Library Blogs

Psychological safety has been an important topic for organizations and their leaders for decades. When the work culture encourages honest contributions by employees, and when mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities, diverse perspectives can be heard. Libraries as organizations have a role in creating psychologically safe environments. But is there any connection between psychological safety and our library assessments? This blog post suggests some connections for library assessment practitioners, as a result of the author's own reflection.

This post covers my time as a Michigan Library Scholars intern, working on the project, "Of Whales and Men: Patagonian Adventures." Throughout the summer, I engaged in archival research, edited a manuscript, and met with academic professionals to learn more about the field!

The state of Michigan is home to a diverse population, creating a melting pot of culture, tradition, and food. Michigan's complicated history with settler colonialism, immigration from across the world, and a vast agricultural sphere make this state an extremely interesting case study to view how immigration has shaped foodways. In this Michigan Library Scholars Project, Paths to Plate, me, my co-intern, and our mentor worked to understand how Michigan has adapted and transformed from demographic changes, adjusted farming and economic practices. We used a wide range of sources from digital newspaper databases, physical archives, and various other online resources to gather information and understand this minimally researched topic. Through a long research process, challenges that led to creative solutions, collaboration, and introspection, this project has been extremely informative on an academic level, as well as a personal one.

Introducing a couple instructional videos for making paper pots.

Summer calls for cool drinks and cool eats. This month’s recipe comes from Fannie Farmer’s The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1920), third edition, third printing.

First time 3d printing for a personalized gift!

On Tuesday 9 June 2026, at 5:30 pm in the Special Collections Research Center, Julia Miller, author of the widely acclaimed "Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings," will show us us what “magnificent” can mean with regard to the binding and repair of some of our oldest books. Julia's presentation will be accompanied by a display of seven exemplars from the U-M Library’s collection of Greek manuscripts. Refreshments will be provided.

Like April's Corn Bread, this month’s recipe is drawn from Ella Hall’s manuscript cookbook, which will be available to purchase as a facsimile from the University of Michigan Press in June. One of the first recipes that caught my attention when I read through this book was “Sweet Pickled Apples,” credited to "Mrs. Rhea on Ann St."

A researcher used software to convert an image of stars into a 3D model and used the shapiro design lab 3D print resources to finish the project!

A student returns to the design lab for their second 3D print project.