University Libraries Community Engagement

Program Activity

Library research workshops/tours for area high school groups

Local high school teachers and/or library media specialists bring their classes here so that the Student Success Librarian can present them with an idea of the resources available to them in an academic library, help them with their research, and provide them with access to our resources for research.

Community borrowing of materials

Students, faculty, staff, and community members may borrow from our local libraries, from the OhioLINK consortia comprising 91 member Ohio academic institutions’ libraries with a central catalog of nearly 50 million items, and from the SearchOhio consortia comprising 21 Ohio public libraries with access to more than 10 million items.

Partnership with Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities

University Libraries provides tours and volunteer opportunities to students who are participating in Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities' Summer Transition Experience. Students enrolled in this program are supported while building self-advocacy and self-determination skills to develop life goals that meet their interests, preferences, and needs as they explore careers to help identify their path to employment and place in our community.

Archives of the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music

Collaborated with the College of Musical Arts (with the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music), composers and musicians from the musical community at large, and the University Libraries. Scores of musical pieces submitted for the annual New Music Festival are on deposit in the Music Library and Bill Schurk Sound Archives while papers documenting the history of the Festival are in the Center for Archival Collections. Users from throughout the world access both collections regularly.

Collection tours for BGSU leadership and administration

Engagement activity with community and student leaders to provide tours of the special collections. This activity strengthens our relationships with community individuals and businesses.

Local History Publication Awards

The Local History Publication Award was established to encourage and recognize authors who write about northwest Ohio history. The Academic Scholar Division includes works by authors who are professional writers or academicians. The Independent Scholar Division includes works by independent or local researchers, amateurs and other creative writers who do not claim “history” as a profession.

Great Lakes Vessels Online Image Database

The Great Lakes Vessel Database serves as an index tool to our collection of more than 100,000 vessel images. The items in the database have been made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Items from the collection have been used in books, television & radio productions, documentaries, museum exhibits, and underwater archaeological studies.