Library News

Beginning Saturday, May 17, the library hours will be:

• Monday through Thursday, 8am to 4:30pm
• Friday, 8am to 12:30pm
• Saturday & Sunday, closed

We will also be closed for the following holidays

• Monday, May 26 - Memorial Day
• Thursday, June 19 - Juneteenth Day
• Friday, July 4 - Independence Day

Reminder: All of our online resources are always available 24/7 through the library website.

From Andrew Holbrook,
Operations and Archives Librarian

When Edgewood College officially becomes Edgewood University on July 1st, more is changing than just a name.

Some of these changes are already well underway and, in fact, started decades ago. For example, the term “university” will more accurately reflect the ongoing growth of our graduate programs as well as our increasingly international student body.

Other changes will be brand new — and will touch every aspect of the school’s brand, visual as well as verbal. The official school seal will be updated as will our logo, color palette, and fonts. The new identity will appear everywhere from stickers to street signs, from pencils to pennants, from sweatshirts to stationery.

This summer won’t be the first time we have changed our name. In fact, Edgewood University will be at least the fifth different identity in the first century of our campus. And we’re not alone. Between 1992 and 2001, nearly 800 higher ed institutions changed their names — almost one-fifth of all colleges and universities in the country. From 2001 to 2016, almost 25% of four-year “colleges” became “universities.”

Part 1 of our “What’s in a Name?” exhibit explores reasons why educational institutions change their names, looks back at Edgewood College’s own history with name changes, and bids a fond farewell to soon-to-be-vintage souvenirs and swag.

Part 2 (coming late summer) will offer a first look at new Edgewood University merch and delve deeper into the complex, months-long process that made the redesign possible.

Bring your mug

For some free coffee, tea, and the occasional treat to help you through all the studying and work you need to do during these last two weeks of the semester.

We'll start brewing on Monday, May 5.

Need help with your final projects?

Library staff is here if you're struggling with end of the semester projects.  We can help with:

• Research or citation help from librarians
• Assistance from course coaches in the Learning Lab (open through May 9)
• Help with your papers from coaches at the Writing Center (open through May 9)

You've almost made it! Best of luck with exams & final projects!

Come to the library for a fun night of studying with Course Coaches, treats, prizes, and pizza of course!

Thursday, May 1st

4:00-7:00pm

Sponsored by: the Writing Center, Learning Lab, OSi, and the library.

End of the semester stressing you out? Therapy dogs will be here:

Wednesday, April 30

5:00pm to 7:00pm 

Testing Center 
(lower level of the library)

Come pet some dogs to lower your stress levels. While you're there, learn about the Testing Center and what it has to offer!

From Library Director, Nathan Dowd.

James: A Novel by Percival Everett is a thought-provoking and poignant novel that explores the complexities of identity, race, and the human experience through the lens of a character named James. They novel is loosely based on Jim from Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The story follows him as he attempts to escape enslavement, marked by a sense of alienation and the weight of historical and personal traumas. It does an excellent job of presenting themes such as passing and linguistic representations of people of color in literary and historical fiction.

For fans of graphic novels, Big Jim and the White Boy by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson also offers a reimagining of the Mark Twian’s character Jim, and is the 2025 winner of the American Library Association’s Alex Award - Best Graphic Novel Of The Year.

Both books are available in the library and can be found in our Relax & Read collection near the front desk.

From Jonathan Bloy
Libarian, Head of Digital Initiatives

To honor Women's History Month, we've added some new interviews to our Women of Edgewood College oral history collection:

• Kathleen Kelm
  Computer Science faculty from 1998 to 2024. Video interview from December of 2024.
• Sister Priscilla Wood
  Education faculty teaching Winterim and Summer sessions over 18 years. Video interview from December of 2024.
• Sister Mary Nona McGreal
  President of Edgewood College from 1950 to 1967. Audio interview from April of 2011.
• Sister Cecilia Carey
  President of Edgewood College from 1967 to 1977. Audio interview from May of 2011.

Special thanks to the Edgewood College Office of Institutional Advancement, for sharing the above audio interviews with us!

From Andrew Holbrook,
Operations and Archives Librarian

Deep in winter, the ground may feel even more solid than usual. But the earth we walk on is not something to take for granted.

The library’s recent exhibit “Grounded: A Look at What’s Beneath Our Feet” explores the significance of what lies on — and below — the surface of the landscape. Among the items on display are a map of Madison’s lakes made more than a century ago, historical soil samples taken from our campus, and even a brightly polished square of the Edgedome’s former floor.

Ground is something to be celebrated. Think, for example, of the groundbreaking ceremonies held to launch new construction projects. Even before breaking ground on DeRicci Hall 65 years ago, the building’s designers drilled holes into the earth to analyze the strength of the site’s rocks and soil. The results of their tests determined the size of the concrete footings required to support the structure’s walls and columns.

Ground is something to be studied — by geologists, archeologists, cartographers, and other scientists. More than a century ago, civil engineering students at the University of Wisconsin surveyed Lake Monona to chart the contours of the land around and below the water. Their measurements formed the basis of a hydrographic map, which helps vessels navigate safely and guides fishers on where to cast their lines.

Ground is something sacred. Over the past three millennia, the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk and other Native nations throughout the Midwest constructed thousands of burial mounds as well as effigy mounds in the shapes of bears, birds, and other animals. Wisconsin has the highest concentration of these spiritual earthworks. Despite desecration and destruction by urban and rural settlers, Madison remains home to approximately 1,300 effigy mounds — including at least 15 around the Edgewood campus.

Fittingly, “Grounded” is located on the first, or ground, floor of the library. When you come through the main entrance, turn left toward the Learning Lab and look for our exhibit case along the wall. The display will remain on view through the spring semester, as the ground slowly begins to thaw.