UH Libraries News

University of Houston Libraries is now accepting applications for the OER Professional Development Incentive. This incentive is part of the Open Education Incentive (OPEN) Program, which includes a variety of funding opportunities to support engagement with open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices.  

For this incentive, instructors can receive funds for participating in a guided professional development program in which they explore and better understand OER through a series of self-paced online learning modules. Participants will attend a required introductory meeting (in-person) and may attend an optional virtual discussion. Instructors who complete the program will receive a certificate from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and a $250 incentive from UH Libraries.  

The deadline to apply for the program is Friday, September 25, 2026. Registration is capped at 30 participants and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.   

Learn more about Open Education Services and email [email protected] with any questions.  

Recently, University of Houston Libraries hosted an elegant, festive milestone event. The MD Anderson Library 75th Anniversary Celebration was held on August 29, honoring the history of the Library while setting the foundation for an exciting transformation.

Guests were treated to a unique, crafted Library experience, one shaped by discovery and curiosity. The event featured themed vignettes:

• History of the MD Anderson Library
• Abundant Stacks, Quiet Study: The Library of the Past
• Fueling New Forms of Scholarship: The Library in Today’s Digital Age
• Beyond the Stacks: The Library of the Future
• Enduring Collections: Preserving Memory Across Time

Positioned with intention at selected locations within the Library and brought to life by librarians and archivists, each vignette illuminated a chapter in the Library’s history and its evolution alongside that of the University. The story was told through archival photos, documents, and artifacts of yore including a card catalog and an iconic, midcentury Swan chair that UH alumni can recall from their days studying in the Library.

A VIP experience in the Special Collections Reading Room offered guests an up-close look at rare and ancient records of human history, including a Sumerian clay tablet; a Torah from the historical regions of Bohemia and Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic); a 1769 edition of Experiments and Observations on Electricity by Benjamin Franklin gifted to UH Libraries by the UH Cullen College of Engineering; an 18th-century Ethiopian manuscript of religious texts; a volume of hand-colored woodcuts by artist Bingzhen Yao from the 18^th or 19^th century; a Qur’an manuscript leaf from the 11^th century; and the 1773 Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, the first published book of poetry by a Black author in the United States.

At the conclusion of the self-guided exploration, dean of UH Libraries Christina H. Gola gave welcoming remarks. David Bertman, professor in the department of Music, served as the evening’s spirited emcee. Guests enjoyed a three-course dinner in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, accompanied by a graceful performance from Moores School of Music harpist Juliana Jordan. A delightful keynote from UH alum Shane McAuliffe (’03), host of The Texas Bucket List, brought a fitting finale to the evening.

Beyond a joyous, nostalgic gathering of UH alumni, friends, and colleagues, the event held a higher purpose: to inspire support for the Reimagined Library, a big idea that drives the development of modern, vibrant, and inspiring spaces and services designed to meet the dynamic needs of UH students, faculty, and scholars. Our bold, ambitious master plan will preserve traditional library spaces to honor the history of MD Anderson Library and our University, and it will transform static spaces into active, collaborative areas that reflect the way students learn today.

UH Libraries warmly thanks the host committee members, our guests, Shasta and Sasha, alumni, supporters, colleagues, and UH Ambassadors for a wonderfully memorable evening. Special recognition goes to UH alumna Cathy Coers Frank (’80), whose invaluable knowledge and connections made the event a success. 

Learn more about UH Libraries giving opportunities

Watch MD Anderson Library, Reimagined on YouTube 

View photos from the 75^th Anniversary Celebration on Facebook

The Digital Humanities Core (DHC) is now accepting applications for its Fall Workshop series. Open to all University of Houston faculty, librarians, and staff, the synchronous online workshops cover practical skills and tools for digital humanities research and projects.

Fall workshops include:

• Utilizing CollectionBuilder – September 8, 2026
• Data Aggregation for ArcGIS – September 15 & 22, 2026
• Textual Encoding Initiative (TEI) – October 6, 13 & 20, 2026
• Introduction to Omeka – October 29, 2026

All sessions take place from 10 – 11:30 a.m. CST via Microsoft Teams.

Participants who complete any workshop session receive year-long access to DHC resources, training, and programming. For more information, contact [email protected].

The UH Libraries Hamill Foundation Multimedia Studio is reopening its doors and is ready to help University of Houston students, staff, faculty, and other library patrons bring their audio and multimedia projects to life! Whether you’re recording, creating, or experimenting with multimedia, the studio provides a dedicated space and resources to support your work.

Book Your Studio Time

Reservations open August 23! Studio time must be reserved in advance through the reservation tool. Walk-ins are not available.

Reservations are automatically confirmed upon booking and are limited to three 2-hour sessions per week, per user.

Studio Hours

Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

What to Know Before You Book

As we continue making improvements to the studio space, we encourage patrons to wear breezy, comfortable clothing when using the Hamill.

After your session, your files will be delivered to you via email from [email protected]. Please allow up to one business week to receive your files.

Help Us Spread the Word!

If you’re a UH Library community member, part of a college or department, or simply interested in multimedia at UH, we’d love to partner with you to showcase the studio and the work happening inside it. 

Ready to create? Reservations open August 23, 2026.

University of Houston is a mobile-first campus. The mobile Cougar Card is a new option that gives UH students, faculty, and staff seamless access to campus resources and services through their iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch without carrying a physical card.

The mobile Cougar Card is a new option that gives UH students, faculty, and staff contactless entry to the MD Anderson Library.

Effective immediately, visitors to the MD Anderson Library who have activated their mobile Cougar Card on an iPhone, Android, or Apple Watch can simply tap their device to:

• Enter the MD Anderson Library using the turnstiles (video)
• Check out materials at all Libraries service desks
• Activate and release print jobs at Libraries printers

Visitors who have not activated their mobile Cougar Card are able to use one of the following Library entry methods:

• Physical Cougar Card: tap or swipe your card at the turnstiles
• Digital Cougar Card: in the UH Go app, generate a QR code and present to the Security staff for scanning
• Valid, government-issued photo ID: sign in at the Security desk

Visit Mobile Cougar Card for more information.

Sarah Jones is the new Head of Preservation and Reformatting at UH Libraries.

University of Houston Libraries is delighted to welcome Sarah Jones, our new Head of Preservation and Reformatting.

Please describe your role. How does your work align with the student success and research productivity focus of the University? 

As Head of the Preservation and Reformatting Department (PARD) for the University of Houston Libraries, I oversee the unit responsible for preserving the libraries’ collections and ensuring materials are available many years into the future. Our department performs a variety of tasks, including reformatting audiovisual materials (VHS, film, audiocassettes, etc.) into digital files; digitizing fragile or historically valuable materials such as documents, photographs, newspapers, and scrapbooks; and even confirming that newly created born-digital materials are kept in stable and accessible formats. Our work also includes monitoring the storage environments where those materials are kept. Regular tasks include checking that spaces maintain proper temperature and humidity levels, and that the containers themselves are made of material that will not degrade or further damage the materials over time.  

Preservation and digitization/reformatting work increases access to our materials for students and researchers by making them available remotely, and at the same time reduces the handling of the fragile item. The original item remains relatively stable, but the information it contains can be shared widely. PARD’s responsibilities ensure that students and researchers can access all the materials held within the library, regardless of its format, both now and well into the future. 

Please share a bit about your background and professional interests. How do these inspire and shape your approach to preservation? 

My undergraduate degree is in the history of science and medicine, where I first was introduced to – and fell in love with — rare books and archives. Since graduating with my MLIS, I worked in academic libraries in a variety of roles that allowed me to develop expertise across a few areas: digitization, archival processing and preservation, and reference services. All those experiences combined gave me an understanding of how central preservation is to all aspects of librarianship. Working in different areas has also given me a deep appreciation of the specialized work that our library faculty and staff do every day. It is so exciting to work with colleagues on collaborative projects and test out new, innovative ideas! Each person brings different expertise and ideas to our shared goal of connecting students and researchers with the resources they need. 

What are one or two things you’d like scholars and students to know about the function/purpose of preservation and reformatting? 

Preservation and reformatting balance two essential goals: protecting original materials and ensuring continued access to information for research, teaching, and learning. While my department obviously focuses on the material in the library, the same basic principles apply to your personal collection or family history. Unfortunately, most people don’t think about preservation until it is too late: the basement flooded, bugs got into clothes stored in the garage, or the cat knocked a glass of water onto your laptop before you could back up your files.  Taking some small but critical steps now means your most treasured materials will last well into the future. Store your valued materials in a (relatively) dry and cool place, ideally in an enclosed container or tote, to keep pests, dirt, and water out. Keep copies of any important digital files on a couple different storage devices.  If one gets destroyed, you have a backup. Preservation can be incredibly detailed and complicated, but it can also be adapted to your ability and need. Taking a few precautions now makes all the difference in 20, 30, or 100 years. 

University of Houston Libraries is pleased to announce the 2026 recipient cohort of the UH Open Education Incentive (OPEN) Program. 

The OPEN Program supports instructors in adopting open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices in their courses. The program’s flexibility provides a variety of options for faculty to remove costs associated with commercial textbooks, employ innovative and creative teaching methods in their courses, and share openly licensed learning materials that other instructors may reuse and adapt for their own courses. By promoting affordability of course materials and introducing experiential learning opportunities to enrich student learning, the program supports the university’s strategic goal of providing a top-tier and inclusive educational experience to all UH students.  

Instructors awarded the Textbook Affordability Incentive will adopt, adapt, or create OER, or use a combination of freely available or library-licensed resources, to replace required commercial textbook(s) in a course.  

Instructors awarded the Open Educational Practices Incentive will create and share an OER learning object (including assignments, quizzes, lecture slides, lesson plans, videos, or other teaching resources), which benefits both students and other educators who can reuse and repurpose it. This incentive also supports instructors in replacing a traditional assignment with a renewable assignment, implementing what is commonly called open pedagogy, or engaging students in co-creating course content that can be openly licensed and shared. 

2026 OPEN Program winners are: 

Textbook Affordability: 

• Brandon Duke – LAW 5382: Administrative Law – UH Law Center 

• Polina Kharmats – POLS 3311: Introduction to Comparative Politics – College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

• Julio Cesar Lopez Otero – SPAN 2307: Spanish for Heritage Learners I – College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 

• Jovita Nsoh – CIS 6358: Secure Software Design – Cullen College of Engineering 

Estimated textbook costs removed for students in the first year of implementing no-cost materials in these courses is $70,000, benefiting an estimated 400 students. Awards were granted based on the number of students impacted, cost of the textbook being replaced, the type of project and type of resources being adopted, and the feasibility of successful implementation. 

Open Educational Practices: 

• Carrie S. Cutler – CUIN 6341: Teaching Problem Solving in Mathematics – College of Education 

• Kathrine Ginapp, Liliana Soto (Graduate Student), & Daniel Casanova – GHL 3420 & GHL 3197: Foodservice Operations & Introduction to Baking and Pastry – Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership 

• Elena Farah – INTB 3355: Global Environment of Business – C.T. Bauer College of Business 

• Khirul Basar Mim – GRET 6336: Global Retail Analysis of World Regions – Cullen College of Engineering 

These Open Educational Practices proposals will impact approximately 350 students. Awards were granted based on project goals, feasibility of successful implementation, and anticipated enhancement to student learning.  

“We are proud to continue growing the impact of the Open Education Incentive Program by expanding access to high-quality, no-cost learning materials,” said Ariana Santiago, associate dean for research and student engagement. “Through their commitment to student success, instructors are reducing barriers, fostering greater engagement, and creating meaningful learning experiences that empower students to thrive both inside and outside the classroom.” 

Learn more about open educational resources at UH. 

Special thanks to the members of the 2026 OPEN Program Review Committee: Kate McNally Carter, Wenli Gao, Dr. Marédil León Cedeño, Dr. Nathan Shepley, and Imani Spence. 

This summer, the UH Architecture, Design & Art Library hosted the Architecture & Design Week of the UH Arts District Summer Camp for children ages 6-12. Through this program, campers experienced some of UH’s most vibrant artistic and design programs, including a tour of the Jenkins Library and the opportunity to design their own residential buildings. There were three workstations: in the first, campers used the library’s extensive resources to research residential building designs; second, they used the library’s design tools to create their own basic house plans; and third, they decorated their plans using a variety of arts and craft supplies. Eventually, they created their own models under the guidance of camp leaders in the Elgin Street Studios. This was a wonderful opportunity for young minds to learn both practical and creative skills. Scroll through the gallery to see photos from this fun and educational week!

Shasta, UH Libraries’ new AI-powered chatbot, is now live on the UH Libraries homepage.

Designed to help students, faculty, and staff quickly find answers to common questions, Shasta is grounded primarily in UH Libraries’ website content and can also draw on information from across UH campus resources when needed. Whether you’re looking for library hours, borrowing information, research support, or other campus-related resources, Shasta can help you find answers without the extra searching.

Click on the image above and give Shasta a try!

University of Houston Libraries celebrated its past and present employees at the MD Anderson Library 75th Anniversary Employee Celebration on Friday, June 12, 2026. The event, held at the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, was a fun and festive summer reunion, with carnival games, UH-themed raffle giveaways, door prizes, light bites, and plenty of wonderful memories. Many thanks go to the members of the Libraries Employee Engagement Committee, and Jessica Rodriguez and Larry Schmidt, for producing the lovely event.

The event was the second in a series of celebrations commemorating 75 years of the MD Anderson Library. The first, “Cheers to 75 Years,” was held in April for students, faculty, and staff. The third and culminating celebration will be held on Saturday, August 29–registration is now open.

Past and present UH Libraries employees at the MD Anderson Library 75th Anniversary celebration

View photos from the MD Anderson Library 75th Anniversary Employee Celebration.