Annual Report 2020

Greetings! We at the University Libraries are grateful to each of the donors listed below. Their generosity makes an impact on our operations now and...

Greetings!  Welcome to our University of Minnesota Libraries 2020 Annual Report, where we present highlights from our year.  This has been a year of transitions for...

Ford W. Bell, D.V.M., has been inspired to give by outstanding people — big thinkers — with the most important being his grandfather, James Ford Bell, the founder of General Mills and a University Regent for 24 years, who was a dedicated collector of books. The James Ford Bell Library opened in 1953, as part of the Libraries, with books from the elder Bell’s collection of rare books, maps, and charts dedicated to the development of world trade in the early modern period. 

As of June 30, 2020, the Libraries had reached 117% of our Driven campaign goal of $18,000,000 by raising $21,085,207. Our goal is to raise an additional $1,600,000 before the campaign ends June 30, 2021. Our thanks go out to the 4,431 donors who have contributed to our Driven campaign. We greatly appreciate your support. Fundraising priorities for the coming fiscal year and beyond include the creation of an endowed chair for our Children’s Literature Research Collections, $395,000 for the Mapping Prejudice project, support for our Student Success initiative, and funding to transform our spaces. Driven is the University of Minnesota’s $4 billion campaign.

The Libraries work positively impacts the community through such examples as the Mapping Prejudice project, Minitex, and the Friends Forum: A Series for Curious Minds.

Library support for education included student support through the Peer Research Consultants program, integration of library resources into Canvas course websites, library tutorials, course-integrated teaching, and more.

The Libraries supports students, faculty, and staff with a wide variety of research services — including research crash courses; systematic reviews; the University Digital Conservancy; the Data Repository of University of Minnesota (DRUM); publishing services; Digital Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; and more.

An approach to IDEA The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Committee aims to develop or improve services with inclusion in mind, reduce barriers to learning,...

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Libraries shuttered its buildings and branches on March 17, 2020, while staff working from home continued online services. Staff returned in June to provide digital delivery services and to prepare buildings for fall. After extensive arrangements by facilities staff to encourage physical distancing, four libraries — Health Sciences, Magrath, Walter, and Wilson — opened for use by University faculty, staff, and students.

Library resources are embedded in Canvas course sites, making them easily accessible by students. This, along with multi-use e-book purchases, borrowing course material content, and publishing open textbooks has potentially saved students $3.6 million in fiscal year 2020, and the potential savings over the past five years totals $12.9 million.