May 2025 - NIU Libraries

A crowd gathered around a demonstration at the grand opening of the NIU Book Lab. The image shows people observing a person operating an antique book press, with colorful paper garlands hanging in the background. Attendees of various ages and backgrounds are engaged, while some take photos or notes.

NIU Booklab Celebrates Grand Opening

May 13, 2025 aamberg Book Lab, News

On April 28 approximately 200 NIU students, faculty and staff members, alumni, and community members gathered on Founders Memorial Library’s fourth floor to celebrate the grand opening of the NIU Booklab. The lab is an interdisciplinary initiative originally developed by faculty members in the English Department and University Libraries, which

Fredrick Stark presenting at the Horatio Alger Conference in Founders Memorial Library, with a presentation slide titled 'Reflections: Horatio Alger Fellowship for the Study of American Popular Culture' on the screen behind him.

NIU Libraries Hosts Horatio Alger Society Conference

May 12, 2025 aamberg News

Northern Illinois University Libraries proudly hosted the annual conference of the Horatio Alger Society from May 1–4, 2025, marking the fourth time the university has welcomed the event. Previous conferences were held on the NIU campus in 1999, 2004, and 2012. The conference was expertly organized by Matthew Short, Head

CLAS Sociology and Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies awards presentation

Departments recognized as leaders in course materials affordability

May 2, 2025 Steffen Scharmacher News

This spring, NIU’s Course Materials Affordability Task Force (CMAT) presented the third annual Affordable Course Materials (ACM) Department Awards. These awards are part of the task force’s Leading Impact Program, which supports and recognizes academic departments and individual faculty for their adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) and low-cost materials in courses. Starting in 2022, affordable