materials to enhance library collections.

Explore more about our award-winning libraries by visiting our new academic excellence page: Your UD Libraries.

— Katy Kelly is a professor in the University Libraries and assistant dean of strategic communication and outreach.