The walls of the Shien-Ming Wu Current Periodicals Reading Room in the Shapiro Science Library are filling up fast.
Since 2008 the annual Science Covers Project has reproduced and mounted images from book and journal covers published from 2002 to the present that feature the work of faculty, staff and students in the LSA Natural Sciences and Departments and the School of Natural Resources. Last year 20 covers were added to the 39 already hanging in the Reading Room, and the Shapiro Science Library will hold a reception to celebrate the 34 that will be added this year.
This year the Science Covers Project at Shapiro Science Library will add 34 book and journal covers to its collection.
Catherine Soehner, director of Science and Engineering Libraries, began the project in order to highlight and celebrate the scientific research achievements of U-M faculty, staff and students. The images, she says, not only beautify the Reading Room, they also inspire up-and-coming generations of students to carry on the Michigan tradition of excellence.
Soehner points out that the project also is a way to bring faculty back into the library. “Prior to the Internet, faculty came to the Periodicals Reading Room to read scientific journals, but these days most are available online.”
The Science Covers Project reception provides a venue for those informal encounters that often spark ideas, collaboration and discovery. “Also, it’s a no-pressure event for faculty,” Soehner says. “So often they only receive recognition for their work during reviews for tenure or promotion.”
This year’s reception will be held from 4-6 p.m. Feb. 15 in the Shien-Ming Wu Current Periodicals Room, on the third floor of the Shapiro Science Library. Phil Hanlon, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, is scheduled to speak at 4:30 p.m.
“I very much look forward to celebrating the achievements of my colleagues, and to sharing some thoughts on the connections between research and the Library,” Hanlon says.
The reception is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. To RSVP for the event, contact Shannon Szalay at [email protected] or 734-764-3577.
The Science Covers project is made possible though the Shien-Ming Wu endowment fund. The fund was given to the library by Daisy Wu, former director of Science and Engineering Libraries, in honor of her late husband, a U-M professor of engineering.
