Fondren Library

Yesterday, Anna Shparburg was awarded the Shapiro Library Staff Innovation Award for her amazing contributions to Fondren, Rice University, and librarianship. Anna has been a dedicated member of the staff and truly made a difference as the humanities librarian since she first started. Her numerous nominations for the award were filled with praise for not only her research support and additions to the library, but also recognition of her incredible talent with languages and kindness. Thank you for all you’ve done at Fondren and Rice, Anna!

🤔Want to enjoy the new quad views but don’t feel like getting wet or being outside? Fondy’s got you covered! Visit our (quiet) 6th floor or the 4th floor lounge and gaze all you like in air conditioned, indoor comfort. We even have some pretty nice 🛋️ seating.

Happy Friday! In celebration of this month’s theme, we’ve delved into the Woodson’s Weber-Staub-Briscoe architectural collection. Consisting of pattern boards (design molds) and metal castings of architectural details, it’s a sure match for this round. Weber Iron & Wire Company was founded in the late 1920s by Herman Weber as Weber Iron Works, and came to supply ornamental metalwork for some of Houston’s leading architects and builders like John F. Staub and Birdsall P. Briscoe.
1. A geometric ornament and its mold originally installed at the A. C. Glassell house, 1938
2. Ornamental metal casting with a circular design
3. Plaster mold with a circular shape in a metal frame
4. Double sided sunburst with face ornament
5. Mold for a sunburst with a face
6. Metal seahorse ornament and a scale drawing of a seahorse for a design
7. Carving tool set, Mills Falls Co., No. 107

Students! Interested in paid research? Apply for the Fondren Fellows program! The deadline is September 9. Until then, applications for projects on science policy, comics studies, mapping a cemetery, science and engineering department anniversaries, and Houston’s history are being accepted. Learn more at the 🔗in bio.

Join Us for September's Free Workshops at Fondren Library! ✨📚 Every month, we offer a variety of free workshops and short courses to help you enhance your skills and knowledge. Whether you’re into research, design, or data visualization, we’ve got something for everyone!

This month's featured workshops include:

Ethical Generative AI Use for Researchers
Trademark Searching
Intro to DaVinci Resolve
Patent Searching, Part 1
Data Visualization Showcase
Academic Poster Design
Beginner Illustrator: Making Vectors
Fundamentals of Zotero
Advanced Illustrator: Making Figures

Don’t miss out on these fantastic learning opportunities! Grab your spot today and take your skills to the next level.

For more details and to register, visit https://library.rice.edu/events. See you there! 🎓✨

🌟 Join us for the Fondren Fellows Showcase! 🌟

Discover the groundbreaking projects from the 2023-2024 cohort at Fondren Library, in the Kyle Morrow Room, tomorrow. The event kicks off with a reception at 3:30, followed by the program at 4:00.

Don’t miss out on presentations from our esteemed speakers. Save the date to celebrate innovation and scholarship!

📅 Date: Tuesday, September 3 🕒 Time: 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. 📍 Location: Fondren Library, Kyle Morrow Room (3rd Floor)

Drop in to Woodson Research Center (1st floor) on Friday for our first open printmaking studio session of the fall semester. 🖨️📜🎨 Print a keepsake on our one-of-a-kind star-wheel rolling press. No printing experience is necessary. 🤓

Sign up here: https://library.rice.edu/courses/fourth-friday-open-studios-star-wheel

Don’t miss out on our open house (1/3)! Join us before 2 for free snacks, swag, and information 📚 (swipe to the last few slides for a surprise 🤭 — they’re here until 1)

Join us at Fondren Library for an enriching experience of knowledge and community at our first annual Open House events. Network, learn, and celebrate with us on Wednesday for undergraduate students or Thursday for faculty and graduate students. 📚🎉

Swing by for free swag, snacks, and knowledge. We hope to see you all there!

Join us at Fondren Library for an enriching experience of knowledge and community at our first annual Open House events. Network, learn, and celebrate with us on Wednesday for undergraduate students or Thursday for faculty and graduate students. 📚🎉

Swing by for free swag, snacks, and knowledge. We hope to see you all there!

The DMC is making a few upgrades! 👀 Stay tuned to see our digital tour 🦉📸

🎉Yay! Students are returning! We missed you. The library has been so empty. 😢

Summer is hot. Houston is hot. It’s sunny and hot and humid. But Fondy isn’t! We have some great A/C! Come cool off and visit our leisure reads, or work on the puzzle, or create something amazing in the DMC.

It’s that time of year: undergraduates with OURI Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) are preparing to present at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium! And that means the DMC is full of students printing their posters on the plotter. It’s been non-stop all day, and doesn’t look like it will slow soon. What would we do without our ✨amazing✨ student workers, like Trisha??

You probably thought we forgot about Whiteboard Wednesday! Well, we did, but only a little… Sorry… Anyway, here are some of the best whiteboards we’ve seen lately. Enjoy the hard summer work of our students and visitors!

Your Rice NetID gives you free access to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, and Financial Times.📰 Students, faculty and staff can read as much as you want! 🗞️ We provide it. Ask us for help if you are having issues accessing them. 🦉

Better late returns than never: librarians know some of us are just slower than others. 🐌 You can’t help how you’re made! We are just glad this little friend dropped off their books📚. They’re back for others to use, and they have two in particular to recommend: SLIME : a natural history and QUEEN OF SNAILS.

We were getting crafty again yesterday, making some crochet bookmarks! They were cute daisies 🌼 that were pretty simple… for some of us. Others just made the chain ⛓️part and then decorated paper bookmarks. It was still fun, though, and who knows? Maybe students can have fun with this craft one day too.

Did you see our latest monthly book display? Be kind and read some great books! 📚 We have a lot of leisure reads and 😎summer is the best time to indulge. Come grab these before someone else does…

Tomorrow morning we will reopen for regular hours, 7am to 9pm, and all visitors! However, some services and spaces will remain closed due to damages. 🫶🦉

Here are a few places that are open to the public today. Please stay safe!

Tomorrow we will be open for members of the Rice community 10am to 6pm. We are focusing on providing air conditioned study spaces, power, and computers/printers. Please contact us if you need more information. Stay safe, and stay home if possible. Avoid flood waters if you must go out.

Information from the as of 9am. Stay home, if you must go out don’t drive or go into water, and be safe. See you later this week.

UPDATE: Fondren Library will be open to community members (card swipe access), providing safe study spaces, computers and printers, and self checkout only. Please review the pre-storm checklist and stay safe! Visit our website for more info and contact us if needed. 🌀🦉❤️

Join us for our July workshops in Fondy!

Happy Fourth of July! 🇺🇸🎇 We’re just getting ready for the fireworks as best as librarians can.

Happy (early) Independence Day! 🎆 We’re open during regular business hours today then we’re closed until Monday morning.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe! 🫶🏽

Are you feeling Fondy? Here are some Fondren emotions you’ve probably experienced. But don’t worry, if your ID won’t swipe, you can always get a new card that works with the tap reader! 🫶

Come Craft with Pride! We’re here in Fondy till 4pm. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Fondren Library is proud to announce its investment to support Foucault Studies as a diamond open access journal. This initiative aligns with Fondren's commitment to increase the visibility and impact of Rice research, and remove barriers to accessing scholarly research literature. Diamond open access ensures that journals or platforms do not charge fees to read or publish, promoting unrestricted access to high-quality academic content.

Sharla Lair, Senior Strategist of Open Access and Scholarly Communication Initiatives at Lyrasis, and Dr. Niki Kasumi Clements, Associate Professor of Religion at Rice University, introduced and championed the proposal to support Foucault Studies. The proposal was reviewed and supported by a group of Fondren staff members including Anna Shparberg, Joe Goetz, Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Scott Vieira, Lisa Spiro, and Cindy Pierard.

Read more here:

Fondren Library Invests in Diamond Open Access Journal to Support Foucault Studies | Fondren Library Fondren Library Invests in Diamond Open Access Journal to Support Foucault StudiesHOUSTON, TX – June 18, 2024 – Fondren Library is proud to announce its investment to support Foucault Studies as a diamond open access journal. This initiative aligns with Fondren's commitment to increase the visib...