Dean’s Message, September 2024

Welcome to our new students and faculty and welcome back to all of you returning! All of us at the Marriott Library are looking forward to working with you this academic year.

Coming on September 5^th is our annual Fall Fest where you can learn more about all the library has to offer. Fall Fest will also feature a chance for you to contribute your thoughts about the Marriott Library spaces so that we can continue to improve our offerings. We have an active project to plan for what the Marriott will look like over the next few years. So come to Fall Fest and learn more about our programs – from the Knowledge Commons, to Book Arts, to Special Collections and everything in between – and help us plan our future!

We have some new activity at the Marriott Library! Coming in September we will be opening a Starbucks cart on the second floor while we renovate the café on the first floor to be a Starbucks café. We’ve been replacing chairs and carpet this summer to freshen up our spaces (some of those chairs were about 17 years old, as old as some of our entering freshmen!). We’ve been actively adding to our browsing collection on the first floor as well as to our general collections. We’ve expanded our sewing equipment in ProtoSpace and have bought new laptops for our technology lending program.

We do this work in support of President Taylor’s Impact 2030 Strategic Plan. The Marriott Library is here to help students be successful through academic support and spaces where you can relax and build community. We are here to help researchers with thorny research questions, access to collections and research infrastructure like our data repository, Hive.

Libraries are only as good as the people in them, and I want you all to know that we have amazing staff and faculty here in the library that are ready to work with you. We look forward to seeing you in the Marriott or virtually this semester!

Sincerely,

Sarah L. Shreeves
Alice Sheets Marriott Dean of Libraries