From the Dean's Desk
The past two summers, I have had the honor of reading with the students of the Children's Defense Fund Freedom School, a six-week literacy enrichment program for K-12 students led by the IU Indianapolis Center for Africana Studies and Culture and the IU School of Education. With roots in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly the Freedom Summer of 1964, this community centered program was created to empower Black students by addressing an inadequate educational system.
Last year we read Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, story by Meena Harris with cover illustration by Ramírez Ana González, leaning into a civic literacy story line the summer before a presidential election. The story follows two young girls as they diligently work to gain support for a community garden. This year we read Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari and Felicita Sala. I selected this book because I love trees, the branches above, the history they have witnessed, the massive communication networks they spread below ground, and how they collectively support their stands. From Be a Tree!, "Our roots twine with fungi joining all trees in the forest together. We talk, share food, store water, divide resources, alert each other to danger." Be a Tree!, succinctly and poetically describes for children the natural world of wonders shared in these equally wonderful tree related books for adults (we librarians can't avoid a good book recommendation), Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change our Minds & Shape our Future by Merland Sheldrake and The Overstory by Richard Powers.
Reading out loud is a favorite activity of mine. I miss the days of reading to my daughter, creating my own character voices and devising a multitude of ways for her and I to interact with the story as we read. Her face would light up when she got to SLAP, SLAP, SLAP the page as the raindrops hit the window and the girl's red goloshes stomped in a puddle in Raindrop, Plop ! I too grew up reading with my mother both at home and in the Shelby Branch and downtown Indianapolis Public Libraries and have heard many library colleagues share a similar childhood, reading experience. The bonds created with the adults and peers that read to us, the libraries where the wonderland of stories existed, and the community we found in others engaging in the same activities, is often voiced as the seed for library careers.
The Freedom School provides a similar environment, a literarily-rich, fun but also structured, vibrant, culturally-relevant and community-embracing home, in both the physical and soul-enriching sense. The positive energy and joy at Freedom School is contagious and I'm thankful to have the annual reminder of what prompted my love of libraries, community, and reading out loud.
Kristi L. Palmer
Herbert Simon Dean of IUPUI University Library
Community Event
Earlier this year, University Library hosted an event that delved into the stories of the once-thriving Indiana Avenue neighborhood and we explored how our archive collections are a great way to preserve the history of displaced communities. The talk, "Displacement: The History of the Neighborhood that Predated IU Indianapolis," was recorded and can be viewed online.
2025 Open Education Award Winners
Learn more about this year's Open Education Award winners by viewing their video, where they reveal more about themselves and their project.
Spirit of Philanthropy
Congratulations to Dr. Frances Huehls on being University Library's 2025 Spirit of Philanthropy (SOP) honoree. Dr. Huehls is an Associate Librarian Emerita and former Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at IU Indianapolis -- she retired in 2017 after 27 years of service at IU.
Congratulations are also in order for Herbert Simon Family Dean Kristi Palmer, who was also honored at the Spirit of Philanthropy Awards by the IU Indianapolis School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering.
Special note: Fran was Kristi's mentor when Kristi first started at University Library, so both of them being honored in the same year makes this recognition even more special.
Indiana Libraries & Literacy Symposium
The 3rd annual Indiana Libraries & Literacy Symposium was another success, drawing nearly 150 attendees and offering a variety of topics, from virtual reality experiences, integrating play into everyday life, and exploring how gaming and play can transform learning. Visit our Symposium toolkit for access to some great resources used at this Symposium.
Faculty & Staff Recognition
Our Library has some pretty awesome faculty & staff members that are constantly serving as leaders, not just at University Library, but also in the overall academic library world. Please help us celebrate recent accomplishments by our some of our beloved faculty & staff members.
- Mahasin Ameen - Promoted to Associate Librarian and granted tenure, elected to IU Indianapolis Faculty Council, presented a poster on April 3 at ACRL (w/Gemmicka Piper & Sara Lowe) titled “Leveling the Playing Field: Generative A.I. & Writing Anxiety among Graduate Students”, was recognized as a faculty recipient of a 2025 Women’s History Month Recognition Award
- Rachel Hinrichs - was on “Evidence Synthesis Panel” at IU Librarians Health Sciences Summit, has been selected for the 2025 Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Health Sciences Librarian of the Year by the Medical Library Association, co-presented two sessions at the Medical Library Association Conference titled Validated modular pediatric age group search hedge: An MLA pediatric librarians caucus initiative to support practice and research (research paper presentation), and Search hedge development and validation (immersion session/short CE class), co-awarded the 2025 Public Health/Health Administration Caucus Research Award for the paper (w/Miriam Ramirez) titled “Public Health Research in the News: An Exploratory Study of Topics, Coverage, and Open Access Status”
- Jackie Huddle - has an article published with a Bloomington library colleague in Communications in Information Literacy titled Visual Literacy Instruction at Scale Developing Asynchronous Learning Objects for First-Year Art and Design Students, received a $67,000 Indianapolis Foundation Grant (with Denise Rayman)for their project, Beyond touch: Presenting the artist book online, has a new publication out: Visual Thinking Strategies Enriching Nursing Education through Librarian and Faculty Collaboration
- Sara Lowe - presented a poster at the Association of College & Research (w/Khrisma McMurray & Gemmicka Piper) titled “Strengthening Information Literacy: Creating an Interactive Evaluation Tutorial”
- Olivia MacIsaac - received a $72,000 Indianapolis Foundation Grant for their project, Indiana Memory and Wikipedia for Libraries and Education (w/Jere Odell), delivered a presentation at the Library Publishing Forum about sustaining journal publishing under tight budgets (w/Rachel Molina), provided a Wikipedia demonstration at The People Speak (w/Jere Odell)
- Katharine Macy - represented University Library in the first annual IU Indianapolis Research Revue, presented at ER&L in Austin, TX (w/Kevin Petsche & Cetoria Tomberlin), interview with the Charleston Conference was published on Youtube, as part of their Leadership Interview Series
- Gary Maixner - elected to IU Indianapolis Faculty Council (Term: June 2025- June 2027) , presented at the 2025 Plater-Moore Conference on Teaching and Learning
- Khrisma McMurray - presented at the Children's Literature Association Conference, presented a workshop on March 7 at the Social Justice Symposium
- Rachel Molina - chaired a session for new librarians at the Library Publishing Forum
- Jere Odell - Elected to IU Indianapolis Faculty Council (Term: July 2025-June 2027)
- Caitlin Pike - presented “For Real Life?! Childless Adult Bluey Fan and Their Motivations for Watching” at the Popular Culture Association Conference
- Anna Proctor - staffed the table at the Arab American Community fair (w/Raneem Hijazi and Pari Anjanappa)
- Andy Smith - the recipient of the 2025 University Library Glenda Armstrong Community Contributor Award
- Eric Snajdr - the recipient of the Trustees Teaching Award
- Billy Tringali - was featured in a News at IU story for receiving a 2025 Movers and Shakers Award from the Library Journal, presented with Maria Alberto and Jeremiah Martinez “Fun, Friends, and Fitness – Why Fans Attend Anime Conventions” at the international FanLIS 2025 conference, presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference
Alumni Library Resources
Did you know that IU/IUPUI alumni still retain access to some library resources?
Seed Library
Are you an avid gardener or have recently been thinking about starting a container garden? If so, then we have seeds for you!
Library Hours
For our current hours of operation, please refer to our website.
Library Cards for Residents
Residents of the State of Indiana aged 18 years or older can get an IUPUI University Library Borrower’s Card if they visit our Reference Desk to complete an Indiana Resident Library Card/User Agreement and provide a photo ID and proof of current address.
Would you Like to Make a Gift?
If you are interested in making a gift to University Library, contact Tanika Scott (Director of Development) at 317-278-2322 or talscott@iu.edu. You can also visit our Make A Gift page for additional information.
Photo Caption Contest
Our monthly photo caption contest, put on by the IU Indianapolis University Library Special Collections and Archives, is a chance to attach your funny captions to some of our favorite IU Indianapolis photos from our huge collection. Each month, the funniest caption (as judged by the expert judges in Special Collections and Archives) wins a fabulous prize!