Baker Library's bells turn one hundred this year. Originally cast in 1926 and mounted during the building of Baker Library (completed in 1928), the bells have come to represent daily university life. Today they ring out across Hanover to signal the hour, and at 6pm, you'll hear Dartmouth’s song, “Dear Old Dartmouth/Alma Mater.” How to play the bells has evolved as technology and human ingenuity evolved.

Each week, Baker-Berry Library averages 27,150 visits for everything from studying to socializing, meeting a library staff member, or going to class. To ensure these well-loved spaces continue to meet community needs, we’re partnering with various Dartmouth organizations and departments to make upgrades that complement and amplify student mental health initiatives and provide more welcoming environments. One such project is the revitalization of Baker Library’s Reiss Hall and 1902 Room, both 24/7 accessible spaces and heavily used throughout the term.

Since 1929 the Dartmouth Outing Club has maintained over 50 miles of the Appalachian Trail right in Dartmouth’s backyard, from Hanover to Mount Moosilauke. The Trail spans over 2,200 miles, but Hanover is one of only ten towns where it runs right down its main street—and the final one for hikers headed north.

It’s early morning, and a heavy fog lingers across the Upper Valley. From across Lebanon, sixth graders start arriving at school, knowing they’ll soon leave for Hanover to explore the history of the written word at Dartmouth Libraries Rauner Special Collections Library. Inside Rauner Library, staff start their workday.

The C. Dwight Lahr Lecture Series, sponsored by Dartmouth’s Department of Mathematics, is an annual event bringing together the Upper Valley and Dartmouth communities to engage with mathematics and hear from diverse experts in the field. Established in 2020, the series honors Dr. Lahr’s legacy and commitment to inclusivity and diversity.

This Fall Term, we continue our rich tradition of library and community co-curated exhibitions. On view through December: “Disappearing: An archive of land loss in coastal Louisiana,” “The Fragile Testament of Erosion,” and “From Vision to Reality: The Appalachian Trail from Then to Now” offer unique perspectives and meaning in their respective histories and landscapes. Individually and as a collective, they highlight what it means to preserve and protect our much-loved landscapes while acknowledging the realities of climate and human impact.

This year is the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s 100th anniversary overseeing the protection and management of the world’s longest hiking-only footpath. To commemorate this incredible milestone, we partnered with the ATC to curate an extra-special Fall Term exhibition that helps tell the Trail’s grand story. “From Vision to Reality: The Appalachian Trail from Then to Now” is a retrospective that pieces together the founding vision, how the trail came to be, and how it connects to Dartmouth and local A.T.

What book comes to mind as impacting you the most during your time at Dartmouth, and why? When we asked this year's graduating library student workers that question, the results were as unique and special as they are. In this exhibit, we highlight 13 of the 28 students who submitted selections, with some sharing what their chosen book means to them. Sometimes intimate and personal, other times philosophical or pragmatic, their words offer you a peek into their world, reflecting their time at Dartmouth.

How far would you go to find a copy of a long-out-of-print book written by a family member? For Sreevalli Sreenivasan, Th’17 and current Thayer PhD candidate, she looked worldwide before giving up hope. Then, on a whim, while searching for PhD-related resources through Dartmouth Libraries, she put in a request for the Libraries to find it. To her pleasant surprise, they did.