Summer 2020 Semester Newsletter

I am very pleased to share the Summer 2020 Library Update with you. This has been an eventful summer, as we transitioned in late spring to providing primarily virtual library services, then in July to offering curbside pickup, to fully reopening our buildings for fall semester. 

When the University Libraries went fully virtual on March 20, we shared in the disappointment of losing everyday access to our vast, physical collection. And while we successfully filled many requests with e-books, providing uninterrupted service, sometimes an e-book was not available, and our users needed to be able to borrow a print book. That’s why we were so thrilled to launch a curbside pickup service for the University at Albany community on July 6. 

Karen Kiorpes, Associate Librarian and Head of Preservation Department, walks us through her experience working-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Head of Library Systems, Erich Hammer has always been popular among the University Libraries’ faculty and staff. When the coronavirus pandemic forced the Libraries to switch to a fully remote and virtual operation, though, he practically became a celebrity.

On May 25, the University announced that Rebecca Mugridge, Dean of University Libraries, received the title of Distinguished Librarian by the State University of New York. She is the ninth librarian to earn this rank.

“Every individual deserves to feel safe and welcome when they walk through a library’s doors or when they reach out to their librarians online—no matter where they were born or what they look like, and whether they are a patron or an employee."

After 31 years of service to the University Libraries, Cathy Dwyer called it a career on May 29, 2020. Before she signed off for the final time, we caught up with the former Director of the Dewey Graduate Library and asked her a few questions. 

This spring, the University Libraries were pleased to announce the inaugural Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Research. These awards provide the Libraries an opportunity to recognize the excellent and innovative research and scholarship of the University’s undergraduate students, which have been supported by library resources. 

The University Libraries recently announced the 2020 Patricia Stocking Brown Research Award recipients are graduate student Carissa Halston and undergraduate student Shelby Hafener. he annual award honors the late Professor Patricia Stocking Brown, who taught Biology and Women’s and Minorities’ Studies for 35 years at nearby Siena College.

We are pleased to update you on an exciting collaboration with the Graduate School and the Libraries’ Scholarly Communication team and Innovate, Make, Create Center aimed at strengthening graduate student support, which has been underway since early Spring 2020. 

Keerthi Padamata spoke about her experience as this year's Anna Radkowski-Lee Graduate Assistant, working at the Dewey Graduate Library, and her interest in data science. 

Here's what our faculty and staff presented in the Summer 2020. 

The Libraries said farewell to some long-time staff members this summer.