Your Destination for Discovery
By Sarah Bender
From even before the front doors open in the morning until long after the last student leaves for the night, Hunt Library is a bustling hub of innovation and expertise at Carnegie Mellon. The campus community’s destination for everything from course reserves and CMU history to sustainability and study spaces, here’s a glimpse into what goes on behind Hunt’s many illuminated windows as the Libraries powers research, relaxation, and revolutionary interdisciplinary collaboration across the university each day.
7:15 a.m.
In the mailroom, Materials Processing Coordinator Leah Zande sorts the first deliveries of the day. Throughout the morning, she’ll notify recipients of their packages, or deliver them to colleagues throughout Hunt.
In addition to incoming and outgoing mail, Zande also processes all physical items in the Libraries’ collection. This can include stamping, transferring items to different locations, editing records, making labels for books, receiving journals, sending items to the bindery, and anything else an item needs to be shelf-ready. She also curates each month’s DEI book display.
8:00 a.m.
At 8:00 each morning, the front doors are unlocked and students begin to enter the building. In the background, staff finishes getting the circulation desk ready for a new day.
| Visitors: | 739,645 |
| Busiest month: | September |
| Space reservations: | 10,059 |
| Busiest days: | Mondays |
| Busiest times: | 12–3 p.m |
| Items loaned in September: | 15,447 |
8:20 a.m.
Students move deeper into the library in search of the perfect study space to start their day. The stairwell in Hunt is lit by “Ideation,” a 2015 sculpture by 2016 College of Engineering graduate Jaime Chu and 2017 College of Engineering graduate Robert Rudolph. The sculpture was created for the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology network (IDeATe)’s Physical Computing class.
9:00 a.m.
IDeATe students in The Culture of Color experiment with resist printing, which uses a dye-resistant medium to create designs on dyed fabric. They use a Cricut cutting machine to cut stamps for applying soy wax, then dye the fabric with indigo to create the final image.
IDeATe has several classrooms in Hunt Library, part of a collaborative making facility that allows students to experiment with state-of-the-art technologies and materials. IDeATe’s 10 minors and 30–50 courses per semester are available to undergraduate students from any discipline.
Did you know? 2024 is IDeATe’s 10th anniversary! This year, there are currently 399 declared minors — but thousands of students each year are supported by the program through courses and other resources like IDeATe lending.
10:15 a.m.
Tepper School of Business junior Jasmine Zeng and College of Engineering junior Wanetta Osei-Bonsu check out some new additions to the Sci Fi Station on the second floor. The new reading nook features more than six dozen science fiction and fantasy novels, purchased with the Tom and Eileen McConomy Endowed Fund.
Did you know? Anyone can make a request to add a new material to the Libraries collection by filling out this form.
11:00 a.m.
On the fifth floor of Hunt Library, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation presents the 17th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration. The exhibition includes 43 artworks by contemporary botanical artists across 19 different countries, and is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — though hours of operation are occasionally subject to change, so visitors should call or email before stopping by.
Did you know? Hunt Institute specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science, and is home to Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt’s collection of biographical materials and portraits — including thousands of portraits of people associated with plant sciences.
11:30 a.m.
Data Education Librarian Emma Slayton and Open Knowledge Librarian Emily Bongiovanni lead a hackathon focused on AI literacy in Hunt 308. Libraries events like hackathons bring together specialists from institutions around the country to develop ideas about common interests and create innovative solutions to challenges.
Did you know? This room also hosts other events designed to bring together the campus community and beyond, including a number of Libraries workshops. These are designed to help attendees learn a new skill, deepen their understanding of a specific topic, or gain exposure to an unfamiliar technology, tool, or technique.
12:05 p.m.
Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries Keith Webster stops by De Fer Coffee and Tea for a quick lunch between meetings. De Fer opened its doors in the Maggie Murph Café in 2022, and is run by CMU alumnus Matt Marietti (MBA, 2010) and his wife Vanessa.
Did you know? In addition to the University Libraries, Dean Webster’s portfolio also includes IDeATe, the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), the Sustainability Initiative, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, and all university press activities.
12:50 p.m.
Business and Entrepreneurship Librarian Ryan Splenda meets with Career and Professional Development Center Assistant Director Sammie Walker Herrera, who serves as a career consultant for Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mellon College of Science, and the School of Computer Science, to talk about the partnership between the Libraries and the CPDC. Splenda and Herrera teamed up in 2023 to increase support to students and alumni seeking employment and career opportunities.
1:15 p.m.
College of Engineering senior Carolann Kimock finds a quiet space between the stacks to draft emails about her chemical engineering research.
1:45 p.m.
Visitors Cat Ramage, a Dietrich junior studying statistics and data science, and Gowtham Irrinki, a College of Fine Arts senior studying music and technology, stop to flip through some of the many student publications distributed on campus that are included in a pop-up exhibit on the fourth floor. “EXTRA! EXTRA! Student Publications Through the Years” features 31 issues and covers created by students, including both contemporary publications and historic publications provided by the University Archives.
Did you know? The Libraries’ Digitization Lab spent nearly 12 years adding the student newspaper the Tartan to the Digital Collections from 2012–2024. The project included 27,566 individual pages of work.
2:00 p.m.
Purva Bommireddy, a senior double majoring in Civil Engineering and Statistics & Machine Learning, holds her weekly connection hours in the Sustainability Studio from 1:30–3:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Bommireddy is the Sustainability Initiative’s community engagement intern, focused on providing resources, mentorship, and support to campus groups and individuals interested in the Sustainability Initiative.
Did you know? In 2020, CMU’s Sustainability Initiative published the world’s first Voluntary University Review (VUR), which tracks activity, actions, and engagement across the UN’s 17 Global Goals.
2:20 p.m.
First-year students participate in a button-making activity as part of a beginning-of-the-year event to explore the Libraries.
Did you know? The Libraries hosts multiple opportunities to participate in hands-on crafting through button-making, zine workshops, and more throughout the year. Check the events calendar to stay in the loop, and register to participate.
2:50 p.m.
Art and Design Librarian Jill Chisnell prepares a selection of artist books for a group of first year art students to explore. The Libraries has more than 600 artist books in its collection, many by CMU alumni and faculty. Chisnell is currently in the process of moving them to a new home in the Fine and Rare Book Room on the fourth floor.
Did you know? Chisnell supports art and design students — but each unit across CMU has their own librarian who can help with everything from a first-year assignment to dissertation work and grant-funded research projects. Use this directory to find your departmental librarian.
3:10 p.m.
Robert Rosul, a first year physics major in the Mellon College of Science, annotates a passage for his 19th Century Russian Masterpieces class in an alcove on the second floor.
3:45 p.m.
College of Engineering junior Cindy Chen reshelves art books on the fourth floor. Chen is a Hunt Circulation Desk student worker, responsible for tasks like staffing the circulation desk and helping users check out materials, sorting and shelving returned items, and collection maintenance.
Did you know? Between Hunt and Sorrells libraries, there are 32 student workers serving in a variety of roles this semester.
4:00 p.m.
In the Archives, Tepper School of Business senior Jackie Ruhnke, who studies business administration and history, works with Collections Archivist Emily Davis to process files about the Summer Graduate School Orientation Institute. By taking inventory of and organizing contents, removing duplicates or confidential material, and creating a finding aid to make information searchable, they are able to make collections available on a wider scale.
Student workers like Ruhnke are essential as the Archives works to process a backlog of materials that are undescribed and largely unavailable to researchers. Many of these unprocessed collections, including Ruhnke’s current project, include valuable documentation about underrepresented groups on campus.
4:20 p.m.
The study carrels on the third floor fill up as students filter in from classes. Hunt offers a variety of study spaces where students can work on assignments and projects, from individual seating like the carrels to group study rooms that seat up to eight located in the basement. The third floor serves as a quiet study floor.
Students can reserve several of the study spaces in advance to ensure they have space to work.
5:15 p.m.
At a large table on the fourth floor, a group of students work on a project for their first year writing course. Mellon College of Science first year Malcolm Kuo, College of Engineering first year Noah Wells, and School of Computer Science first years Caroline Swanton and Safal Kamath are drafting an outline for one of several papers they’ll work on during the semester.
5:50 p.m.
The newest cohort of the Libraries Student Advisory Council poses for a group photo in the second-floor hallway outside the Archives Reading Room. The council, which met for the first time on September 24, will spend the year engaging with student organizations on campus to help document their past and present in the Archives.
6:25 p.m.
Associate Director of Creative Heidi Wiren Kebe makes a late-afternoon adjustment to the current exhibition in the first-floor Hunt Library Gallery, located in the Emma Sharp Alcove. “Like, Totally Transformative: CMU in the 1980s” is a portal to the past, reflecting on life on campus more than four decades ago as the world began to transform.
Kebe, who has been designing Libraries exhibits since 2017, incorporates concepts, context, and physical space into her work to give power to the story she wants to tell.
7:15 p.m.
Overnight Library Assistant Patrick Hannay helps a student at the circulation desk. Hannay handles the Access Services desk at Hunt, and is particularly focused on assisting students in navigating library services and getting materials they need as efficiently as possible, both through CMU collections and connecting them to other university libraries across the country.
8:30 p.m.
Students stop by the fourth-floor exhibit “Here to Stay: Celebrating 40 Years at the Architecture Archives.” The exhibit showcases preliminary sketches, renderings, specifications, photographs, publications, and architectural models that help piece together the rich history of Pittsburgh and the region.
9:10 p.m.
The collaborative Sustainability Studio space is available for students from all disciplines to study and work on projects.
10:20 p.m.
Zeng takes a break from homework to sharpen a spare pencil in the fourth floor fridge. The fridge is a sculpture originally designed to raise awareness of environmental issues, installed in the early 1990s by College of Fine Arts graduate Nicholas Madjerick.
11:35 p.m.
Tepper School of Business senior Skylar Lukic enjoys the quiet in one of the phone booth-style spaces located on the first and third floors for a private phone call. These 41- by 43-inch rooms feature 30 decibels of noise reduction, thorough ventilation that renews fresh air every 60 seconds, two power outlets, and a built-in desk and magnetic board.
Did you know? The sound-insulating walls of each booth are made from 1,088 recycled plastic bottles, making them environmentally friendly as well as space-efficient!
12:00 a.m.
At midnight, the circulation desk at Hunt Library closes for the day — but the CMU community has keycard access to the building until 3 a.m.
And even once the doors are locked, the activity doesn’t stop. Here are some services that are available overnight to facilitate a late-night or early-morning burst of productivity.