Columbia University Libraries has awarded six grants to projects that intend to promote library services, enliven library spaces, and engage students and library users in fun and inventive ways. The Community Engagement Grants, which were given to staff from across the Libraries and totaled over $6,000, enable recipients to create, host, and promote programs throughout the 2024-2025 academic year.
The grants were established in 2024 to explore new, fun, and exciting opportunities for engagement with students and other users in the Libraries. All staff were invited to apply, and proposals were reviewed based on criteria including the scope and goals of the project, its intended audience, and its timeline and budget. The grant committee was staffed by Amanda Bielskas, Director of the Science, Engineering, and Social Sciences Libraries, and Tierra Wilkins Valdés, Director of Access Services.
Funded projects include:
Trick or Treat at the Libraries
Project team: Amanda Bielskas, Anne Mesquita
Description: Circulation desks offered candy to users at Halloween to create a festive and welcoming atmosphere throughout the Libraries.
Vinyl Listening Lounge
Project team: Nick Patterson, Xena Morales, student employees, and with contributions from Courtney Chartier
Description: Vinyl Listening Lounge is envisaged as a drop-in event, where people can engage with a curated selection of LP recordings from our collections and engage in communal listening. The aim of the event is to be a fun and relaxing drop-in that will allow users to experience vinyl LPs up close and personal and to build awareness of the Music & Arts Library’s extensive holdings of such recordings.
Undergraduate Library Research Awards
Project team: Ben Chiewphasa, Kae Bara Kratcha, Nickeisha Pencil, and Eamon Tewell
Description: This awards program recognizes Columbia undergraduates in the sciences, engineering, and social sciences for excellence in applying library resources and research skills to a specific assignment, project, or creative work. The program will offer undergraduates an opportunity to reflect on positive experiences with academic libraries and become informal ambassadors for the Libraries.
Performing the Library IV: The Mural Event
Project team: Nancy Friedland
Description: A new iteration of the Performing the Library event series, this program will encourage students to reflect on their connection to and experience with the Libraries through mural painting.
International Film Screening
Project team: Kristina Dy-Liacco, Kaoukab Chebaro, Gary Hausmann, and Peter Magierski
Description: A screening of an international film, selected by the Global Studies team, will engage the international community at Columbia and promote the Libraries’ international audio-visual collection.
“Welcome is a Woman: Hawai‘i in the US Imagination” – An Exhibit Curated by Caroline Mendoza, Global Thought Student Scholar
Project team: Kaoukab Chebaro, Caroline Mendoza (student), and Sarah Witte
Description: As a part of her thesis and in consultation with Libraries staff members, student Caroline Mendoza curated an exhibit on Hawaii, women, and tourism and the perception of Hawaii in the US imagination. This exhibit is an example of how the Libraries can engage with students to curate a thoughtful scholarly exhibit and create a more inclusive and welcoming space representative of the diverse Columbia community.
New Collecting Directions: Collaborative Collection Development for Avery Classics
Project team: Lena Newman
Description: This project aims to engage a group of Columbia students in the collection of rare materials for Avery Classics. Students will meet, discuss, research, and purchase a new acquisition for Avery Classics, using existing Classics acquisitions funds. If our goal is to grow the collection in ways that represent many voices from the history of architecture, then we must also draw on many voices during the actual work of collecting.