For many of us, back-to-school marks the real start of a new year. This is especially true for some 5,000 freshman who are embarking on both a new year and a new chapter. To get them off to a great academic life, the Libraries hosted orientation activities at Magrath Library on the St. Paul campus and at McNamara Alumni Center on August 29. Tips and tricks, fun and games, plus the Top 10 Things to know about the U Libraries helped students with the first year jitters.

Watch the video from Welcome Week

The new season will explore the theme of power with seven noontime presentations by curators and archivists from our department of Archives and Special Collections. You’ll hear stories of how our rare materials document the hard questions and transformational moments in our culture. Mark your calendars and plan to join us at Elmer L. Andersen Library.

More about First Fridays

• The new issue of continuum is in the mail. Check out the online edition
• Last year 1.7 million visitors passed through our portals
• More than 850 instruction sessions were conducted by librarians
• More than 80,000 items were loaned out from April through June alone
• And, nearly 360,000 electronic views of reserved course readings were recorded!

We need helpers at upcoming Friends of the Libraries events to welcome guests, hand out programs, etc. It’s a fun and easy way to provide service to the Libraries.

Learn more: libevents@umn.edu