Denison University Libraries

Summer is upon us! Our summer hours are 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday, Closed weekends.

Today's celebrates many of our furry friends who've helped us destress through the years, including one very fluffy cat friend. We hope you enjoyed this week's De-Stress Fest and wish you all good luck as you finish up your finals! 😺🐶

Come get some stress relief at the end-of-term De-Stress Fest! There will be snacks, massage chairs, activities, and therapy dogs. Stop by for some relaxing fun! Tomorrow, May 5th, 1-3pm.

We are thrilled to extend our warmest congratulations to Eliana, one of our outstanding and dedicated Senior Resident Advisors, on receiving the prestigious Provost Academic Excellence Award! This remarkable achievement is a testament to her unwavering dedication, tireless efforts, and unrelenting pursuit of academic excellence, which continue to inspire and motivate our entire community. Her commitment to academic rigor, passion for learning, and exceptional leadership skills make her an invaluable asset to our institution. We are honored to have her as a part of our team and look forward to seeing the incredible impact she will continue to make in the years to come! 🎉🎊

It's National Libary Week so let's celebrate with a featuring Denison's first Doane Library and our first librarian, Zella Allen Dixson.

The original Doane Library was built in 1878 and stood roughly where the 1980's library addition now stands. The interior was a single large room with a loft, while the exterior gave many people the impression of a church. Before the Doane Library, book collections were maintained by the various literary societies for student use.

Zella Allen Dixson came to Denison in 1887 to take on the project of making order of the many book collections coming together in one space. She had studied library science with Melvil Dewey at Columbia College and was one of the earliest female professional librarians in the country. After accessioning, classifying, and cataloging all of the books, Dixson instituted a card catalog system to track their use. She also added shelf labels to help with organization and her work led to an increase of over 1,000 volumes being circulated that first year. She was so successful that she was hired as Denison's first librarian, a role she held until 1890 when she left to take a position with the University of Chicago. It's been said that Zella haunts the 5th floor of the Denison Libraries but that seems unlikely as she died in Chicago in 1924 after her long and successful career as a librarian.

Meet Athena 🦉

She’s been here longer than most of us. She's quietly watching, learning, and keeping the stories of the library alive.

Some say she first appeared when the library opened. Others say she shows up exactly when you need her most. Either way, she’s here now, ready to guide you, inspire you, and maybe remind you to take a break.

Keep an eye out… You never know where Athena might appear next.

Surprise……. we aren't finished yet!

It’s Library Outreach Day, and we’re highlighting our SRAs. They are the engine behind your research journey, whether that means helping you look for resources, coming up with research questions, or just connecting you with a librarian, our senior student workers make it happen. We literally couldn’t do it without them!

Here is what our seniors love about the library:

Eliana Lazzaro: “Getting to talk to students about research when they're working on a project in my field always feels great!.”

Minh Nguyen: “Probably the everyday work of fixing people’s problems and feeling like I’ve done something to make their life a little bit easier through my help.”

Khiem Nguyen: “One of my favorite memories is helping someone find a book they ended up loving… seeing them come back excited reminded me how meaningful libraries can be.”

Ella Tummel: “My favorite part about working at the library is helping new students and seeing them become more comfortable. I also really like my coworkers.”

Thanks for being part of our story