University Libraries - University of Iowa Libraries

The Eichacker-Harper family has been making Iowa history for five generations. Now, the family has been recognized with the well-deserved University of Iowa Family Spirit Award for their longstanding contributions to the university. The Libraries is fortunate to work closely with Virginia Eichacker (BS ’87, JD ’92), who is a member of the Libraries […]

The Main Library Gallery’s fall 2024 exhibition, Hawkeye Histories | Sporting Stories, uses materials from the archives to offer a fresh perspective on Iowa athletics from the 1800s to the present. The free exhibition opened to the public on Monday, Aug. 26, and was curated by Dr. Jennifer Sterling, lecturer in sport media and cultureContinue reading "For […]

What do an eagle, a donkey, an elephant, and a chicken have in common? They can all be found in the political collections of the Iowa Women’s Archives!

The University of Iowa Libraries Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio (DSPS) has launched a unique digital resource for educators, students, and community members. Health Story Hub is an open access website that offers a searchable database of stories about health, illness, and healing for teachers to use in classrooms, community groups and clinics. […]

The University of Iowa Libraries has awarded 11 OpenHawks grants for the development of open educational resources (OER). OpenHawks is a campuswide grant program  that funds faculty efforts to replace or avoid high-cost textbooks with OERs for enhanced student success. The projects, which are set to be completed in January 2026, will save UI […]

BLANCO, MANUEL (1779–1845). Flora de filipinas. Printed in Manila at the Santo Tomas press, 1837. 21 cm tall. Manuel María Blanco Ramos was born on Nov. 24, 1779, in Navianos de Alba, a small village in the province of Zamora, Spain. Blanco grew up in Spain, influenced by King Charles III’s commitment to humanism andContinue reading "19th Century […]

Did you know that everything from census data to crime statistics and patent information to cookbooks written by naval officers is available to the public because it’s government information? On June 25, 2024, the University of Iowa Libraries celebrates 140 years of making info published by a government agency accessible to the public. Depositories […]

With a $281,104 Scholarly Editions and Translations grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), researchers at the University of Iowa and Western Kentucky University collaborated to build the first-ever digital map and data table for all three volumes and 1,992 pages of Principia Mathematica—a monumental work in the philosophies of […]

It was a thrilling experience to witness the partial solar eclipse that took place in the skies above Iowa City on Monday, April 8! The eclipse-viewing event, hosted jointly by the Sciences Library and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was a huge success, with thousands of people gathering in the Sciences Library courtyard andContinue reading "The […]

When Hawkeye senior Cassandra Parsons arrived on the University of Iowa from her hometown of Williamsburg, Iowa, she knew that a student job would be a key part of her time as an undergraduate. And when Parsons, an English and creative writing major and anthropology minor, started work as a student assistant at the HardinContinue reading "Student employee […]

Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa Libraries is recognizing two milestones in May 2024: the completion of a major renovation to its fourth floor, including the John Martin Rare Book Room, and serving students, faculty, and staff for 50 years.  Construction started in October 2022 to convert the fourth floor intoContinue […]

(Exhibit curated by Damien Ihrig, curator for the John Martin Rare Book Room, and Helen Spielbauer, creative coordinator, Hardin Library) 50 years ago this fall, the University of Iowa opened the Health Sciences Library, later named in 1988 after Dr. Robert C. Hardin. A former physician and professor of internal medicine, Dr. Hardin served asContinue […]

Have you heard the news? Iowa Research Online (IRO) is new and improved! Staff at the University of Iowa Libraries have been hard at work on a new interface that goes way beyond the traditional institutional repository. We’re the first institution in the world to go live with Esploro from Ex Libris, a research informationContinue reading "Check out the […]

The University of Iowa Libraries are pleased to announce a new transformative agreement with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP), an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media in genetics and molecular biology. The agreement includes: To publish open access in CSHLP journals without paying open access fees or APCs, […]

Ramin Roshandel will never forget the first time he stepped into the University of Iowa Rita Benton Music Library. From the beginning, the PhD candidate knew that the library would become a crucial part of his time as a student of music composition pedagogy. Roshandel describes being immediately “overjoyed with the beauty of the space,”Continue reading […]

Are you looking for a way to enhance your teaching, save your students money, and contribute to the global knowledge commons? If so, consider applying for the OpenHawks grant program at the University of Iowa.  Over the last several years, OpenHawks has funded over 60 Open Educational Resources (OER) projects across a broad range ofContinue reading […]

by Sara J. Pinkham Books have the extraordinary power to turn their stewards into time travelers. A roughly sewn leather cover on a medieval book or a centuries-old doodle can reveal a lot about a book’s owner and its use. Minuscule notes scribbled in the margins of a plague-year calendar can hold weightier sway overContinue reading "What we share with […]

For one Hawkeye couple, the journey of a thousand miles started at a wobbly table in the Main Library. In the late 1960s, Dr. Harold “Harry” Mihm was pursuing his MD at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille Carver College of Medicine, and Georgia Benda was an undergraduate studying special education. They beganContinue reading "Chance encounter at […]

A new exhibition in the Main Library Gallery this spring showcases a global selection of rare historic books and modern book art. Making the Book, Past and Present explores the intersections of history, art, and practicality through items from Special Collections & Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries. The exhibition asks what we canContinue […]

By Sara J. Pinkham, exhibition and engagement coordinator, Main Library Gallery The fall 2023 Main Library Gallery exhibition, Hey Buddy, I’m Bill, shares the story of Bill Sackter, an Iowa City legend and advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. Curated by Jen Knights, marketing and communications manager for Performing Arts at Iowa in the […]

The following post was written by IWA Student Specialist, Abbie Steuhm.  In the process of creating a LibGuide on women and disability for the Iowa Women’s Archives (IWA), I discovered a trove of artifacts from disabled women and disability advocates. However, this did not come easy as the history was hidden by its description. IContinue reading "Women, […]

Local Libraries LIT (Listen, Initiate, Talk), a collaboration between Johnson County public and academic libraries, will welcome author Esmé Weijun Wang on Thursday, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. for a virtual conversation and reading.   The event is free and open to all, but attendees must register in advance to receive the online event link.Register […]

The University of Iowa Libraries’ Main Library Gallery is now seeking exhibition proposals for spring 2025, fall 2025, spring 2026, and fall 2026. University of Iowa faculty and staff are invited to submit initial statements of interest for consideration during Round 1 of the selection process through March 31, 2023. Proposals from across campus […]

When Madde Hoberg first envisioned an exhibition for the Main Library Gallery, she saw the potential for a space filled with local queer history, joy, resistance, and creativity. Three years after her initial exhibit proposal, Out & About: Queer Life in Iowa City is now open for all to visit.  “We invite everyone to exploreContinue reading "Out & […]

by Damien Ihrig, curator   FALLOPIUS, GABRIEL (1523-1562). Libelli duo, alter de ulceribus: alter de tumoribus praeter naturam [Two pamphlets, one on ulcers: the other on unnatural tumors]. Printed in Venice by Donato Bertelli, 1563. 101 pages. 21 cm tall.  Fallopius was born in 1523 in Modena, Italy, to a lower noble family. The death of hisContinue […]