By Lauren Hubbard, Associate Editor, Digital Content
The Libraries kicked off the fall semester with Libapalooza: a brand-new event specifically geared towards first-year students. Held at both the Du Bois Library and the Science and Engineering Library, this two-day celebration featured a slate of activities that highlighted various library resources, spaces, and services that would benefit students during their academic careers at UMass.
In a way, Libapalooza was years in the making. In 2011, the Libraries began hosting Get Your Game On (GYGO) with UMass IT over Labor Day weekend. As part of Welcome to the U, GYGO introduced new undergraduates to the Libraries and IT with a night of board games and snacks in Du Bois. It proved immensely popular, bringing in more than 500 attendees annually on an otherwise eventless Sunday evening before the start of the fall semester. Even when GYGO went virtual for the 2020-21 academic year due to the pandemic, more than 50 students logged on for an evening of bingo, Pictionary, and trivia over Zoom.
During the 2024-25 academic year, however, GYGO acquired some serious competition as University Programming expanded its offerings into Labor Day weekend. Between concerts, carnivals, and a big party at the local Hampshire Mall, the Libraries saw a drastic decrease in GYGO attendance. The drop was significant enough to make the Libraries take a step back and reassess the entire event.
For many students, GYGO served as their first introduction to the Libraries, so it was important that its next iteration also allowed new undergraduates to interact with the Libraries in a way that was approachable, engaging, and meaningful. With that in mind, Annette Vadnais ’99, Student Success and Wellbeing Librarian, and Kim Fill ’01, Events, Exhibits, and Outreach Coordinator, developed Libapalooza as a fun way for students to learn about what the Libraries have to offer as part of the Welcome to the U festivities on the Thursday and Friday of move-in week.
Photo: Kim Fill ’01 welcoming students during Libapalooza.
“We focused on the things first-year students really need to know about the Libraries and then built stations and activities around those things,” says Fill. “With the support of our colleagues, we pitched ideas to various departments and service points, and to our delight, staff were really excited to participate and even had some fantastic ideas of their own.”
Photo: K. Zdepski, Resource Sharing Librarian, staffing the Interlibrary Loan table in the Learning Commons
Those stations covered a variety of Library resources, including interactive tours and scavenger hunts, bookmark- and button-making run by subject librarians, and a stunning showcase of Digital Media Lab 3D-printing, AR/VR, and green screen technology. Students left with armfuls of giveaways, snacks, and even temporary tattoos of the two Library buildings.
Photo: Virtual Reality in the Digital Media Lab
To no one’s surprise, the uncontested highlight of Libapalooza was the dunk tank. Although Vadnais originally suggested it half-jokingly, Fill and the Libraries’ events team took the idea and ran with it, so Vadnais soon found herself sitting atop the brightly painted platform dressed as a stereotypical librarian, complete with gray wig, grandma glasses, and a penchant to shush passersby.
“I remember coming to UMass as a student and being intimidated by the library and librarians,” she explains. “I wanted to ‘dunk’ the old-fashioned librarian stereotype and show the UMass Amherst Libraries are fun and vibrant.”
View a video of dunk tank, visit: bit.ly/libapalooza
Photo: Annette Vadnais ’99, Student Success and Wellbeing Librarian, in the dunk tank
Considering the attendees’ overwhelmingly positive responses, that message came across loud and clear. More than 2,000 students and their families visited the Libraries over the two-day extravaganza; many commented that they weren’t aware there were multiple libraries on campus, let alone the number of services they provide.
Photo: Librarian Paulina Borrego shows students the Seed Library in the Science and Engineering Library.
“Shock [from attendees] at how great the Library is,” one of the Libapalooza volunteers noted in the post-event survey. “Students wanting to come back the next day (and they did). Students actively using the QR codes. Parents feeling their child would be well looked after.”
Clearly, Libapalooza not only brought students into the Libraries, but also, unlike the board game-centric GYGO, enabled them to engage with resources. To put it in colloquial terms, GYGO walked so Libapalooza could run.
Photo: The Learning Commons during Libapalooza
Indeed, Fill and Vadnais are already looking ahead to next year’s Libapalooza. Hosting it as part of Welcome to the U proved to be a huge benefit; instead of competing for students’ attention over an activity-filled Labor Day Weekend, the Libraries were able to collaborate and cross-promote with New Students and Family Programming (NSFP). Additionally, they plan to make the event “bigger and better,” with more departmental and campus partnerships to round out the activity offerings, ensuring Libapalooza is as beloved a Library tradition as its predecessor.
Photo: Digital Media Lab