Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library

When Savannah Chruszcz took on a project to research the Georgia Museum of Natural History, she knew that it would take a lot of time and focus. But with help from UGA librarians and archivists, she figured out how to make the work interesting and rewarding… and in the end, she earned a cash prize for her efforts.

The second year history and geology major earned an honorable mention in the 2024 Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards this month.

“I learned that I just have to have a lot of patience because sometimes a document will have a treasure trove of information, sometimes not, but there will always be something else to look into,” she said. “Research is a very long, tedious process, but a rewarding and fulfilling one.”

The University of Georgia Libraries have sponsored the Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards each year since 2007 as a way to connect students with resources, faculty, and librarians as they pursue projects of their choosing.

A University of Georgia doctoral student will focus on stories of Athens’ diverse communities this summer during the inaugural term of the Hargrett Library Fellowship in Local History.

Theodora “Tedi” Light, an Athens native who is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in history at UGA, will help grow and increase public access to the Athens African American Oral History Initiative during her fellowship, a new opportunity available thanks to a donor to the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Story from our partners at the College of Family and Consumer Sciences 

The University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries will host a Native college president and a lauded Black history professor during Women’s History Month this March.

First, Dr. Sandra Boham, president of Salish Kootenai College and an accomplished leader in American Indian higher education, will present the annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture in honor of the nation’s first women in Congress. The free event will be held Wednesday March 13 at 3 p.m. and is sponsored by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

In the 21^st century, libraries don’t just store information on shelves — they also use servers. UGA Libraries recently reached a major milestone in its digital preservation of unique materials, eclipsing 1 petabyte of storage in its ARCHive.

Three UGA professors have been named the inaugural recipients of UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards for Innovation in the Humanities. The seed grants, totaling $8,600, will kick-start projects aimed at creating educational materials and a podcast or documentary drawing upon archival materials from UGA’s Special Collections Libraries.

UGA Special Collections Libraries were highlighted as part of the Georgia Association of Museums Conference, held in Athens this January.

In addition to several workshops and tours hosted by our archivists, the conference featured Ryan Lewis, the Georgia Music Exhibit Coordinator for the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, as the keynote speaker for the event. 

The University of Georgia Libraries are pleased to announce the naming of three new leaders who join University Librarian and Associate Provost Toby Graham in providing direction-setting and oversight for the libraries.

Newest to UGA is Sara Wright who started her role as Associate University Librarian for Learning Services and Academic Engagement in January. Wright formerly served as director of Cornell University’s Mann & Science Cluster Libraries, and her career at Cornell included stints as Academic Technology Librarian; Head of User Services and Engagement; and Head of Learning, Spaces, and Technology.

Part history lesson, part ecological treasure trove, a new exhibit on display at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries explores the marine lives of coral and the expeditions and efforts to document the curious creatures over centuries, from Darwin to modern day.

The University of Georgia Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Learning invite full-time UGA faculty from all disciplines to apply to participate in the 2024 Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellows program. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m., January 16, 2024.

Now in its tenth year, the program brings together a select group of UGA faculty to explore archives-based learning as a high-impact active learning practice through intensive workshops with specialists from the University’s three special collections units and representatives from the Center for Teaching and Learning. Seventy-five faculty from across campus have completed the program.