News from @umnlib

Anne Good, the Assistant Curator at the James Ford Bell Library, has unveiled her first exhibit since joining the University of Minnesota Libraries in 2020. “Connecting Threads” showcases the tactile culture of the premodern world — its textiles, fibers, and fashion, its economy and trade markets — and asks what our clothes say about the modern era. 

The Tretter Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota has a new oral historian who’s bringing community organizing to the forefront of its mission to collect and preserve the stories of trans people across the city and state.  

Humans first arrived on Greenland circa 2500 B.C.E. This exhibition tells the story — largely forgotten and never widely known — of the peoples who immigrated to this beautiful but challenging land. The exhibit, open through Aug. 31, 2023 at the Bell Room Gallery, located in the Wallin Center on the ground level of Elmer L. Andersen Library, is presented by the James Ford Bell Library.

With the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, a cohort of Fulbright photographers, both Ukrainian and American, found themselves at the epicenter of momentous events. They were equipped with their ultimate weapons, their cameras. They managed to capture the tragic and heroic, the devastating and hopeful moments of present life in Ukraine. The exhibit is sponsored by Fulbright Ukraine and the Fulbright Association Minnesota Chapter.

Innovation was the $500 word at Walter Library on May 10. Attendees from across the University and beyond filled the building for the 11th annual Founders Day, a celebration of inspiration, innovation, and student entrepreneurship co-hosted by the University Libraries and the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship. 

The University of Minnesota Libraries couldn’t function without the work of its dedicated student employees. Every year, the Friends of the Libraries sponsors the outstanding library student employee award, which recognizes three students that exceed in job performance and expectations. The winners are chosen by the Friends of the Libraries Awards Committee and each receive $500. This year’s winners are:

Ryan Mattke, the Map and Geospatial Information Librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries, will be one of the newest members of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

We at the University Libraries were saddened by the April 2 death of Maxine Jessup Houghton Wallin, a University graduate, a librarian who had worked at Walter Library, a Friend of the Libraries, and a philanthropic leader who has made significant contributions to the University.

Learn more about how photogrammetry will be used to create interactive 3D models of artifacts from the Wangensteen Historical Library.

Long before our current age of globalization, cloth was a major trade commodity. Textiles, woven from diverse fibers, dyed to various hues, and adorned with myriad designs, were produced by unique cultures around the earth. This exhibit, presented by the James Ford Bell Library, explores the interwoven elements of textiles, trade, and attire in the premodern world.

Jeremy Iggers is many things: a veteran journalist, a banjo player, an occasional instructor, but notably, a Friend of the Libraries. When he’s not working on the events committee or serving as the executive director of the Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective, you can find Iggers playing banjo with his jug band at farmer’s markets or at the Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands. 

Kathy Allen, Librarian at the U of M’s Andersen Horticultural Library in Chaska, Minnesota, retires this spring (May 9, 2023). We invite you to get to know Kathy, and to celebrate her remarkable 27-year career with the Libraries.

It’s National Library Week (April 23-29, 2023). The theme this year is “There’s More to the Story.” At the University of Minnesota Libraries, we have many resources you might not know about. Our services,...

Attending one of the top 10 public research institutions in the nation, University of Minnesota Twin Cities students are at the forefront of advancement in biological sciences, agriculture, technology and more. And when students conduct their research, they turn to the University Libraries. 

Thanks to the funding received from the Legacy Grant the Wangensteen Library is going to be able to take 4,000 medical instruments from its collection of artifacts and enrich their catalog records through the creation of new, more improved metadata, thereby furthering the opportunities for research and study.

It’s National Library Week (April 23-29, 2023). The theme this year is “There’s More to the Story.” At the University of Minnesota Libraries, we have resources, services, and spaces you might not know about....