News

The University of Maryland Libraries is pleased to share the latest issue of our annual Illumination magazine. Read about how UMD Libraries is navigating the ever changing scope of libraries while remaining steadfast to the core mission—to organize and preserve knowledge, enhance equitable access to information and services, and serve as a resource to our communities’ intellectual and cultural needs.

The University of Maryland Libraries is pleased to announce a generous $2.225 million bequest from JoAnne Barry ’89 and Ken Boulton ’86/’97 that will preserve and expand the International Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM) and pay tribute to Neil Ratliff, the inspirational leader of the Music Library at the University of Maryland from 1980 to 1994.

Associate Dean of Libraries for Collection Strategies and Services, Daniel Mack, will serve as interim Dean of Libraries starting July 1, 2024. Appointed by Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice, Mack will assume the role upon the retirement of Dr. Adriene Lim on June 30, 2024.

UMD Libraries launched a new integrated library management system today, May 23, 2024. UMD, along with all members of the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium, moved to the Alma and Primo systems from Ex Libris®, part of Clarivate, after having been on the shared Aleph system from Ex Libris for over 20 years. The migration process to the new system, branded as UMD Discover, has been ongoing since Spring 2023.

The University of Maryland Libraries is pleased to announce a generous gift from the sons of Abe and Irene Pollin to bolster the Capital Centre Community Archive, part of Special Collections and University Archives. The gift will fund the Abe and Irene Pollin Graduate Assistant, who will research and promote awareness of the collection and it will also establish the Abe and Irene Pollin Endowed Program Support Fund to provide lasting stability.

The University of Maryland Libraries is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Library Awards for Undergraduate Research.  This year’s Library Award for Undergraduate Research is Mason Yang, class of 2025 majoring in history. Julia Grafstein, class of 2024, also studying history, is the recipient of the Libraries’ Award for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) research.

The University of Maryland’s 1856 Project, part of the Universities Studying Slavery consortium, has been awarded a generous $200,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation Public Knowledge program to establish a two-year research incubator program that will investigate the legacy of slavery at the university and document histories of enslaved individuals, ensuring their stories and contributions are recognized, honored and preserved.

The University of Maryland Libraries is proud to announce a new partnership with the College of Arts and Humanities’ (ARHU) Frederick Douglass Center for Leadership Through the Humanities. The Libraries will collaborate closely with ARHU to bring library- and archives-based leadership and knowledge resources to enhance the Center’s mission.

The University of Maryland Libraries is grateful for the generous commitment of Sonya E. Shooshan, MLS ’95, to establish the Library Student Workforce Endowed Operating Fund through the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc. With this new commitment of $50,000, the endowed fund will provide operating support to subsidize the cost of employing, training, and mentoring student assistants employed by the University of Maryland Libraries.

As previously announced, the University of Maryland Libraries will move to a new library search platform on May 23, 2024.