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In celebration of America’s 250th, Rutgers University Libraries produced a professional video to highlight the work of our archivists and the importance of distinctive collections. Special Collections and University Archives collaborated with Middlesex County and Cornelius Low House (the Middlesex County museum) on a special exhibit that opened on Saturday, April 11, and runs through the end of 2028. A reel-formatted version of the video was shared on Rutgers University Libraries Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages, with more than 20,000 views on Instagram alone. The video was also shared in this story, which was featured in Rutgers Today on Monday, April 13, and has since been shared on universitywide social media pages. The video also was entered into the ARLIES Film Festival, which had a record 49 entries and took place on April 28 during the Association for Research Libraries annual meeting.

Charles Casseus, Luke Sangiamo, and Ray George transformed the Block R into an open book for display in the R Garden on Rutgers Day. Their work of art incorporates bookbinding fabric, cardboard, 3D printed letters, and a compilation of images, maps, and graphical designs. The project is a visual representation of the extensive Rutgers University Libraries system: 11 libraries across all Rutgers locations, five distinctive collections, and a robust online presence. We posted pictures on all Rutgers University Libraries social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and Threads.

The Spring 2026 issue of the NJAL Newsletter features numerous articles about Rutgers University Libraries.

Mary Beth Weber participated in a panel discussion for the opening plenary session at the Coalition of Networked Information’s (CNI) Spring 2026 Meeting in Salt Lake City. The plenary session, “Libraries Leading Campus AI: Claiming our Seat at the Table,” was moderated by Rebekah Cummings, digital matters director, University of Utah. Co-panelists were Jessica Davila, associate Dean of digital strategies and innovation, University of Oklahoma; Michael Meth, dean, San Jose State University; and Doralynn Rossman, dean of the library, Montana State University. Having a seat at the table was an important discussion point at CNI. It was further emphasized that having a seat is essential, while having the right people at the table is critical. This includes dissenting voices, as they represent considerations that others might have ignored or with which they may be unfamiliar.

Paige Morgan was awarded a place in the Pencerdd program with Literature Wales, which supports and mentors poets who are relatively new to the ancient poetic craft of cynghanedd, which creates harmony through a mixture of alliteration and assonance. She is the first American to take part in the program. View the program website in Welsh. Website in Welsh: 

 

Kelly Worth retired on Friday, April 17. She began her journey with the Libraries in 1998, working part-time in the LSM administrative office. She transitioned to a full-time role in Alexander Library Administration on March 1, 1999, and since moving to Douglass in 2001, she has been an integral member of the Administrative Services Team of the Rutgers–New Brunswick libraries. Over more than two decades, her dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment have made a lasting impact on Rutgers University Libraries.

Recent and Upcoming Birthdays

Join us in acknowledging the faculty and staff members with birthdays during April and May.

April

Joseph Deodato
Rebecca Diamond
Regina Koury
David Kuzma
Fernanda Perrone
Clotilde Twagiramariya
Kate Van Riper
Daphne Roberts
Kelly Worth

May

Sung Min Park
Consuella Askew
Roselyn Ravi Riley-Ryan
Andres Martinez
Catherine Pecoraro

Engagement Day

Engagement Day will be on Friday, May 22, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Livingston Student Center. Although our buildings are closed on May 22, Engagement Day is considered a workday, and attendance is expected unless you have scheduled time off or are traveling on business. Whether you are able to attend or not, please respond using this form to confirm your plans by Tuesday, May 12. Refer to Mary Beth Weber’s email dated April 20 (Subject: Engagement Day Program & RSVP form) for full details on the day.

Vacation Carryover Deadline

Faculty and staff are urged to work with their supervisors on a plan to use excess vacation time prior to June 26. Refer to emails from Hadiyah Sellers for specifics.

Agenda Submissions

You can submit items for The Agenda on a rolling basis using this form: The Agenda Submissions – Fill out form. If you would like to write a feature, please first send your idea to Lara De Meo Hoyt at lara.hoyt@rutgers.edu. (Lara will provide guidance, a word count, and a deadline.)

Microsoft Clipchamp

Microsoft Clipchamp is now available in Rutgers Connect for all faculty/staff accounts.

Clipchamp is Microsoft’s supported video editing tool and works with content created across Microsoft 365. With it, users can edit items such as PowerPoint screen recordings, Teams voice or video recordings, and other video files stored in OneDrive or SharePoint. The tool supports basic editing tasks, such as trimming clips, combining recordings, adding text or captions, and exporting finished videos.

Now that it’s enabled, users can access Clipchamp from the Microsoft 365 app launcher or directly at clipchamp.com. You may also begin to see options to open or edit certain recordings in Clipchamp as part of existing workflows (for example, after creating a screen recording). No additional configuration is required. No separate installation is needed for web access, and basic functionality is available automatically.

Clipchamp is now the recommended video editing tool within Microsoft. Microsoft’s support documentation covers common scenarios and can be helpful for first‑time users.

If you have any questions, please send a message to support@libraries.rutgers.edu.

Adriana P. Cuervo, director of Special Collections and University Archives, has been appointed co-chair of the Society of American Archivists’ Annual Meeting Program Committee for the 2027 meeting.

Barry Lipinski retired as library supervisor I, Access Services, James Dickson Carr Library, culminating an astounding 45-year career at Rutgers University Libraries. Having started as a work study employee in the Archibald S. Alexander Library, he transitioned to a full-time role in 1980. He steadily assumed increasing responsibilities, eventually becoming the lead supervisor of Access Services at the Kilmer Area Library (renamed James Dickson Carr Library in 2017). His retirement was effective January 1, 2026.

Maria Deptula, health sciences collections librarian at Smith Library, published a featured article in Doody’s Core Titles: “Weeding with Care: A Renovation-Driven Weeding Project in the Health Sciences Library with a Focus on the Last Institutional Copies” (January 2025).

Bart Everts, reference and instruction librarian at Paul Robeson Library, joined a panel discussion with Charlene Mires and Howard Gillette, editors of the Greater Philadelphia book series by Penn Press, for a discussion on New Jersey’s place in Greater Philadelphia’s history. The talk was held on February 11 at the historic Cooper Library building at Rutgers-Camden.

Ermira Mitre, a library technician at Smith Library, had her poem “Under the Rhythm of Jazz” quoted in an article on BahaiTeachings.org. The poem also inspired the title of Robert Battle’s dance piece, Under the Rhythm, and the poem was read a performance of the dance during Gala Night at Paul Taylor Dance in New York in November. In addition, Mitre had five of her poems and a short story published in the Canada-based Asemana Magazine.

Tony Nguyen, Associate University Librarian, Rutgers Health, coauthored The Librarian’s Grants Handbook: Understanding the Grant Process from Start to Finish (Bloomsbury Publishing, February 2026).

Caryn Radick, digital strategies librarian, authored the article “‘If Ever Two Women Deserved What They Got’: The Kate Stocker Murder as Reported in the Jersey City News,” which was published in the summer 2025 issue of New Jersey Studies.

Li Sun, continuing resources and Asian languages catalog librarian, authored an article in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly that is listed among the publication’s top most read articles of 2025. “Enhancing cataloging with generative AI: Converting Wade-Giles to Pinyin,” published in June 2025 (Volume 63, Number 4, 2025), had reached 449 views, 1 CrossRef citation, and 2 Altmetric items as of February 2026.

Mary Beth Weber, coordinator for training and mentorship, was an invited speaker at a webinar provided by the American Library Association’s Core Leadership Development and Mentoring Committee on February 12 on formal and informal peer mentoring experiences for leadership and management across all types of libraries. The three-person panel discussed how they used peer mentoring programs to connect with colleagues in similar roles, and how they gained access to tacit knowledge in their institutions through peer mentoring.

Sonia Yaco, emerging technologies librarian, coauthored “What Can AI Do for Special Collections?” which was published in January in The American Archivist. For the front cover, the publication used a collage of images from the William Elliot Griffis Collection at Rutgers University Libraries. In addition, on January 14, Yaco gave a talk at The Old Guard of Princeton on “Using AI to Find Insights in Historic Manuscripts.”

Elizabeth York, electronic resources and interim discovery librarian, gave a presentation, “Enabling (and Disabling) AI features in Library E-Resources” at the New Jersey Academic Librarians AI Special Interest Group virtual meeting in December 2025.

Open and Affordable Textbooks Program: Deadline Approaching

The Open and Affordable Textbooks (OAT) Program is currently accepting applications. This program, which has saved Rutgers students more than $13 million since its inception, awards research funds to Rutgers faculty who redesign their courses to use free or low-cost materials or who create a new open textbook. Please encourage any instructors you speak with to apply for the Course Redesign Award by March 12 and the Authoring Award by April 9. The full program information and application links can be found on the OAT Program website.

Backup Requirements for RUL-Managed Desktops and Laptops

Information Technology Services (ITS) manages all backups for files saved on your Rutgers University Libraries-supported desktops and laptops. These processes are designed to protect your files and ensure business continuity in the event of hardware failure, accidental deletion, or other issues. To make sure your data is fully protected, please follow these guidelines:

• To ensure your files are included in the automated backup process, save all work-related files only in the designated folders on your device. Files stored outside these approved folders may not be backed up. To see the list of folders included in the backup, please read this knowledge base article.
• For backups to run successfully, your device must be connected to the Rutgers network. If you are working remotely, you must be connected to the Rutgers VPN.
• Per the universitywide Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology Resources, workstations should store only work-related data and applications.
• If you have any questions or need to request a data restoration, contact support@libraries.rutgers.edu.

Rutgers Brand Template Library

The Rutgers Brand Template Library offers an easy-to-navigate collection of templates provided by University Communications and Marketing. The library includes familiar assets such as electronic letterhead and Zoom backgrounds, as well as 50+ new templates organized by category: Advertisements, Event Materials, Marketing Collateral, Documents and Credentials, Posters, Presentations, Social Media, and Video Assets. Templates are available across multiple platforms, including Adobe, Microsoft, and Canva.

The library will continue to evolve and expand over time. Visit the Guidelines or FAQ for tips on using the templates, or submit feedback to share your experience or suggest new designs.

A few things to note:

• The use of these templates is purely optional. If you already have your own templates that work well, you are welcome to keep using them as long as they adhere to the Rutgers visual identity policy and guidelines.
• The templates have Rutgers logos as placeholders, but you’ll want to replace it with the Rutgers University Libraries logo in most cases.

If you have any questions about using the templates, please contact Lara De Meo Hoyt, director of communications and marketing for Rutgers University Libraries, at lara.hoyt@rutgers.edu.

Rutgers University Libraries recently welcomed Keena Arbuthnot, the new executive vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer for Rutgers, for a tour of several locations across Rutgers University–Camden, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Rutgers University–Newark, and Rutgers Health. These visits were covered in Rutgers University Libraries social media posts during the week of December 1:

• Rutgers–Newark: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn
• Rutgers–Camden: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn
• Rutgers–New Brunswick: Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn

The University Librarian’s Symposium Series launched in November with an inaugural program addressing the theme for the 2025–2026 academic year: Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education. Posts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook provided a brief synopsis and photos from the event. The full symposium recording will be shared soon!

This video, produced by the Office of Student Orientation and Transition Programs, a part of Rutgers–New Brunswick Student Affairs, provided a student-centered overview of Douglass Library just before the start of finals.

Two student publications recently featured the Libraries. The Daily Targum (Rutgers–New Brunswick) covered the InfoViz exhibition by students in the School of Communication and Information at Alexander Library. The Gleaner (Rutgers–Camden) wrote about Robeson Library’s research resources and assistance for students.

Melissa De Fino, special collections and formats technical services librarian, and Mary Beth Weber, coordinator for training and mentorship, co-edited the book Library Technical Services: Future Forward (Bloomsbury Publishing, November 2025). Sungmin Park, resource description librarian, authored a chapter on resource description.

Weber also was invited by Associate Professor Keren Dali to speak on a panel for her introductory management course in the Department of Information Sciences at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on Friday, November 7. The course covers the management process and functions as applied to all types of libraries, archives, media, and information centers.

Becky Diamond, business instruction librarian at James Dickson Carr Library, also is a food writer and historian. She has made several TV news appearances regarding her most recent book, The Gilded Age Christmas Cookbook: Cookies and Treats from America’s Golden Era. A Q&A with Diamond (including a recipe from the book) was published in Rutgers Today on December 17.

Regina Koury, associate university librarian for Rutgers University–Camden, and Ann Marie Latini, head of access services for Paul Robeson Library, presented at the ALA CORE Conference on November 14. Their session, “Access Services Restructuring: Reorganizing Access Services Using the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Framework for Access Services Librarianship,” highlighted how they reorganized Robeson Library’s Access Services department using the ACRL Framework, emphasizing practices that enhance and support the mission of both the Libraries and the university.

Ermira Mitre, a library technician at Smith Library, had some of her poems and a short story titled “Sentimental Antiquities” accepted for publication by the Canada-based Asemana Magazine. This creative work is expected to be published in the upcoming issue in 2026. The poetry and prose reflect Mitre’s continued dedication to writing, revision, and creative exploration across themes of memory, cultural identity, belonging, resilience, and the quiet moments that shape our human experience.

Mitre also participated in a recent online Brownstone Poets event and read one of her poems during the open mic. The video of her poetry reading is available on YouTube.

Elizabeth York, electronic resources and interim discovery librarian, gave a presentation, “Exploring Interfaces in Alma Electronic Collections” on October 15 at Ex Libris Northeast Users Group (ENUG) Conference 2025, hosted at Brandeis University. In addition, she gave an invited panel presentation, “SUSHI Struggles & Solutions: Monthly SUSHI Harvest Review” on December 5 as part of the SUSHI Struggles panel at Pet Projects: Ex Libris Southcentral Users Group (ELSUG) Virtual Conference 2025.

York also was recently quoted in Clarivate’s whitepaper, “Seizing opportunities: Academic libraries in the AI era,” on appropriate uses of AI: “”We have to remember AI is not a toy and we shouldn’t just be using it just to plug stuff in and see what happens. We should be careful to use it for real applications that will have real benefits and not to treat it casually.” The whitepaper also describes how she contributed to the development of Ex Libris’s AI Metadata Assistant as part of the group of Rutgers library personnel who served as testing partners.

Data Visualization Championship for Love Data Week

For the first time, Rutgers is participating in the Big Ten’s Data Visualization Championship for Love Data Week 2026! Rutgers students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to submit entries. Rutgers University Libraries are partnering with OIT, Enterprise Analytics, and IDRIS to hold a data visualization contest, and the winner will move on to represent Rutgers and compete against entries from other Big Ten institutions!

Go to the Rutgers Data Viz Championship website for links to the student dataset and submission form. More information about the contest guidelines, including a scoring rubric, is available on the website.

The submission form is open now and will close on January 21, 2026. Winners will be announced during Love Data Week, February 9-13, 2026. The Rutgers first place student winner will receive a Lego Mosaic Maker set, and two runners up will get Rutgers merch! All prizes are being provided by Rutgers University Libraries, and the BTAA grand prize winner will receive $400.

 

Open and Affordable Textbooks Program Update

The Open and Affordable Textbooks (OAT) Team welcomes two new members this year. Tajah Ebram joins as a team liaison for Rutgers–New Brunswick, and Rich Jutkiewicz joins as a team liaison for Rutgers Health (Newark). They join Matt Bridgeman, Abbey DiPaolo, Naomi Gold, Lara De Meo Hoyt, Rhonda Marker, Amanda Presler, Lily Todorinova, and Zara Wilkinson. Paige Morgan is the liaison to LLT for the OAT Team.

Applications for the next cycle of OAT awards will open in January 2026. Libraries employees were invited to participate in the evaluation process, which will require approximately five hours per week for a week in March and a week in April, plus a mandatory training session in early February. Antonio Barrera, Maria Deptula, Ann Marie Latini, John Powell, Alfreda Richardson, Quionne Scott, and Victoria Wagner will serve in this capacity. Non-Libraries faculty and students will round out the OAT reviewer ranks. The OAT Team is grateful for the generosity of all who are contributing their time and expertise to ensure the success of the OAT Program.

Raymond (Ray) Balter, library assistant II in Access Services at Douglass Library, is retiring effective January 1, 2026. His first day at Rutgers was July 16, 2001, when he started in University Mail and Document Services. He joined Rutgers University Libraries in March 2003 with a full-time position at the SERC Reading Room, and since then, he has worked in a variety of roles within the Libraries. Since July 2003, he has been based at Douglass Library within Access Services. At Douglass, he has worked in multiple roles over the years, including resource sharing, student employee management, and collection management. His last full day in the library was December 3.

Renee Clark’s retirement, which is also effective January 1, was mentioned in the previous issue.

Sara Gonzalez resigned from her position as library technician I, Interlibrary Loan Services, at Smith Library. Her last day was December 6. She has taken on a new role as electronic resources and reference librarian at Marymount Manhattan College.

This semester, the Rutgers University Libraries DEI Committee welcomed a new chair and vice chair/chair elect. The committee’s new chair, Phil Wilson, library specialist I at Robert Wood Johnson Library, will serve through June 30, 2026. The committee’s new vice chair/chair elect, John Powell, reference and instruction librarian at Robeson Library, will serve as vice chair through June 30, 2026, and chair through June 30, 2027. Members of the FY26 committee can be found on the Staff Resources site.

Thus far, the committee has reviewed the important work from previous years to determine ways to augment and continue the DEI efforts that align with internal education and enrichment (DEI Glossary, self-paced Canvas course, reading groups) and has brainstormed new ideas, themes, and topics to bring to the Libraries community. New ideas include bringing awareness of cultural and religious holidays and other important dates; deeper training on microaggressions and managing difficult conversations; and developing engagement and enrichment around the topic of accessibility, especially as it aligns with the ADA Title II work within the Libraries and across universities. 

The committee will be operating as it typically would, even amidst changes within the university including the development of the Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity and the closure of the Office of University Equity and Inclusion.