Spring, the season of renewal, is here, and with it are new resources from UVA Library that can boost your brainpower, help you relax, and make you happier. A new Photography and Animation Studio in Clemons Library offers training in visual effects. Over in Shannon Library, patrons can find a wide selection of in-demand books in the new Popular Reading Collection on the fourth floor, as well as a new home for the Library’s Graphic Novels Collection on the floor below.
Photography and Animation Studio
Librarians in the Robertson Media Center (RMC) recently launched a new Photography and Animation Studio in the Digital Media Lab on the third floor of Clemons. Meridith Wolnick, Director of the Library’s Teaching and Learning programs, said that the studio is ideal for students and instructors who assign or create visual projects, as well for people looking to boost their creativity.
“We want the UVA community to know that the Library is a place where visual ideas can actually be built and produced — and that training and support are available to help them do it,” she said.
The new studio is a flexible, modular, creative space featuring a Mac Studio, Dragonframe software, a tethered Canon camera setup, professional lighting, and multiple seamless backdrops. It can be used for studio photography, stop-motion animation, digital animation, and video and audio work.
First-year architecture student Paisley Pentecost recently visited the studio, where Josh Thorud, a Multimedia Media Teaching and Learning Librarian, taught her to safely use various types of photography equipment in preparation for an upcoming photoshoot.
“I am the publicity chair for the New Dominions (a UVA a cappella group), and we have a concert on April 9,” Pentecost said. “I’m going to take photos of the group to use for our concert advertising and I’ll be using the studio for (processing) the headshots.”
Pentecost said Library staff were kind and helpful during the photography training. “It’s so nice to be a part of a school that encourages students to pursue their passions by providing fully equipped spaces and ample resources,” she said. “You can tell how much thought and care was put into curating the studio.”
Jessica Oseghale, a data science graduate student and amateur photographer, also used the studio for a photography shoot recently. “Honestly, I learned so much more than I expected,” she said. “Playing with the lighting setups, figuring out placement and how different angles and intensities shape the overall look was a real eye-opener.”
She said she appreciated the free access to professional lighting equipment and other tools through the studio, giving her an opportunity to build a portfolio. “Learning how to use that equipment to bring a creative vision to life is genuinely invaluable, especially as I start booking more shoots and taking my photography more seriously.”
To use the studio, training is required; email teachlearn@virginia.edu to request it. Users can directly reserve the studio online (or ask at the RMC front desk). Reservations must be made in advance.
“For anyone looking to explore and test out different styles, the studio is a fantastic starting point,” Oseghale said. “Between everything available in the studio itself and the broader resources in the RMC space, you have everything you need to create something truly great.”
Shannon Popular Reading Collection
Over in Shannon Library, readers are flocking to a new collection of bestsellers. The Shannon Popular Reading Collection, located on the library’s fourth floor in the stacks near the main elevators, was made available in July 2025. It offers the latest “hot” books that the UVA Library might not usually collect, with 613 available titles (and still growing).
“The Shannon Popular Reading Collection is a wonderful success, with 1,312 checkouts (as of March 20) since its start last summer,” said Leigh Rockey, Librarian for Collections Management and Video Resources. “Our selectors, Deputy Librarian and Associate Dean for Administration Carla Lee and Librarian for English Sherri Brown, do a great job of picking titles that resonate with the UVA community.”
James Rhoades, Associate Director of Resource Acquisition and Description, provided further data about the collection. “Out of the 613 items, 473 titles have been checked out at least once at a 77% checkout rate,” he said. “Just as impressive, 10% have been checked out more than twice, with 7% more than three times.” The top five titles in the collection are:
1. “The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More” by Jefferson Fisher (12 checkouts)
2. “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry (10 checkouts)
3. “JFK: Public, Private, Secret” by J. Randy Taraborrelli (9 checkouts)
4. “The Secret of Secrets” by Dan Brown (8 checkouts)
5. “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewriting of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt (8 checkouts)
There is also a popular reading collection in the Brown Science & Engineering Library. “It has fascinating science titles like ‘The Black Hole Survival Guide’ and ‘The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About,’” Rockey said.
Graphic Novels Collection
The Library has also created a new home for comic books. The Graphic Novels Collection is now located in the north reading room on the third floor of Shannon Library. The collection moved to this new location in early March; librarians are hopeful that having the graphic novels located together in a visible location will lead to increased use of the collection.
“It’s too soon to have a read on how circulation will be affected, but we know the graphic novels are popular, and we will track their usage closely over the next one to two years,” said Caleb Mechem, Print Collection Strategist. Users can even take a survey on how they select and use graphic novels to inform future selections in UVA’s collection.
Some of the most popular graphic novel titles over the past two years include:
- “Deep Cuts” by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark
- “1984: The Graphic Novel” by George Orwell; illustrated by Fido Nesti
- “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel
- “Alone in Space” by Tillie Walden
- “An Iranian Metamorphosis” by Mana Neyestani