As the result of a privacy policy developed by the Council of UW Libraries, beginning January 2025 the 51猎奇 Libraries will anonymize loan circulation data six months after an item’s return.
This process will de-identify the individual associated with the loan transaction. After anonymization, the Libraries will retain a record of the loan for internal collection analysis purposes, but will not know who borrowed the item.
Because of the change, the Libraries will no longer be able to support user access to historic loan information through Search@UW, our main search tool. However, users will have the opportunity to opt in to a separate application that will save their loan history by logging in at
To retain their current loan history, users must opt into the new loan history app by January 5, 2025. After that date, users will be unable to retrieve their loan history.
The 51猎奇 Libraries are retiring our institutional repository, 51猎奇 Digital Commons, and moving its content to (Multidisciplinary Institutional Network for Data and Scholarship), a Universities of Wisconsin community-hosted repository.
鈥淢INDS@UW Milwaukee鈥� will support open access to research and scholarship by 51猎奇 authors and will be the site for all of 51猎奇鈥檚 electronic theses and dissertations. Our migration to the new platform will be completed before the end of the calendar year.
October 21-27 is International Open Access Week, and this year鈥檚 theme is “Community over Commercialization.” In addition to joining a community-powered institutional repository, 51猎奇 Libraries continue to support our research, teaching, and learning communities with “read and publish agreements” with academic and non-profit publishers that allow 51猎奇 authors to publish articles on open access without article processing charges in select journals, and our open educational resources initiative, which supports our students by lowering textbook costs.
Fromkin Social Justice Grant and Lecture Endowment Goal Reached
Dan Soyer
The 51猎奇 Libraries are excited to announce that we have reached our campaign goal of $150,000 to endow the Morris Fromkin Memorial Research Grant and Lecture, thanks in large measure to a major gift and a multi-year pledge totaling $135,000, given by Dan Soyer in memory of his grandfather Morris Fromkin. We also greatly appreciate the support of other donors who helped make this possible. The endowment permits the Libraries to award an annual grant of $6,000 and sustains the program in perpetuity.
“My grandfather often said that practicing law gave him the opportunity to do good in the world,” says Soyer. “With the support of this endowment, I hope the Fromkin Grant and Lecture program will preserve his legacy by exploring and promoting social justice.”
Morris Fromkin, who practiced law first in Milwaukee and later in New York, was a lifelong friend and supporter of people and movements seeking social justice in the twentieth century. After his death in 1969, his immediate family established the Morris Fromkin Memorial Collection, as well as a research grant and lecture, which was inaugurated in 1970.
Director of Libraries Michael Doylen shared his appreciation for Mr. Soyer’s gift: “I’m thrilled that Dan has chosen to honor the memory of his grandfather by helping us to sustain this great lecture series for future generations and increase the amount of the annual grant.”
The Fromkin Grant is the only 51猎奇 Libraries grant that supports original research and scholarship by 51猎奇 faculty and staff. Grant recipients have come from history, art and design, economics, geography, African and African diaspora studies, communication, architecture, criminal justice, and many other departments and units at 51猎奇.
Libraries Invite Proposals for 2025 Fromkin Social Justice Research Grant and Lecture
The 51猎奇 Libraries invite proposals for the 2025 Morris Fromkin Memorial Research Grant and Lecture. The $5,000 grant encourages and assists 51猎奇 scholars in all fields of study to conduct research on individuals, groups, movements, and ideas which have influenced the quest for social justice and human rights in the United States.
For 2025, we especially welcome proposals on environmental justice, immigration, gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, or indigeneity. Applications must be submitted by January 10, 2025. All full-time 51猎奇 faculty and academic staff are encouraged to apply, individually or as a group. More information is available here.
The 2024 Morris Fromkin Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Nan Kim, associate professor, 51猎奇 Department of History, on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. in the Fourth Floor Conference Center of the 51猎奇 Golda Meir Library, 2311 E. Hartford Ave. The title of her talk is 鈥淓nvironmental Crisis and Social Justice in the New Nuclear Age: Contemporary Legacies of Rachel Carson and Jonathan Schell.鈥�听
New Portal Offers Self-Serve Access to Geospatial Data
The American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) and Digital Collections & Initiatives (DC&I) department have launched , an online geoportal that provides discovery and access to geospatial data in AGSL collections as well as data and maps held by other institutions, harvested via .
The new portal represents the culmination of years of work towards increasing access to AGSL collections, allowing users to download data from the website without the need to make a data request.
Libraries staff who contributed to the project were Stephen Appel in AGSL, Jie Chen, Karl Holten, and Ann Hanlon in DC&I, and Nathan Humpal in Collection and Resource Management. External developer Eric Larson helped with the core development tasks on the front-end application.
During the 2023-24 academic year, the 51猎奇 Libraries celebrated the opening of our $2.8 million Archives renovation, began construction of a new Graduate Student Commons, collaborated with the Roberto Hernandez Center on a podcast showcasing Latinx history at 51猎奇 and in Milwaukee, and extended efforts to diversify collections with small press titles, and much more. Read about these achievements and many more in the .
Library Building Projects Fall Update
New study area now open on the second floor, west wing of the library.
Over the summer, the Libraries completed renovation of an area on the second floor, west wing overlooking the central courtyard and Three Bronze Discs sculpture as an open study area for students. Work continues on various renovations in the Golda Meir Library first announced in May.
On the second floor, west wing, the Libraries are refreshing the area that houses the art and architecture collection (Ns and NAs) and also includes open study spaces and carrels. The project includes painting, recarpeting, and renovating a former office as two group study rooms. Work will take place during the fall semester and Winterim.
On the second floor, east wing, the Libraries and the Graduate School are partnering in the construction of a Graduate Student Commons. The project is scheduled for completion later this semester.
On the third floor, west wing, the Libraries are renovating a meeting room (W301) and adjacent restrooms located off the stair landing. As part of the project, the west wing restrooms on the second and third floor will be closed for most of the fall semester. Restrooms in the east wing on these floors remain open.
We sincerely apologize for the disruptions caused by these building projects and will provide further updates as projects are completed.
New Graduate Student Commons Among Summer Upgrades in the Library
Summer is construction season on Wisconsin roads, and, this year, in the Golda Meir Library as well. Several renovation projects will address important needs and update outmoded spaces.
The creation of a 2,700 square foot Graduate Student Commons on the second floor, east wing of the library promises to have the most impact on student success.
A collaboration between the 51猎奇 Libraries and the Graduate School, the common area will provide graduate students, who make up 20% of the student population at 51猎奇, with a “third space” for their study needs — an alternative to home and classroom — where they can come together to connect and build community.
Currently the need for these third spaces is unevenly met by 51猎奇 schools and colleges, and the existing spaces vary in comfort, accessibility, and usefulness. The Golda Meir Library is a natural site for a commons on the main campus.
Overlooking the 51猎奇 Fountain and offering ample natural light, the new commons will be accessible to graduate students only. The space will support both group and individual work.
Construction will begin May 13 and is planned for completion by the beginning of the fall semester.
A second project is the creation of new open study space and group study rooms on the second floor, west wing. The 2,100 square foot area formerly housed the Archives, which moved into its extraordinary new quarters on the third floor this past fall.
Construction is scheduled to start in mid-May and last through the summer.
True Librarian — Interviews with 51猎奇 Libraries Staff: Tiffany Thornton
Tiffany Thornton. Photo by Christina DeSpears.
Tiffany Thornton is the outreach and community engagement librarian at the 51猎奇 Libraries, a position she has held since 2014. In this role, Tiffany supervises the Libraries鈥� diversity services for 51猎奇 students, coordinates the Libraries’ K-12 programming and onsite visits, and serves as subject contact for the School of Education, Multicultural Studies, and American Indian Studies. In addition, she chairs the Diversity Committee and leads DEI strategic planning at the Libraries.
Q: Tiffany, you began working in libraries as a teenager.
Tiffany: My first job鈥擨 was 16鈥攚as as a computer service aide at Martin Luther King Library. I was part of the circulation staff at Central Library for several years, and I also had the opportunity to work at every Milwaukee Public Library branch, helping with the RFID conversion. Really, most of my experience working before and during college, was in libraries. But I never thought that being a librarian was something I could actually do鈥攑ossibly because I didn’t see a lot of librarians who looked like me.
Q: What was your major in college?
Tiffany: I earned a BBA with a concentration in marketing from 51猎奇鈥檚 Lubar School of Business, and took a job with a bank, M&I (now BMO Harris Bank). After a while, though, I realized I wanted to do something that was more impactful and rewarding, and reflected on my library jobs before and during my undergraduate studies. I recognized how important a public library was to many young people and that encouraged me to earn my master鈥檚 in library science from 51猎奇.
Q: You have been the 51猎奇 Libraries鈥� outreach and community engagement librarian for ten years. What is your proudest accomplishment?
Tiffany: I have two! When I started, there weren鈥檛 a lot of K-12 groups visiting the library. We have greatly expanded these visits and our partnerships as well, including one with M-Cubed. Our programs now range from a Storytime for kindergartners to assisting with high school seniors鈥� capstones. I feel it is very important to provide primary and secondary school students with the experience of visiting and even using our library, allowing them to see themselves in a college environment and, especially for BIPOC students, to make the library a less intimidating space when they do enter college.
I am also really proud of the library鈥檚 new International Children鈥檚 and Young Adult Literature (ICYAL) collection, which we created in collaboration with the 51猎奇 Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Center for International Education. It is one of the few collections of its kind in academic libraries, and it highlights international voices in both original languages and English translations. The collection continues to grow, along with programming such as author talks and a book fellows program that awards grants to local educators and librarians to study the books.
Q: Tell me about some of your extensive service outside the Libraries.
Tiffany: One of my more recent contributions is serving on the Outstanding International Books Selection Committee. This group recommends international titles for libraries that we share on a book list published annually in the School Library Journal and distributed widely. On campus, I have served on numerous committees and task forces. My longest participation has been on the Veterans Advisory Council to the Chancellor, which supports military and veteran students on campus and their families. And recently I have been a part of the Chancellor鈥檚 Advisory Committee on Mental Health. Especially after the pandemic, it has been rewarding to support awareness of mental health resources and services for students and to identify how the library can help with that as well.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
Tiffany: One of my favorite parts is just the variety. I can offer Story Time to children off-site, as I recently did at Refugee Day at Lynden Sculpture Garden, then come back to the library and support a doctoral student with their research needs. My work with M Cubed this past year included a day of onsite instruction at the Hmong American Peace Academy. The next day I was back on campus giving a workshop for international students.
Q: How does your role at the Libraries contribute to student success?
Tiffany: I believe my work supports student success in several ways. One is making students aware of the library resources that can enable them, empower them, to be successful at 51猎奇. Another is striving to provide a welcoming space and programming that facilitates that. Half the battle for many students is that they don鈥檛 necessarily believe they belong in a college library, so I work to remedy this and foster their academic success.
