Student performers camouflaged in the sea of students, provided a pleasant surprise November 5 at Walter Library. When the “Push for Art” button was pushed, they broke out with "Lean on Me" in the lobby (Music Therapy Student Association), while the Dance Collective performed in Walter's Great Hall.  

The previous day, a clarinet trio performed in the Wise Owl cafe at Walter. 

Push 4 Art is organized by Northrup and the University Collaborative Ambassadors for Northrop. For more information, please email Allyson Taubenheim, Student Engagement Coordinator for Northrop. 

Click on the image above to watch the video. Thanks to Push4Art for an enjoyable afternoon!

Mars is the subject of this installment of Read This Book!, which features Science Librarian Carolyn Bishoff and Social Sciences Librarian Amy Riegelman. The two discussed the popular book, The Martian, which is also currently a hit movie.

Recommended books included:

* The Martian by Andy Weir

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* St. Paul Public Library

* Magnificent Mars by Ken Croswell

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From St. Paul Public Library

* Mars Rover Curiosity By Rob Manning and William Simon

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* Driving to Mars by William L. Fox

* From University Libraries

* Volcanic Features of Hawaii by M.H. Carr

*

Nazis burned the library of Magnus Hirschfeld – a Jewish physician and sexologist who died in 1935 – for being "un-German." But at least one book survived the 1933 fire and is now housed at the University of Minnesota in the Tretter Collection for GLBT Studies.

In this installment of "Secrets of the Archives," Tretter curator Lisa Vecoli provides the back story and discusses the importance of the GLBT archives. 

Secrets of the Archives is hosted by Tim Johnson, Curator of Special Collections & Rare Books and the E. W. McDiarmid Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

In this installment of Read This Book!, Tim Johnson reviews four books that he read over the summer and early fall. They are:

* Neil Gaiman's Make Good Art commencement speech

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From St. Paul Public Library 

* Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

* From St. Paul Public Library 

* The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

* From Hennepin County Library

* From St. Paul Public Library 

* Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird

* From University Libraries

* From Hennepin County Library

About Tim Johnson and Read This Book!

Johnson is the Curator of Special Collections and Rare Books and the E. W. McDiarmid Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries. 

Read This Book!

Celebrated lion researcher and conservationist Craig Packer takes us into the complex, tooth-and-claw worlds of lion conservation and behavior in this September 30, 2015 event at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota. 

Packer is Distinguished McKnight Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota and the Director of the Lion Research Center and co-founder of Savannahs Forever, Tanzania.

The University of Minnesota Bindery, which first opened in the basement of Perine's Books in Dinkytown back in 1922, closed in July. The Bindery, initially a unit of University Libraries, was housed for nearly 50 years on the 4th floor of Walter Library before moving to the Printing Services building on Como Avenue in 1972.

The Bindery fell victim to the significant shift away from print and to digital collections. The Libraries will still use bindery services, but will contract for the services through a private vendor. 

Watch the video above to learn more. 

In this installment of Read This Book!, Maggie Ragnow discusses books about Pirates – just in time for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is September 19.

Ragnow shows us a "Letter of Marque" and discusses the following books:

* A General History of the Pryates,

by Daniel Defoe

* Bucaniers of America

by Alonso de Bonne-Maison.

About Ragnow and Read This Book!

Ragnow is the Curator of the James Ford Bell Library. Check out the James Ford Bell website for more about pirates, including "Pirate Lingo."

Read This Book! is a video podcast produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries. It is available on YouTube and iTunes.

More than 5,000 first-year students took part in Welcome Week at the University of Minnesota last week. On Friday, they toured Magrath Library on the St. Paul campus to learn about all of the ways that University Libraries can help them achieve academic success. 

Watch the video above to hear what they learned. 

In this episode of Read This Book!, Lisa Von Drasek reviews her favorite Picture Books published in the last year.

Von Drasek is the Curator of the Children's Literature Research Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Read This Book! is a video podcast produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries. It is available on YouTube and iTunes.

In this episode of "Read This Book!", University of Minnesota librarians Lisa Von Drasek, Carolyn Bishoff, and Megan Kocher provide recommendations for summer reading.