What does “belonging” mean in a library setting? How can we foster welcoming spaces for all library users? The UC Irvine Libraries’ Inclusive and Welcoming Library Spaces Task Force set out to study these questions in 2022. Through questionnaires and focus groups with UC Irvine students and community members, the task force sought to assess and enhance the inclusivity and accessibility of library spaces.

As a result of their findings, in summer 2023, a Libraries’ working group was charged with developing a way to represent the diversity of interests and perspectives of UC Irvine students. As part of library-wide efforts to cultivate welcoming, student-centered library spaces, the Libraries’ Student Displays program was crafted to foster student belonging. With installation support and guidance from Libraries’ staff, the program helps students share their work and creativity with the campus and local community.

“By showcasing students’ academic activities, scholarship, and creative work, we are hoping to cultivate library spaces where they see themselves and learn more about their broader community,” said Assistant University Librarian (AUL) for Public Services Rikke Ogawa.

Spring Launch

The Libraries’ Student Displays program was launched in spring 2024. The initial pilot program sought to foster students’ sense of belonging while studying the program’s impact on library spaces and staff.

The first installation in Langson Library, “Healing and (Re)Building Connection Through Art,” featured artwork inspired by a UC Irvine travel course to Mexico on undocumented immigrant experiences taught by Laura E. Enriquez, UC Irvine associate professor of Chicano/Latino studies.

Since then, temporary displays in the Langson and Science Libraries have showcased original student art, writing, research, and more in both physical and digital formats. By broadly defining “student work,” the program seeks to represent a diversity of perspectives, student groups, and disciplines.

Unlike the Libraries’ main exhibit program, which features selected materials from our collections and archives, the Student Displays program is student- and community-led. The temporary displays exclusively feature UC Irvine student work and, under the guidance of the Libraries’ staff, are curated and installed by students or faculty themselves.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Samueli Foundation, a set of movable display walls and hanging supplies were purchased to kick-start the program. Thus, with minimal to no additional costs, the students or faculty coordinating each display can share their creative works with colleagues and peers.

Advocacy Meets Art

Since its initial launch, the program has hosted seven sets of student work. Curated by both undergraduate and graduate students, the displays have included everything from health sciences research to poetry and multimedia art. Contributors have included both individual students and student organizations.

Sage Cerda, an aspiring lawyer graduating from UC Irvine in fall 2025 with a BA in criminology, law and society, served as the lead student curator for a display celebrating Second Chance Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of the collateral consequences of the records that follow an arrest or conviction. The display in the Science Library featured art, poetry, and prose by UC Irvine’s Underground Scholars Initiative, a student organization that creates pathways into higher education by supporting incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and system-impacted individuals.

“I’m grateful for the platform the Libraries provided to uplift incarcerated voices and share deeply personal stories that often go unheard,” said Cerda. “Their collaboration allowed me and my organizations to create a powerful space for healing, expression, and awareness.”

In a Langson Library display titled “Creating Ocean Legacies: Wearable Art, from Concept to Creation,” graduate student Ashley Morgan (master of fine arts in costume design) exhibited a 6-foot-tall dress with a 5-foot-long train mounted on a mannequin.

Morgan’s student display detailed the process of creating “Ocean Legacies” for the Laguna Art Museum’s Art + Nature Festival, in collaboration with UC Irvine’s Drama and Art Departments. She explained that the dress, which was also exhibited at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, uses upcycled materials to illustrate how nature inspires how we create and consider art.

“This piece was conceived while grappling with the estate of my grandmother,” explained Morgan. “It used pieces she left me to continue making art with her.”

Focus on the Future

In a number of instances during the 2024–2025 academic year, the student displays have complemented the Libraries’ main exhibit program and other initiatives. In winter 2025, a student display curated by Daniella Galvan featuring hundreds of student-created Petr the Anteatr stickers helped kick off the campus’ 60th anniversary celebration and the Libraries’ Anteater Experience: 60th Anniversary of UC Irvine exhibit in Langson Library.

AUL Ogawa noted that the pilot program also opened up new opportunities to collaborate with campus partners, such as the Digital Humanities Exchange and the Humanities Core program. For example, the fall 2024 Langson student display “Celebration of Student Art: Humanities Core 2017–2024” showcased selected student art from eight years of Humanities Core Arts Competitions. The works of art in the Langson display included a range of media inspired by the themes explored in the Humanities Core course.

“We are overjoyed by the campus response to our student displays,” said Ogawa. “As the program continues, we look forward to deepening our connections with campus units, while at the same time getting to know individual students and enjoying their amazing work.”