All work and no play ...
 ... makes for a stressful finals week. Staff at Walter Library have instituted a creative and very successful antidote. The Great Hall was outfitted with a collection of games and puzzles for students to take a break. The centerpiece was this crossword puzzle, written by U chemistry professor George Barany. It wasn't long before our clever students had filled in the blanks. Kudos to staff and Dr. Barany, who has been constructing crosswords for years (including some for the New York Times). Solve his most recent puzzle here!
If you build it, they will come.
 Just eight years ago, 25 people representing Minnesota's academic and public libraries, historical societies, and art museums envisioned a central repository for images, maps, and historical documents. Today, that dream has been realized with over 100,000 items from 129 of the state's cultural heritage institutions. And it's working—last year alone, 240 requests from all over the world were fielded for the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest's collection, including two images needed for Hamodia, a Jewish newspaper in New York. Curious? Come find something exciting at Minnesota Reflections »
Photo reproduced courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest
The results are in!
And they show what we've long suspected—that use of the library is associated with an improvement in academic performance. The Libraries conducted a semester-long study of library use and student success. A whopping 77% of undergraduates and 85% of graduate students visited one of our 14 libraries during fall semester 2011. For first-year students in particular, using the library one time was associated with a .23 increase in student GPA. Check out the results that are making news in academia »
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Now Showing
Current Exhibits
at the Libraries
Pacific Encounters
(ca. 1250 to ca. 1850)
Through June 25, 2012
T.R. Anderson Gallery
This exhibit features items from the James Ford Bell collection that tell the story of European encounters with the peoples of the Pacific—from China to Polynesia to the Bering Strait—told by explorers, merchants, missionaries, sailors, naturalists, and cartographers.
Marquees on Main
Through June 29, 2012
Andersen Gallery
This exhibit from the Northwest Architectural Archives showcases dozens of movie theaters designed by the Minneapolis architectural partnership of Liebenberg and Kaplan.
Downstream/Upstream:
A Journey Through the Urban Water Cycle
Through July 12, 2012
Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library
This exhibit documents a two-week journey that 39 kids, ages 4-6, took to explore the infrastructure of water.
Proud Heritage: 156 Years of Building Community
June 11 - August 24, 2012
Andersen Atrium Gallery
Before Minnesota was a state the YMCA was active in building community in Minnesota. This exhibit from the Kautz Family YMCA Archives reflects on 156 years of community building throughout Minnesota: from building camps that connect youth to nature, to building University YMCAs that help freshmen orient to life on their own; from transitional housing that help families get back on their feet, to after-school programs that bring out the best in youth.
See all exhibit hours
and locations »
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