Nov 11, 2025 Celebrating Growth and Impact
Dean’s Message, November 2025
They say that the one thing that’s constant is change. I would add that, as of late, the other constant is growth.
This fall, the university welcomed both its largest freshman class of over 6,000 and its largest student body of more than 38,000 students. This campus growth has pushed library operations to a post pandemic high. We have seen 435,258 entrances into the library since the start of the semester on August 18th. Take a walk around the library and you can see so many students working, socializing, and having downtime as well.
Not only is the library bustling with students, but our staff have also been busy teaching and managing projects. In partnership with the Office of the Vice President for Research, we’re holding the Image of Research competition where faculty and graduate students will be sending in images and videos that say, ‘This is what my research looks like,’ with the intention of celebrating and creating awareness around the incredible research happening here at the U.
Our Preservation staff worked on an incredible project restoring objects found in a time capsule that had been buried in the cornerstone of the Japanese Church of Christ in 1924. One of the items included a New Testament in Japanese that came to America in 1906.
And let us take a moment to recognize this Games major, Gojo Zhang, who at age 14 enrolled in Oxford University and is now an avid user of the ProtoSpace where he perfects his Fortnight skills and visits with other Games students.
On any given day, here at the Marriott Library, you can see students, faculty and staff engaged in a myriad of activities that broaden the impact of the U; this is what makes my job as dean so fulfilling. Swing by the library sometime, visit our browsing collection on level 3 or check-out the exhibitions throughout and see for yourself why we say Success Starts Here.
Best,
Sarah L. Shreeves
Alice Sheets Marriott Dean of Libraries
Robert O. Ruhling, Ph.D.
Posted at 12:38h, 11 NovemberDear Dean Shreeves –
When I left the University of Utah in 1987 to take a position with George Mason University, I was asked to present the Commencement Address to the 1987 graduates of the College of Health. The title of my address was “Change is the constant that shapes our destiny.” I’m glad to read that “Change” is now at the forefront of what’s happening in the libraries at the University of Utah. Before I left, I donated a significant portion of my professional library to the J. Willard Marriott Library for the use of future students who would choose to pursue a degree in Exercise Physiology. It was in 1972 that I created and was the first Director of the Human Performance Research Laboratory and was honored by the College of Health in 2022 which noted that the laboratory was still in existence (since 1972) and still functioning as I had envisioned over 50 years ago. Thank you for your dedication to knowledge and learning. Sincerely, Robert O. Ruhling, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, George Mason University.