From the Dean, April 2026

Looking around the library, I see students embarking on the final stretch of the semester. Study rooms are booked, and whiteboards are covered in equations. Some of our own student employees are preparing to graduate. I invite you to learn more about the amazing students who have worked at the libraries during their time at UW. I can’t wait to see the remarkable things they accomplish next. 

Students are an integral part of the Libraries workforce. Did you know that the Libraries employ 60 students each semester? If you worked at the Libraries during your time at UW, let’s reconnect! Tell us what you’re up to now, and we’ll send you a surprise package from Laramie. This student employee roundup is our chance to reconnect with those who helped make the Libraries an amazing place to work, study, relax, and learn.  

Beyond our role in student life, the Libraries continue to build intellectual connections across campus and throughout the state. This spring’s full calendar reflects the breadth of that engagement, with events ranging from literary fiction, United States history, rangelands ecology, data management, and the future of AI in Libraries. 

We are especially looking forward to welcoming photographer and author Lindsay Linton Buk to Coe Library, along with a panel of distinguished women of Wyoming, including Marilyn Kite, Nimi McConigley, and Beth Venn, next week. I hope you can join us for what promises to be a stimulating and inspiring conversation. 

Earlier this spring, Coe Library was also home to the second annual Humanities Summit. It was inspiring to see the depth and range of humanities research happening at the University of Wyoming. Invited speakers offered far-ranging perspectives from across the humanities, culminating in a rousing keynote by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Larson, who reflected on the spirit of 1776 as we look ahead to America 250. 

Literary conversations continued with a visit from esteemed author and Library Advisory Board member Nina McConigley, who read from her new novel, How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder. As someone who grew up in Wyoming in the 1980s, I found the novel especially compelling. Set in a fictionalized Casper during the summer of 1986, the story of two sisters resonated strongly with our overflow audience. If you haven’t yet read Nina’s novel, now is the perfect time. 

Alongside these humanities-focused events, librarians hosted Love Data Week a weeklong event in February, marking UW’s first participation in this global initiative. The week highlighted best practices in data management, sharing, preservation, and reuse. Today, UW Libraries hosts more than 1,900 GB of data in our repository, helping researchers meet funder requirements while sharing their work broadly. 

As we look ahead to the summer months, we will welcome guests from outside UW for two additional events. The second annual AI Summit, on May 29, will bring together librarians, archivists, and museum workers from across Wyoming to learn about and share applications of AI in our workplaces. We will also host Rangelands West Partnership for their annual meeting in May, continuing our commitment to statewide collaboration. 

None of this work happens in isolation. It is sustained by students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community partners who believe in the Libraries as spaces of learning, dialogue, and discovery. Thank you for your continued support and engagement. I hope to see you in the library this spring and summer as we continue building those connections together. 

See you in the stacks,

Cass Kvenild
Dean of Libraries