News from University Librarian Elizabeth Cowell
A Letter from UCSC Parent Praveen Swadi
Tips from a Graduating Senior
Gary Young: A Retrospective Books, Broadsides, Prints & Ephemera
Thick, Slimy, Squishy, Squiggly & Generative: Selections from Donna Haraway's Archive
A new exhibition for Dead Central!
News from University Librarian Elizabeth Cowell
As a parent of two college students, I understand the amount of guidance and encouragement that parents and family provide for our children. Family involvement can help students navigate the challenges of academic life, make informed decisions about their future, and stay motivated during stressful times. Whether through helping choose the right classes, discussing career paths, or simply being a steady source of encouragement, parents and family often provide the foundation that enables students to succeed. Our belief in our children’s potential can instill confidence and resilience, both of which are vital for academic and personal growth during the college years.
There is something unique about UC Santa Cruz in that, even when I’m traveling around the state, I can ask anyone I see with Slug Wear on: “Which library?” And if they are a parent or student, they always have an answer. As a parent of college students at other universities, I can tell you that is not the case at their schools.
We take a lot of pride in the fact that the libraries here at UC Santa Cruz are primary locations for students in a way that is unique. Banana Slug parents are lucky. In this Library update, you will hear from current parent Praveen Swadi and his daughter Rujuta Swadi (College Nine ‘25) who is graduating this year. If you are a parent of a Banana Slug yourself, we hope you will pass this message along to your student! On a personal note, an announcement went out to the campus recently announcing my retirement in January 2026. We will share the announcement here. I will reflect on my experience leading the University Library, some positive thoughts for the future, and introduce you to future Interim University Librarian, Kerry Scott, in the Fall Newsletter.
Best wishes,
M. Elizabeth Cowell
Richard L. Press University Librarian
Presidential Chair, University Library
A Letter from UCSC Parent Praveen Swadi
Dear Banana Slug Parents,
Like many of you, I have watched in awe as my child became a fully-fledged adult. Four years ago my wife Vaishali and I dropped our daughter Rujuta off at her dorm room in College Nine and imagined the bright future that was in store for her. This spring, Rujuta completed her last final and will walk across the East Field stage in her cap and gown while we cheer her on.
One of the most important places at UC Santa Cruz for Rujuta has been the Library. In an era of instant information, libraries remain one of the last truly democratic spaces—a place where knowledge is free, accessible, and transformative. The UC Santa Cruz Library is more than just a collection of books; it’s a gateway to discovery, a refuge for deep thinking, and a foundation for future breakthroughs.
With your help, we can ensure that the UCSC Library continues to:
- Provide resources for students and researchers to push the boundaries of knowledge.
- Offer spaces for creativity, collaboration, and innovation.
- Preserve and expand access to critical archives, research materials, and digital collections.
Whether your Banana Slug prefers McHenry Library or the Science & Engineering Library, a library is not just a building—it is a promise. A promise that education will always be within reach, that curiosity will always have a home, and that knowledge will remain accessible for those who seek it.
I hope you will join me in keeping this promise alive for UCSC students by making a gift to the Library Opportunity Fund today.
Sincerely,
Praveen Swadi
Current UC Santa Cruz Parent
Q&A with Rujuta Swadi (College Nine ‘25, Computer Science)
Which is your favorite library on campus (McHenry or Science & Engineering) and why?
While the [Science & Engineering Library’s] location makes it really convenient, McHenry is my favorite library on campus. I feel like there are a lot of different spaces to work in. For example, I would go to the booths on the 2nd floor and the Silent Study room on the 4th floor when I needed to focus and I liked sitting on the reading porches for more casual work.
How has the Library helped you succeed as a student? Do you have a special memory that took place at the library?
The Library has helped me succeed as a student by being a place I can stop at, especially once I moved off campus and had a longer commute. I've also made use of a lot of its resources, like the whiteboards, reserved study rooms, printers, and portable chargers. I can't think of one specific special memory at this time but I liked going to the library because I knew I'd usually run into a friend since we all hung out at the libraries between classes.
How has your parents' support of you impacted your time at UCSC?
My parents' support of me has impacted my time at UCSC by easing the transition between high school and college, especially when it came to building a four year plan and adding a minor. It also encouraged me to explore different opportunities at school, like on campus jobs and internships. Finally, their support was just valuable in general while navigating other college experiences, including finding off campus housing and going through the internship/job hunt process.
As a graduating senior, do you have any advice for your fellow students at UCSC?
Getting involved in research on campus is something I wish I'd done more of. I think it's a nice way to get practical/technical experience and try out different things because it can be more structured than a personal project but also different from a corporate internship!
Gary Young: A Retrospective Books, Broadsides, Prints & Ephemera
Showcasing the 50-year legacy of celebrated Santa Cruz poet, printer, and UCSC teacher Gary Young, this comprehensive retrospective shows Young’s masterful pairing of poetry and letterpress printing. For the last fifteen years, he has served as the director of the Cowell Press at UCSC, teaching printmaking and book arts to undergraduate and graduate students, guiding them to experiment with image and text as he himself has done for half a century. Long overdue, this retrospective is a celebration of his lifelong devotion and advocacy of these two intimately conjoined art forms.
Thick, Slimy, Squishy, Squiggly & Generative: Selections from Donna Haraway's Archive
This exhibition showcases select materials from the Donna Haraway Papers, newly processed and available for research at UCSC’s McHenry Library. Donna Haraway is a professor emerita in the departments of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz, where she has taught since 1980, and where she became the first tenured professor in feminist theory in the United States. Haraway is a prominent scholar in the field of science, technology, and medicine studies; with expertise in feminist theory; relations between life and human sciences; histories of animal-human relationships; cultures of nature and environment; science and politics; and animal studies.
Organized by the University Library’s Elisabeth Remak-Honnef Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) and 2024-2025 CART Fellow Annika Berry.
A new exhibition for Dead Central!
In early June, "All the Pages Are My Days": Print and Visual Culture of the Grateful Dead in Context will open on the second floor of McHenry Library. The exhibition celebrates the art and print material generated by the Grateful Dead and their fans in the context of the printing explosion of the 1960s and ‘70s. More information will be shared soon! Learn more about the Grateful Dead Archive exhibits.
Credits
Contributors: Elizabeth Cowell, Liz White, Alix Norton, and Sam Regal
Production: Linda Hunt
Copyediting: Greg Careaga
Photography: Dishita Jhawar, UCSC Stock Photography
Santa Cruz, CA
