Library Calendar

The ancient poet Sappho coined "sweetbitter" in one of her most evocative verses, still striking us to the heart nearly three millennia later. As with so many ancient figures, the poet is more legend than person today, her story told and retold even as her poetry continues to enchant and move. This exhibit will be on display through mid-August 2026.

Explore 250 Years of Documenting Democracy, a three-part exhibit presented by Government Information Services in the Main Library, with displays in Room 220, the Library Gallery, and the cases near the Main Stacks entrance.

Please join us in the RBML from 3-5 pm on Thursday, September 24, for the opening reception of our new exhibit. Curator Lynne Thomas will present brief remarks, and refreshments will be served. This exhibit will remain on display through summer 2027. 

The Youth Literature Festival is a free, family-friendly celebration of reading, storytelling, and creativity hosted by the University of Illinois College of Education.

The techniques for making texts have changed across multiple media and historical contexts since antiquity, but a regular feature of the work of authors and scholars through all those changes is the reliance on helpers or amanuenses. Dr. Ann Blair (Harvard) will discuss the factors that have made them both invisible and occasionally visible, and the kind of work they did.

Come and celebrate the semester’s end with hot apple cider, sweet and salty treats, and relaxing RBML-themed activities. Make a button, fill in a coloring sheet, collaborate on a big puzzle, and snag a fresh print of our annual holiday linocut card! This event is part of the library's Reading Day De-Stress Fest; it is open to the public and refreshments will be served.