River Campus Libraries

Evans Lam Square. The Barbara J. Burger iZone. Studio X. If you've ever studied, built, or dreamed something up in one of these spaces, you've experienced the vision of Mary Ann Mavrinac. 🤩✨

We're delighted to congratulate our Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean Emeritus on receiving the 2026 FIMS Alumni Award of Excellence from FIMS - Faculty of Information & Media Studies at Western University— the school where her career in librarianship began more than four decades ago. 👏

Across her leadership of River Campus Libraries through 2022, and in roles spanning the University of Toronto Mississauga, Western, and the highest levels of national library leadership, Mary Ann reimagined what a library could be: not only a place to find answers, but a place to gather, create, and discover together. 💭

Chosen from a competitive field by a committee of FIMS students, faculty, staff, and alumni, she'll return to where it all started to accept the honor at Western's Homecoming this September. 💜

Congratulations, Mary Ann — a recognition this rich is so well deserved. 🙌
Read the full story from FIMS 👉 https://www.fims.uwo.ca/news/2026/mary_ann_mavrinac_named_winner_of_the_2026_fims_alumni_award_of_excellence.html

⚠️ Carlson Library will be closed from June 17 through July 6, 2026, while crews update the building's fire alarm system—an important safety improvement for everyone who uses the space.

The collection stays within reach throughout the closure. Materials from Carlson can be requested online via DiscoverUR (www.library.rochester.edu) and picked up at the Q&i Desk in Rush Rhees Library.

Thank you for your patience as we make these updates. 💙💛 We look forward to welcoming you back to Carlson in early July.

Every family has a story. We'd love to help you start uncovering yours. 📖

Join River Campus Libraries for Getting Started in Genealogy, a welcoming, hands-on introduction to family history research.

Whether you're chasing a long-told family legend or simply curious about where you come from, you'll leave with the tools to begin: how to ask the right research questions, how to work with pedigree charts and family group sheets, and how to build a strong foundation for the journey ahead.

Fittingly, we'll gather in Special Collections at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries— a place devoted to keeping history's records safe and within reach. And no experience is needed: whether you're brand new to genealogy or dusting off rusty research skills, there's a seat for you.

🗓️ Wednesday, June 17 · 12:00–1:00 PM
📍 Rush Rhees Library, Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation (Room 216)
🎟️ Free and open to all

Reserve your spot👉

University of Rochester Genealogy: Getting Started in Genealogy Begin your genealogy journey by learning the essential foundations of family history/genealogy research. Participants will explore how to ask effective research questions, use pedigree charts and family group sheets, and build a strong starting point for discovering their family story. This interact...

This past Thursday, a group of eight River Campus Libraries staff members traded their desks for garden gloves and joined the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes's annual Day of Caring. 🌿💪🪏

We partnered with the Swillburg Neighborhood to clean up Otto Henderburg Park and the Labyrinth Garden — weeding, pruning, raking, picking up trash, and getting the spaces ready for the community to enjoy. ☺️

A huge thank you to everyone who participated, and especially to Katie Papas, who organizes this effort every year and makes sure our libraries show up for our broader Rochester community. 💙💛

Here's to clean parks, good neighbors, and muddy shoes for a good cause.👏

This weekend, we're welcoming the Class of 2026 into a tradition that stretches back more than 175 years. 🎓✨

Swipe through these images—the earliest is from 1903, pulled from Special Collections at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries—and you'll see something that hasn't changed across any decade: the unmistakable feeling of a moment that was hard-earned and worth every bit of it. 🥳

The fashion evolves. 👗 The cameras get better. 📸 The Class of 2021 adds masks. 😷 But the joy? Completely timeless. 😊

To everyone celebrating this weekend—graduates, families, faculty, staff, and friends—congratulations! 👏 We're so proud to be part of your story, and so honored to help keep it preserved for the next 175 years. 💙💛

154 people chose River Campus Libraries yesterday. 🤩👏

154 alumni, students, colleagues, friends, and members of this community—made a deliberate decision to invest in what happens here. In the students who discover their research voice for the first time. 🥰 In the scholars accessing rare materials from across the world. 📜 In the spaces where creativity and curiosity find room to breathe. 💫

Together, those 154 gifts added up to $47,000 — and every dollar will go directly toward the spaces, resources, and opportunities that our libraries what they are. 🐝

We are genuinely moved. This is what community looks like.
Thank you. From all of us at River Campus Libraries. 💙💛

Halfway there, — and River Campus Libraries is feeling the love. 💙💛

If you've been waiting for a reminder: this is it. 😊

Day of Giving runs until midnight, and every gift —no matter the size— makes a real difference for the students, researchers, and community members who call the libraries home. 💕

From therapy dog study breaks to rare book discoveries to cutting-edge XR research, this place holds a lot. Your gift helps keep it that way.

Make your gift 👉 https://bit.ly/RCLGiving

Today is URochester's Day of Giving, and right now, your gift goes further! 🐝

When 30 donors give to the River Campus Libraries Barbara J. Burger iZone Fund, an additional $5,000 will be unlocked—supporting iZone and the creative projects born from the space, including an exciting possibility for our Meliora Weekend conference—thanks to University Trustee Barbara Burger ’83.

Every gift, of any size, makes a difference. 💙💛

Make your impact today 👉 https://give.rochester.edu/schools/UniversityofRochester/day-of-giving-2026/pages/river-campus-libraries/?a=12793062&utm_source=RCL&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dayofgiving26