New signs welcome you to the University Libraries

New signs welcome you to the University Libraries

Jan. 17, 2023
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Sophomore Daniel Martinez poses by the new sign

During the winter closure, seven new signs with a special University Libraries welcome message were installed near the entrances of Main, Weaver, and Health Sciences Libraries and Special Collections. 

The project's purposes:

  • Send a unified welcoming message for all students, employees, and visitors.
  • Connect with students representing diverse races/ethnicities, backgrounds, and communities.
  • Acknowledge our organization as part of a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an American Indian and Alaska Native-Serving Institution.
  • Recognize Tucson’s location in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and as the home to the Tohono O’odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

The translations for "welcome" were created in consultation with the governments of the respective Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe that identified these members to provide them: Ofelia Zepeda, Regents Professor, University of Arizona Department of Linguistics, provided the Tohono O'odham translation. Daniel Vega, Director, Department of Language and Culture, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, provided the Yaqui translation.  

Shan Sutton, University Libraries Dean, and Kenya Johnson, Marketing Communications Director, were project leads. A big thanks to everyone involved, including the Diversity, Social Justice & Equity CouncilMikel BatesAdrian CotaJanet CrumJerry FlanaryRobyn Huff-EiblAnnabelle NuñezJerry PerryVerónica Reyes-EscuderoHasan SanliSarah ShreevesMarty Taylor, and Hayri Yildirim