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Library News

University Librarian Haipeng Li, author Betty Blanks, and librarian Emily Lin
Library Highlights the Life of Poet Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel during American Archives Month
Author: Emily Lin


November 8, 2024


The Library hosted a program last week with Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel’s biographer, Betty Blanks. A close friend and “surrogate daughter” of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, Ms. Blanks shared a history with the poet as a child of Dust Bowl migrants.

“Wilma and I were like family. When I first met her, the sound of her voice was so familiar to me. I recognized the people in her poems. She spoke about back home with the same longing that I had always heard from the elders in my own family,” said Blanks. “I was born right here in the Valley, in Visalia. But I recognized Wilma’s longing for that old ‘home,’ because I always heard that same deep longing expressed by my own family.”

Her recent work, Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, begins with McDaniel’s move from Oklahoma to escape starvation during the Great Depression, and describes the “affliction” by which the poet felt compelled to express her...

Close up image of laptop with hand of someone about to type. Apply Now text on gold arrow facing right. Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence centered at bottom on gold background. Blue round graphic at upper right, bleeds off of page.
Now Accepting Applications for Student Research Excellence Award


November 8, 2024


We are kicking off the Carter Joseph Abrescy and Larry Kranich Library Award for Student Research Excellence for 2024-2025 with a call for applications.

Library Hours Update
Library Hours Update


November 5, 2024


We are happy to announce that Library hours will be fully restored to 2023-2024 levels in spring 2025 with funding from the Provost’s Office.

We're hiring in white script lettering on red banner. Banner is on images of three stacks books with close up of laptop at right.
We're Hiring a Technical Services Coordinator


November 5, 2024


We're recruiting for a Technical Services Coordinator who will acquire, catalog, and process print and media and ensure that these materials are accessible in our online discovery tool.

Archives intern Tyler McGurk
Merced Native Gains Hands-On Archives Experience


November 4, 2024


Tyler McGurk, currently pursuing a Master's degree in Library and Information Science, learned fundamental skills and strategies as an intern in the Library's Archives & Special Collections this summer.

International Open Access Week with orange unlock symbol; Community Over Commercialization. October 21-27, 2024 with hastage OAWeek. Images at left with two hand reaching for each other through a white open access unlocked logo.
Open Scholarship featured at Reception


October 29, 2024


We celebrated International Open Access Week with a reception co-sponsored with UC Merced’s Academic Personnel Office (APO) on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. Faculty and librarians attended and examples of faculty’s contributions to open scholarship were featured.

Making Sense of the Election & Staying Well
Upcoming Event: Making Sense of the Election & Staying Well


October 17, 2024


This panel highlights faculty research that can help us make sense of the current political environment. It will provide strategies for managing stress and coping with emotions, evaluating political rhetoric, navigating puzzling polarization, and sifting through the information landscape.

Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, with author Betty Blanks graphic with book cover and author photo
Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, with author Betty Blanks


October 1, 2024


Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, Tulare Poet Laureate, was the first woman in California to be honored with a Literary Landmark. Join us for a talk and reading by McDaniel’s longtime friend and biographer, Betty Blanks.

Faculty Author Series with Associate Teaching Professor Samantha Tetangco Ocena. Photo of author facing left.
Faculty Author Series Talk: Samantha Tetangco Ocena


September 27, 2024


Please join us for an author talk featuring Associate Teaching Professor in Global Arts, Media & Writing Studies Samantha Tetangco Ocena.

Taylor & Francis Open Access Agreement

September 20, 2024


September 20, 2024


Effective January 1, 2024, the University of California (UC) and Taylor & Francis entered into an agreement that provides financial support to UC corresponding authors who publish open access in Taylor & Francis journals. Authors at all ten UC campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are eligible for this support.

The UC libraries will cover open access publishing fees, also known as article processing charges (APCs), in full for UC corresponding authors who publish open access in Taylor & Francis journals. This agreement has two goals: (1) to support UC’s mission as a public university by making more UC-authored publications open to the world, and (2) to...

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