Libraries

University of Georgia Associate Provost & University Librarian Toby Graham has announced the appointment of Dr. Ashton Ellett as the director of the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

Ellett, who has served as the Russell Library’s politics and public policy archivist since 2018, will also oversee the Georgia Capitol Museum in Atlanta as part of his new role. He succeeds Sheryl Vogt, who recently retired after marking 50 years with the Russell Library, one of three special collections units within the University of Georgia Libraries.

From UGA Today. 

The University of Georgia is reimagining learning spaces by combining resources that allow students to experiment with their ideas and bring them to life with new technologies. In the new Creative Engagement Wing at the Miller Learning Center, students can record a podcast, embroider a tapestry, 3D print a medical device prototype or rehearse a presentation using a virtual reality headset.

University of Georgia students, faculty, and staff now have expanded opportunities to stay up to date on Georgia news for free, thanks to a UGA Libraries-funded online subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The online subscription, which is provided at no cost for those with a UGA email address, adds to the UGA Libraries’ offerings of digital news content, which also includes The New York Times and The Athletic, Wall Street Journal, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Nine­ University of Georgia faculty members have been chosen as 2025 Special Collections Faculty Teaching Fellows, a program designed to help instructors creating active learning courses that allow students to engage with UGA Libraries’ archival materials.

The new cohort reaches a broad spectrum of academic areas, from African American Studies, history, music, religion, Spanish, to geography, political science, and statistics.

“We are delighted to welcome our 10th cohort into the Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellows program,” said university librarian and associate provost Toby Graham. “Since 2015, SCL Fellows have developed about 100 archives-based courses and reached thousands of students with hands-on experiences that embody UGA’s commitment to active learning.”

The 2025 Special Collections Faculty Teaching Fellows are: 

Zachary Stiles admitted that he made some mistakes when he started working on his research paper for a history class. But as the second-year history major worked through the process, he not only earned a great grade but $1,000 — the top prize in the University of Georgia Libraries Undergraduate Research Awards.

For the award, Stiles reflected on his research process by creating an online course module that can teach other students about how to understand historical methodology, dive into the archives for resources, and build an exemplary essay. 

Kellie Templeman loves data so much that it’s not just her day job but her night job too. Kellie, the research data management coordinator at the University of Georgia Libraries, is a team statistician for the Athens Rock Lobsters, the minor-league hockey team that recently began playing at the Akins Ford Arena at the Classic Center.

Learn more about Kellie — and how her love of data can help UGA faculty and students in their research journey — in the Q&A below.

What’s your job at UGA Libraries? 

A unique opportunity to perform research at one of the most ecologically and historically significant sites in Georgia is available to University of Georgia graduate students and faculty, hosted by the Center for Research and Education at Wormsloe (CREW), an interdisciplinary research site administered by the UGA Libraries. 

Join us for Love Data Week, a series of events led by experts from UGA, the University of Liverpool, and Ludwig Maximillian University, Germany, coming up just in time for Valentine’s Day. 

UGA students, faculty, and staff are invited to a series of free workshops celebrating data and teaching researchers at all stages how to plan out their data strategies, organize, analyze, and share their results. The workshops, many of which are available online via Zoom, will be held Feb. 10-14. 

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: As UGA's campus reopens tomorrow at 10 a.m., all Libraries locations will open at the same time. This includes the Miller Learning Center, the Main and McBay Libraries, the Special Collections Building and others.

Please visit libs.uga.edu/all-hours for complete hours for all locations.

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UPDATE: As UGA's campus remains closed due to winter weather, all UGA Libraries locations, including the Miller Learning Center, will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 22. 

Digital resources — including access to e-books, online journals, and millions of database resources — will remain available at libs.uga.edu. Log in with your UGA ID to access these academic resources.

Continue to follow this account for information about reopening plans.

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SATURDAY UPDATE: Three popular UGA Libraries study spots will reopen Saturday, Jan. 11 after the winter weather event on Jan. 10. Main and McBay Libraries and the Miller Learning Center will all open at noon, thanks to work from UGA's facilities division to de-ice entrances.

We encourage patrons to practice caution if they plan to visit, as areas of ice may not be visible. 

Main and McBay Libraries will close at 7 p.m., and MLC will close at 9 p.m. We expect to return to normal operations on Sunday.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: The University of Georgia Libraries will close as part of the UGA campus closure announced for Friday, Jan. 10 due to a winter weather warning. 

The Miller Learning Center and Main and McBay Libraries will close at midnight Thursday, Jan. 9, and all facilities at the Athens campus will remain closed on Friday, Jan. 10.