Students and librarians enjoyed wine and light bites as they chatted and mingled at this year’s Grad Student Mixer on Tuesday in the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion.
The event hosts a growing number of participants year after year and encourages graduate students to find out who their subject librarian is in addition to introducing students to each other.
Kelsey Brett, the director of the mixer and Discovery Systems librarian, said most people seem to enjoy the event because over 100 student participants show up every semester.
“The ultimate purpose of the event is to help students meet their subject librarians and other students in an informal and relaxed environment,” said Brett. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve so that students can connect better with libraries on campus.”
In addition to the free food and wine, students seemed to be enthralled by the bingo game that required students to identify subject librarians. Once students completed their bingo cards, they had the opportunity to win prizes. The game brought out a friendly competitive attitude in students while forcing them to learn more about their subject library.
“It’s a fun event, and to top it off, we get free food and wine,” said graduate physics student Rafay Anwar.
Not all students make use of subject libraries because they are not provided with enough information about them.
“I think it’s definitely an enjoyable event, and it gives me a great opportunity to get to know students who are under my discipline,” said psychology and social work librarian Irene Ke. “I come here every year just so I connect with and meet new students.”
Librarians hope that the mixer will help make the students aware that they are there to help them.
“It’s pretty nice to be able to meet our subject librarian because sometimes it can be hard finding help in the library,” said graduate civil engineering student Meng Liu.
