Washington University Libraries Annual Report 2019-20 by Washington University Libraries

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

knowledge.

All photos by WU Libraries unless otherwise noted. Cover photo by Whitney Curtis Photography.

ME S S AG E FRO M DENIS E S TEPHENS , V ICE PROVOS T A ND UNI V ERS IT Y LIB R A RI A N

ecause 2019–2020 was a time like no other, this year’s Annual Report feels especially significant. The COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping changes and a great deal of uncertainty to the Washington University community. Campus spaces—including the

libraries—closed, the university transitioned to online learning, and staff members started working from home. I’m proud to say that for the Washington University Libraries, spring proved to be a period of renewed commitment, determination, and unity. In the midst of tremendous upheaval, library personnel working remotely pulled together to find creative solutions for supporting students, faculty, and staff. Through the efforts of our team, the University Libraries have maintained the high levels of service and expertise our users have come to expect. Our Strategic Plan has been particularly valuable in these times of rapid change. Launched in July 2019, the plan is composed of organizational principles and strategic directions that provide a blueprint for all we do. The highlights you’ll find in this report—the innovative new programs, important acquisitions, and productive partnerships—correspond to those directions. It’s by staying on track and remaining committed that we’re able to adapt as an organization and meet the needs of our community. In these pages, you’ll find facts and figures that show how the University Libraries function as a network that’s essential to the academic success of the university. While the pandemic has overshadowed so much of what has taken place in the previous year, we appreciate having this opportunity to pause and consider our accomplishments, to remember our mission of service and the importance of our users and supporters. We look forward to the day when we can welcome visitors into library spaces on campus and experience a face-to-face sense of community once again. For now, I encourage you to keep in touch via our website and to take advantage of the numerous resources that are available. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or ideas to share. Best wishes,

DENISE S TEPHENS Vice Provost and University Librarian

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Productive Partnerships

Connecting on Campus

Strong partnerships can help to ensure success in just about any setting, but in an academic environment, they’re a crucial part of the equation for excellence. During the past year, we’ve engaged in enriching collaborations across campus that have made it possible for us to contribute in new ways to the success of Washington University. By embracing the possibilities of partnership, we’re able share our resources and create a climate of achievement for scholars and students.

JULY

Marking Milestones 2019–2020 was a time of unprecedented change at the Washington University Libraries. The following timeline offers a selection of events, exhibits, and programs, along with other highlights from the year, that took place on campus and online.

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2019

In honor of the Fourth of July, the University Libraries hosted a “Stories of Independence” celebration in John M. Olin Library. The event included a talk by Curator of Rare Books Cassie Brand, story time for children, and other activities.

Photo by Whitney Curtis Photography

LEF T | John Hendrix, chair of the MFA-IVC program, with students. ABOVE | Washington University faculty and librarians participated

in the 2019 Information Literacy Learning Community.

On August 12–15, 2019, the Washington University Libraries and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement co-sponsored the Faculty and Librarian Information Literacy Learning Community. During the program, librarians and faculty focused on co-developing information literacy learning opportunities for students in their classwork.

Building Academic Alliances Washington University launched its new MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture (MFA-IVC) program in August 2019. The two-year program is a collaboration between the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Washington University Libraries. Along with Sam Fox faculty, staff from the University Libraries teach in the program, and the archival illustration collections housed in the D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library, a division of the University Libraries’ Julian Edison Department of Special Collections, are central to the degree curriculum.

Exposure to what a library can do and what being inside an archive can mean to your own creative practice is incredibly valuable. These are things the students need to experience firsthand. Being able to collaborate with the University Libraries in this way was one of the reasons we wanted to build this program. The Libraries are an incredible asset.” — J O H N H E N D R I X , M FA - I V C C H A I R

The learning community was the result of a grant given by Leslie Scallet and Maury Lieberman to the Gephardt Institute in support of media literacy education for students. It was open to instructors teaching courses at the undergraduate level in any discipline or school during the 2019–2020 academic year. Five instructors were selected to participate, and each was paired with a librarian whose expertise was a good match for their course goals. Faculty participants, who were required to attend the learning community in full, received a stipend of $1500. The faculty-librarian pairs and targeted courses were Seema Dahlheimer and Lauren Todd (Technical Writing), Andrea Murray and Ted Chaffin (Topics in Anthropology: Bioprospecting), Heather Rice and Melissa Vetter (Experimental Psychology), Younasse Tarbouni and AJ Robinson (Beginning Arabic I & II), and Beth Martin and Miranda Rectenwald (A Sense of Place: Discovering the Environment of St. Louis). The teams worked to meet course objectives that included information literacy skills, such as improving student expertise in finding and evaluating information, synthesizing information, and verifying sources and claims. They completed daily assignments, gave presentations, offered feedback, and discussed strategies for embedding librarians into upcoming courses.

AUGUST The University Libraries and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement co-sponsored the Faculty and Librarian Information Literacy Learning Community. Find out more in the story above.

Textbook Central—a fun, hackathon-inspired event— took place in John M. Olin Library, giving students the chance to search for textbooks in library collections before the semester started.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Facilitating Faculty Projects GIS librarian Dorris Scott and GIS analyst Bill Winston, both members of the University Libraries’ Data Services unit, provided technical support for the Racial Violence Archive (RVA), a collaborative project spearheaded by Geoff Ward, associate chair of Washington University’s Department of African and African-American Studies. An interactive digital research tool, the RVA uses geographic information systems (GIS) to explore the history and legacies of racial violence in the southern United States during the 20th century.

ABOVE | Image from the Racial Violence Archive: Lynchings by

states and counties in the United States, 1900-1931(data from Research Department, Tuskegee Institute), Library of Congress Geography and Map Division

The project started more than a decade ago, with an initial focus on racial violence and its legacies in Mississippi. As Ward became more deeply involved with the initiative, he decided to approach the work in a way that would be visible and interactive and was inspired to use digital mapping. “The relationship between race and place is so profound that you can’t really understand race, racism, racial inequality, and the challenges of racial justice without being engaged with the dynamics of place,” he says. Ward feels the use of interactive maps and the visualization of data gives users a unique perspective on history and helps them better understand and analyze the information at hand. “We remain literally haunted by these histories of racial violence, and those

SEP TEMBER The Film & Media Archive received a National Film Preservation Foundation Basic Preservation Grant of $4,960 to preserve and digitize the film Listen to a Stranger: An Interview with Gordon Parks (1973).

The University Libraries hosted “Looking Back to the Movement,” a celebration of the seminal civil rights documentary series Eyes on the Prize and the National Endowment for the Humanities grant to digitize the interviews conducted for the second half of the series.

“Graphic Thinking: A Panel on Data Visualization” took place in John M. Olin Library. The discussion was held in conjunction with Charting History: Data Visualization Through the Years, an exhibit on display in the Thomas Gallery of Olin that focused on the history and future of data visualization.

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The relationship between race and place is so profound that you can’t really understand race, racism, racial inequality, and the challenges of racial justice without being engaged with the dynamics of place. G E O F F W A R D, A S S O C I AT E C H A I R O F W A S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S D E PA R T M E N T O F A F R I C A N A N D AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES

hauntings are pronounced in particular places,” Ward says. “I want people to think about what we might do collectively to address that, and I think that a map is a very valuable way to do that.” Ward’s spring 2020 exhibit Truths and Reckonings: The Art of Transformative Racial Justice at the Kemper Art Museum featured items from the Kemper’s collections as well as materials from the University Libraries, including the Documenting Ferguson digital archive and Thomas Nast’s 1864 political cartoon “Compromise with the South.” The exhibit examined the significance of artworks and art spaces in addressing the histories and legacies of racial violence. CLOCK WISE FROM TOP | Geoff Ward (photo by Sean

Garcia/Washington University); Racial Violence Archive materials: A Red Record, pamphlet documenting lynchings in the U.S., by journalist-activist Ida B. Wells; image from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1903.

Library staff members Amanda Albert and Melissa Vetter taught a workshop entitled “Fake News, Propaganda, and Misinformation: Learning to Critically Evaluate Media Sources.” Open to the library community, the workshop showed attendees how to spot “fake news” and effectively evaluate information.

A companion exhibit, Truths and Reckonings: The Books Arts of Transformative Racial Justice, was also on view in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections in Olin Library. Ward designed the exhibit as a pop-up memorial museum, using artwork, illustrations, and other materials from Special Collections to commemorate legacies of racial violence. He co-curated the exhibit with University Libraries staff members Miranda Rectenwald, curator of Local History, and Jessi Cerutti, exhibitions manager.

Momentum: Bridging Past, Present, and Future, an exhibition honoring the inauguration of Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, opened in John M. Olin Library. The exhibit focused on the inauguration’s theme of momentum, as well as Washington University history.

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Heidi Aronson Kolk, assistant professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts: Taking Possession: The Politics of Memory in a St. Louis Town House

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Events & Activities

Everyone’s Invited Our roster of special events included something for everyone in 2019–2020. From poetry readings and live theater to exhibits, film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions, the wide range of happenings allowed us to collaborate with campus partners and engage with the broader community.

Washington University paid tribute to the life and work of Samuel Beckett with a fall colloquium entitled “What Is the Word: Celebrating Samuel Beckett” that included presentations, readings, and performances by faculty, students, and visiting scholars. The program took place November 8–9, 2019, and was cosponsored by the Washington University Libraries, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, the College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of English, the Center for Humanities, and the Performing Arts Department. S A M U E L B EC K E T T | N OV 8 - 9

Photo by Julie Singer

Trial proof of line etching by Avigdor Arikha, 1970, from the Samuel Beckett Papers.

OC TOBER As part of LGBTQ+ history month, the University Libraries presented the program “LGBTQ+ History at WashU,” an exploration of LGBTQ+ history on campus. Curator of Local History Miranda Rectenwald gave a brief presentation.

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Poet Kevin McFadden and Jeff Pike, professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts: City of Dante

“Open Access @ WashU: Why Here? Why Now?”— a forum and roundtable discussion sponsored by the University Libraries— gave attendees a chance to share their experiences with making research and scholarly works more accessible.

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Adia Harvey Wingfield, professor of sociology: Flatlining: Race, Work, and Health Care in the New Economy

FO U R H U N D R E D Y E A R S FO R W A R D : FR E E D O M I N O U R T I M E | N OV 10

On November 10, 2019, in partnership with Blacks in America: 400 Years Plus, the University Libraries’ Mary Curtis Horowitz Lecture for Civic Engagement and Social Policy sponsored “Four Hundred Years Forward: Freedom in Our Time.” Karine Jean-Pierre, NBC & MSNBC political analyst, delivered the program’s keynote speech. The event, which took place in Graham Chapel, also featured Kenneth J. Cooper, senior editor of WGBH News, the Normandy High School Chorale, and Better Family Life’s K.Y.P.E. dance troupe. It was the third and final offering in the Horowitz Lecture Series, which focused on topics related to civil rights and social policy.

AC LU | JA N 1 2

Photo by Michael B. Thomas

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri (ACLU-MO) commemorated its centennial with an afternoon of activities at John M. Olin Library on January 12, 2020. The Washington University Libraries and the ACLU-MO partnered on the family-friendly event, which included the opening of the exhibit Liberty and Justice for All: ACLU of Missouri, 19202020. More than 250 people attended the celebration.

Photos by Jeannie Liautaud Photography

NOV EMBER One hundred and forty-six people from across the country attended Samvera Connect, a conference hosted by the University Libraries focusing on the open-source platform Samvera, which libraries and other institutions use to host digital repositories.

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Jonathan Fenderson, assistant professor of African and AfricanAmerican Studies: Building the Black Arts Movement: Hoyt Fuller and the Cultural Politics of the 1960s

Two free bookmaking sessions were held in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections. Participants viewed materials from the collections and learned how to create an accordion-bound book.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Collections

Archival Collections Inspire Students & Scholars

The distinctive archival materials in the University Libraries’ Julian Edison Department of Special Collections support the academic goals of Washington University students and faculty and attract scholars from around the world. Visitors to Special Collections have the chance to interact in person with these rare primary and source materials, while researchers off campus can connect with the department’s digital collections and exhibits. The acquisitions featured here were recently procured by units within the department.

LEF T | Illustration for Liberty magazine,

circa 1930, by John Held Jr.

D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library The John Held Jr. Collection includes works of art, ephemera, books, and personal items from the estate of John Held’s fourth wife, Maggie. Held (1889–1958) was prolific in many fields and had a significant role in the development of twentieth-century cartooning, illustration, fine art, and fiction writing. Covering every aspect of his career, the collection is a noteworthy addition to the University Libraries’ current John Held, Jr. Collection.

Reasons for Rejoicing About Theater, an illustration by Al Hirschfeld, appeared in Collier’s magazine in 1956. The portrait features Betsy von Furstenberg in The Chalk Garden, Andy Griffith in No Time for Sergeants, Burl Ives in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Ruth Gordon in The Matchmaker. Hirschfeld (1903–2003) was an American caricaturist best known for his black-and-white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars. The Yoe Teaching Collection consists of original comic and cartoon art, books, periodicals and ephemera amassed by Craig Yoe, an author and cartoon-art scholar. Yoe has served as the creative director, vice president, and general manager of the Muppets for Jim Henson and as a creative director for Nickelodeon and Disney. With his wife, Clizia Gussoni, he has created nearly 100 award-winning books on comics history. The Yoe Teaching Collection emphasizes iconic pieces that tell the story of the history of comics and their creators.

WashU Libraries Book Club discussion: The Alchemist’s Daughter by Katherine McMahon

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Professor Emerita of Anthropology Gayle J. Fritz: Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland The University Libraries participated in the 2019 St. Louis International Film Festival. Presented as part of the Henry Hampton Film Series, The Apollo—a chronicle of the history and legacy of New York City’s landmark Apollo Theater—was screened in Brown Hall. At Webster University, the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra accompanied the silent films Sherlock Jr. and Won by a Sweet, a film preserved by the Film & Media Archive.

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During Geography Awareness Week (November 10–16), a popup exhibit of the Racial Violence Archive—a collaborative project spearheaded by Geoff Ward, associate chair of Washington University’s Department of African and African-American Studies—was on display in John M. Olin Library. See p. 4 for more information on the Racial Violence Archive.

LEF T TO RIGHT

Lee Kissman in Tom Sankey’s My Daddy Is Dying at Theater Genesis, 1965; letter from Sam Shepard to Lee Kissman.

Modern Literature Collection/Manuscripts The Pearl Archive consists of editorial materials for the literary magazine Pearl (1975-1993). The collection features correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts, galleys, paste-ups, and more. Additional correspondence between Pearl editor Gregory Stephenson and writers Kay Boyle, Maurice Girodias, Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Denise Levertov, Archibald MacLeish, and others is also part of the archive. Manuscripts also acquired the Lee Kissman Alternative Theater Collection. An actor, director, and playwright, Lee Kissman was a founding member of the Theater Genesis troupe, which premiered Sam Shepard’s first two plays, Cowboys and The Rock Garden, in 1964. Kissman appeared in the latter, and in several other Shepard plays for Theater Genesis in the late 1960s and early 70s. Over the course of his career, Kissman won multiple Drama-Logue and L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, including a 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, and amassed a wealth of ephemera. The materials can be found in the Kissman Collection, which includes rare items such as a mimeographed script of Shepard’s Cowboys—the only known extant typescript of the play. The collection was acquired from Kissman and is part of the University Libraries’ Modern Literature Collection.

Rare Books The Pat Heidenheimer Archive includes artist books as well as archival materials. A native of Sydney, Australia, Pat Heidenheimer (1929–2016) studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art. She earned a doctorate in developmental psychology from Washington University, where her husband, Arnold Heidenheimer, was a professor of political science. She taught at Washington University and in St. Louis for a number of years.

Heidenheimer had a rich artistic career that focused on printmaking and artist books. Her limited-edition artist books include The Hollow Men: Epitaph for the 20th Century, published in 2000 and inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot. The Katydid Press Archive documents the private art press founded by John Lehman in 1950. Lehman himself designed and printed limited-edition books through the press. The archive includes unique illustrations, wood blocks, ephemera, articles, and correspondence. It gives insights into mid-twentieth century fine press production and complements the University Libraries’ Triple Crown Collection and Eric Gill Collection. Four Emergent Forms is a collaboration between contemporary book artist Thorsten Dennerline and dancer Susan Sgorbati. The work consists of four books in one, each of which shows movement in a different way.

A selection of books published by the Katydid Press

University Archives and Local History University Archives is now acquiring materials for the collection Office of the Chancellor: Andrew Martin Records, as well as for the Commencement Collection, which consists of materials related to the university’s recognition ceremonies. University Archives also started the Washington University in St. Louis COVID-19 Collection to capture the university’s response to the pandemic. Other new University Archive acquisitions include the Office of the Chancellor: Mark Wrighton Records, which features correspondence, reports, and other administrative files.

Film & Media Archive The Film & Media Archive acquired new materials for the Paradigm Productions Collection related to the documentary The Fight in the Fields: César Chávez and the Farmworkers’ Struggle. The acquisition includes original camera footage, the stock footage used in the documentary, related photographs, papers, and other production materials.

DECEMBER

JA NUA RY Students were invited to take time out from prepping for finals and enjoy free refreshments. In Olin Library, two “Keep Calm and Take a Study Break” events took place, with complimentary candy and snacks. The Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library and the Kemper Art Museum also co-sponsored the Kemper Kickback, an art-filled study break with snacks, activities, and more.

Students in need of assistance with end-of-thesemester projects had the opportunity to meet with staff from the Writing Center and the University Libraries during the Fall Write-In.

2020

Several new exhibitions opened in the gallery spaces of John M. Olin Library. See p. 10 for an overview.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Exhibitions In January 2020, with the start of the spring semester, several new exhibits opened in Olin, drawing visitors from on and off campus. All exhibits were free and open to the public.

New Exhibits Fill Gallery Spaces The vibrant gallery spaces in John M. Olin Library provide the University Libraries with opportunities to share distinctive materials from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections and other library units. Two exhibit areas—the Thomas Gallery and the Newman Tower of Collections and Exploration—often showcase exhibits from Washington University faculty members. Students also have the chance to curate and organize exhibits in the spaces.

Elevation: The Architecture of Phil Durham On display in the Thomas Gallery on Level 1 of Olin Library, Elevation celebrated WashU alumnus and architect Phil Durham, who died in 2018. It featured architectural models, drawings, books, and photographs from the University Libraries’ Phil Durham Collection. [A] It’s Complicated: Documents of Love Items related to love drawn from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections, including romantic comics, dance cards, ephemera from local dances, and WashU events were presented in this exhibit in Olin Library’s Ginkgo Room. [B]

FEBRUA RY WashU Libraries Book Club discussion: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

The Film & Media Archive successfully completed the preservation and digitization of the film Listen to a Stranger: An Interview with Gordon Parks (1973). The project was completed with the support of a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

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The University Libraries sponsored a free Passport Photo Drive for students. Attendees got their photos taken and learned about the process of applying for a U.S. passport.

Liberty and Justice for All: ACLU of Missouri, 1920–2020 Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Missouri, Liberty and Justice for All—on view in the Thomas Gallery—highlighted materials from the archives of ACLU-MO, which are housed at the University Libraries. Worlds of Imagination On display in the Newman Tower on Level 1 of Olin Library, Worlds of Imagination focused on themes of youth and playfulness and showcased board games, books, and other memorabilia from Special Collections. [C]

The Life and Legacy of a Himalayan Buddhist Master: Pema Döndrub (1668-1744) This exhibit documented the research conducted by Washington University anthropology professor Geoff Childs at an ethnically Tibetan archive in Nepal. Located in Olin Library’s Kagan Grand Staircase, the exhibit traced the legacy of a Buddhist lama from Nubri. [D] Kid Collector: Artifacts from Growing Up in the ’90s On display in the Collect-O-Rama table in Risa’s Landing, Kid Collector highlighted the collection of Associate University Librarian Nadia Ghasedi, who amassed an assortment of toys, games, and cultural artifacts throughout the 1990s. [E]

This year, thanks to a 2017 grant from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission, the Washington University Libraries completed the project “River Styx: Liberating the Spoken Word,” which provides complete access for the first time to recorded performances by hundreds of poets and other writers who appeared in St. Louis from 1969–2008. Internationally known writers are represented, as well as talented newcomers and rarely heard literary legends: repository.wustl.edu/spotlight/ river-styx

“Love and Libraries”— co-sponsored by the University Libraries and the Habif Health and Wellness Center— gave students a chance to learn about library resources while enjoying Valentine’s Day-themed activities and refreshments.

Xiao-Li Meng, editor-in-chief of Harvard Data Science Review and professor of statistics at Harvard University, gave a talk in Olin Library during Love Data Week. Organized by the University Libraries’ Data Services unit and open to the university community, Love Data Week featured free workshops and discussions on data science.

Students learned how to find affordable textbooks and course materials using library databases at the University Libraries’ “Be Textbook Savvy” event.

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Rebecca Lester, associate professor of sociocultural anthropology: Famished: Eating Disorders and Failed Care in America

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Adapting During the COVID-19 Crisis

Transformative Times The ability to evolve and transform in the face of rapid change is part of what defines the University Libraries. This quality proved to be indispensable in spring 2020, as COVID-19 grew into a large-scale public health crisis, and academic instruction at Washington University moved online. Library personnel adjusted quickly. Working from home, they shifted into virtual-service mode. They reached out to students and faculty with messages of support and connected them with online resources for teaching and research. Some virtual services are highlighted here.

M A RCH Washington University transitioned to online instruction due to COVID-19. University Libraries staff members began working remotely. To help protect the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff, most physical library locations at the university, including John M. Olin Library, closed. Throughout this time of transition, the University Libraries worked to support the university community, providing online research and instruction support for students and faculty and encouraging users to take advantage of remote services and digital materials.

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Reference Help and Librarian Consultations Subject librarians from the Research Services unit established online chat hours to help users and provided consultations by phone, email, or videoconference. Data Services staff assisted remotely with questions related to data management and geographic information systems. They set up designated virtual help desk hours and were available for one-on-one consultations via videoconference. Additionally, curators in the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections assisted users with accessing materials online.

Online Materials and Tools The University Libraries provided Washington University faculty, students, and staff with access to millions of ebooks and hundreds of databases offering a wealth of archival and scholarly materials. The University Libraries also connected users with BrowZine and LibKey Nomad, two helpful tools that facilitate the search for ejournals and articles. Another valuable resource—Washington University’s Open Scholarship repository, which is supported by the University Libraries’ Digital Library Services unit—provided free access to the scholarly output of faculty, staff, and students from the university.

A PRIL When in-person gatherings were no longer possible due to COVID-19, library staff transitioned to the world of Zoom and began holding events online. The WashU Libraries Book Club went virtual with a Zoom discussion of Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.

The winners of the University Libraries’ 33rd annual Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition were announced. Check out the full story on page 13.

Outreach

Supporting—and Rewarding—Students Up-and-Coming Essayists Win Cash in University Libraries’ Annual Contest

Matt Weinstock

Joe Gutierrez

Sydney Weiss

Tian Geng

The winners of the University Libraries’ 33rd annual Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition were announced in April. Showcasing the book collections and writing expertise of the university’s students, the competition is supported by the $1 million endowment Washington University alumnus Carl Neureuther made to the university in 1987. The competition is open to any full-time Washington University student who loves collecting books. Eligible students submit a two- to four-page essay about their book collections. Entries are accepted in early January through the end of February each year, and the winners are announced each spring. Four cash awards are offered: $1,000 and $500 at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The contest gives bibliophiles a chance to reflect on subject preferences, the joys of reading, and the personal associations bound up with the volumes on their bookshelves. From the adventures of Dr. Who and the works of Gertrude Stein to topics like opera, fractal geometry, and jazz photography, the collections of past winners are a testament to the idiosyncratic nature of the personal library.

M AY Connecting Contexts: The Modern Literature Collection and The Letters of Samuel Beckett, a new digital exhibit featuring materials from the University Libraries’ Modern Literature Collection, went live on the University Libraries’ website. The exhibit also features content provided by Lois Overbeck, co-editor of The Letters of Samuel Beckett.

The judges, who are volunteers from the university faculty and community, take a number of factors into account when assessing the essays, including the scope of each collection, its thematic unity, and its personal value to the collector. Along with the essay contest, Neureuther’s contribution makes possible the Libraries’ Neureuther Speaker Series and the Carl Neureuther Endowed Book Fund. Neureuther hoped the essay contest would inspire students to build personal libraries and read for pleasure. This year, Matt Weinstock, who is pursuing an MFA in fiction writing, won the top prize in the graduate category for the essay “Party-Bottom Paperbacks: Cruising Used Bookstores in Search of Queer History.” Joe Gutierrez, who is working on an MFA in poetry, came in second with “Grief Work: I’m Almost Ready to Feel Better.” In the undergraduate category, Sydney Weiss, a freshman majoring in psychology, took first place for the essay “Page to Stage: A Roadmap to Comedic Playwriting.” Tian Geng, a junior who is majoring in philosophy-neuroscience-psychology, won second place for “Birds of a Feather.”

JUNE The spring 2020 issue of University Libraries’ magazine Off the Shelf was published online for students, faculty, staff and the university community.

Washington University embarked upon Phase 1 of an extended plan to gradually return faculty and staff to campus. As part of Phase 1, the University Libraries began offering a curbside pickup service of materials for the library community.

Curator of Rare Books Cassie Brand talked about gender roles and sex in relation to book collecting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in her virtual lecture “Bound in Tight Leather: Sex and Gender in Book Collecting.”

WashU Libraries Book Club virtual discussion: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

COVID-19 Response

Remote Work Becomes Routine Many Washington University Libraries staff members entered uncharted territory when they began working remotely due to COVID-19. But that didn’t stop them from using their expertise and energy to find new ways of supporting the Washington University community during an unprecedented time of online instruction. University Libraries personnel have learned to make the remote service model work successfully—for themselves and for students, faculty, and scholars near and far. They’re involved in a wide range of projects, from creating research guides and gathering metadata for library collections to engaging in remote instruction. Below, staff members describe how they’ve adapted as telecommuters and as virtual stewards of the University Libraries.

Lauren Todd

Jason Bengtson

SUBJECT AND INSTRUCTION LIBR ARIAN–ENGINEERING

HE AD OF LIBR ARY TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

When the COVID-19 crisis hit, the engineering faculty members and I were able to quickly strategize for University Libraries’ involvement with their online classes. For some classes, I posted an updated announcement with quick-access links to resources. For other classes, I continued as normal, with an understanding that we’re going to be flexible and accommodating to students. Since I didn’t get to teach two library/ information literacy technical writing sections,

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I worked with the instructors to create a simple self-paced Canvas module of library resources. Students completed the modules, surveys, and discussion boards for attendance points. They all did an amazing job. I join in the Engineering Communication Center’s weekly Zoom meetings, and it’s so heartening to connect with them and to all work together for our students.

The members of Washington University Libraries’ Technology Services unit have been working hard to support our staff and patrons during this crisis. We’ve supplied laptops, network access, and even Internet access to staff members who needed them, so that they can work remotely. We’re also focusing on supporting the many platforms used by the University Libraries. This has been challenging, as we recently finished a migration of nearly every library resource to a new home with WashU IT. So we’ve been supporting staff and platforms while simultaneously fixing the inevitable problems that have been arising from the earlier migrations. We’ve also been helping with the University Libraries’ public facing efforts.

The home offices of University Libraries staff members Jim Hone (below), Joel Minor (below left), and Alison Verbeck (below right).

Jim Hone

Bill Winston

FILM AND MEDIA DIGITAL ARCHIVIST

GIS ANALYST

In 2019, the University Libraries were awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize, reassemble, and make accessible more than 180 filmed interviews from the second series of Eyes on the Prize, the seminal television documentary program about the civil rights movement created by Washington University alumnus Henry Hampton. When the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact St. Louis, I was preparing to receive a new batch

of interviews from our vendor-partner, Preserve South, based in Atlanta. The equipment needed to complete this undertaking is powerful, calibrated, and expensive. I’m grateful that the administration of the University Libraries allowed me to remove key components of this equipment from my campus digital workstation and integrate them into my home studio. I was able to combine the components with equipment of my own, and I hope to keep our NEH grant on track.

I recently led a workshop on Zoom for the Anthropology 360 course “Placemaking St. Louis.” The workshop focused on using the ESRI StoryMap platform to create a webpage containing text, images, and interactive maps. The course is taught by Andrea Murray. Five students participated in the Zoom workshop (along with Professor Murray), and I thought it went well. The students followed the material and asked questions, and I got the sense that they were working along with me. The workshop was less interactive than a normal live session. But this type of workshop is probably easier to transition to virtual teaching, since it involves actual webpage development. Storymapping tends to spark the students’ creative interests, and they usually pick it up pretty quickly.

University Libraries staff members have been conducting instruction sessions and classes via Zoom.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Washington University Librariesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Strategic Progress

fter incorporating valuable feedback from Washington University faculty, students, staff, and other stakeholders, the University Libraries launched a new Strategic Plan on July 1, 2019. The plan will serve as a guide for the organization through 2024. It includes a

revised mission statement, a set of updated organizational principles, and six strategic priorities, which are supported by goals and action-oriented, measurable objectives.

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Library staff have been focusing on the following priorities—and have fulfilled a number of the plan’s objectives, including those listed here.

PRIORITIES

COLLECTIONS

ENVIRONMENTS

DISCOVERY

VISIBILIT Y

PARTNERSHIPS

INNOVATION

COMPLETED OBJECTIVES

Streamlining the ordering of library materials and the payment process to improve efficiency and delivery time for users.

Establishing a strategic communications plan for producing campaigns and materials that raise awareness of our resources and that better engage students, faculty, staff, and the community.

3.c.ii

Producing a cohesive system of library branding with flexible guidelines and templates to support a unified, vibrant identity across the Washington University Libraries.

4.b.i

Pursuing strategic partnerships on campus and in the community, assessing current collaborations, and conducting outreach to ensure that these efforts align with the University Libraries’ goals.

4.c.i

5.b.i

Photo by Whitney Curtis Photography

PROGRESS BY OBJECTIVE | STATUS

OB JEC TIVE STATUS

Completed

Delayed

On Track

To Be Launched

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Washington University Libraries

Snapshot

Chemistry Library

East Asian Library

3,009 36 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 63 Volumes 45,916

Gaylord Music Library

Square footage

User seats

7,954 116 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 78 Volumes 140,214

User seats

DANFORTH C AMPUS

7,879 68 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 69 Volumes 175,122

DANFORTH C AMPUS

[WU]

Al and Ruth Kopolow

Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg

(Business) Library

Art & Architecture Library

Square footage

User seats

10,706 293 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 89 Volumes 26,086

User seats

Library Totals*

Law Library Square footage

9,283 79 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 72 Volumes 128,679

DANFORTH C AMPUS

[WU]

DANFORTH C AMPUS

49,565 534 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 90 Volumes 775,122 User seats

DANFORTH C AMPUS

Square footage

User seats

Hours open per week (fall & spring semesters)

247,184

2,607

741.5 All photos by Whitney Curtis Photography unless noted. [WU] = Photo courtesy of Washington University Libraries

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Washington University Libraries system is comprised of 12 libraries: John M. Olin Library and nine distributed libraries

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Libraries were closed from March 23 through the end of the fiscal year 2020, directly affecting access to physical collections and on-site services.

on the Danforth Campus, the Bernard Becker Medical Library at the Medical School Campus, and one at West Campus.

John M. Olin Library

Gustavus A. Pfeiffer

Ronald Rettner Earth &

Square footage

Physics Library

Planetary Sciences Library

Square footage

User seats

157,803 User seats 1,383 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 168 Volumes 2,063,021

6,156 72 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 53 Volumes 53,434

DANFORTH C AMPUS

[WU]

West Campus Library

Bernard Becker Medical Library †

& Conference Center

Square footage

56,519 0 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 0 Volumes all location counts include User seats

Brown School Library† n/a

239,445

4,526 64 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 64 Volumes 61,086

MEDIC AL C AMPUS

DANFORTH C AMPUS

User seats n/a Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 96.5 Volumes

3,314 26 Hours open per wk (fall & spring semesters) 62 Volumes 106,709

Square footage User seats

West Campus Holdings

WEST C AMPUS

Total Volumes *

3,514,333

* Except Bernard Becker Medical and Brown School † O ther Washington University libraries share some resources and services with the rest of the Libraries network but are administratively connected to their respective school or department.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

Photo by Whitney Curtis

2019-20

By the Numbers Pivoting to Meet User Needs In March 2020, the Washington University Libraries entered alternate operations, with staff telecommuting, and all library locations closed. The University Libraries worked to give users remote access to collections and provide virtual research and instruction support.

The data shown here reflects collections and research support activity from March through June, comparing 2019 and 2020.

COVID-19 Response

2019

2020

Maintaining access to our collections

Total eBooks Purchased

2019

2020

% CHANGE

249

845

239.4%

91,791 150,941

EZ Proxy (Off-Campus Access)

eBooks purchased

64.4%

500 400 300

Research interactions & support

Individual Interactions

COMBINED VIRTUAL TR ANSACTIONS / REFERENCE CONSULTATIONS

200

2019

2020

% CHANGE

805

2,248

179.3%

0 MAR

Chats

578 648 12.1%

Tickets/Emails

691 1,169 69.2%

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

100

APR

2019

MAY

2020

JUN

Collections (Titles) 2,026,540 Print journals 66,529 E-books (some titles may be duplicated within print books) 2,154,381 E-journals 196,099 Databases 979 Print books

Other formats (Audio-visual materials, manuscripts, maps, microfilm, photographs, etc.)

1,049,818

TOTAL RESEARCH COLLECTION BASE 5,494,346

Expenditures Two Views of FY20 Expenditures (Includes fringe benefits)

ALL LIBRARIES EXCEPT BECKER MEDICAL & BROWN SCHOOL LIBRARY Operations $10,361,242

Personnel $11,890,695

Circulation & Usage Initial physical circulations E-books viewed/used E-journals viewed/used Repository downloads

88,813 306,778 6,290,233 1,747,357

Collections $10,730,133

Inter-Institutional Collaboration Items loaned Items borrowed

27,055 27,859 ALL LIBRARIES INCLUDING BECKER MEDICAL & BROWN SCHOOL LIBRARY

Library Services Reference (in person and virtual) Instructional sessions Instruction # of participants Events sessions Event # of participants Faculty & staff campus box deliveries

Total FY20 Expenditures $32,982,070

34,687 1,256 16,684 120 4,620 4,278

Operations $10,754,143

Personnel $15,329,336

Total FY20 Expenditures $41,972,632

Online Social media followers Website views (entire library site)

4,465 2,619,720

Collections $15,889,153

People Total full-time staff

196

Total gate count (includes Olin, Art &Architecture, East Asian and Brown School Libraries) 705,983

Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Investment Index ranking

ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20

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WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES