Most stories about the founding of the University skip over all of the immense effort needed not just to build the physical place, but to hire initial faculty and staff who would be responsible for getting all the pieces set up and ready to go for the first day of classes. I was hired in the summer of 1990 as part of a team to help the University Librarian ensure that the Library would be ready. I won't go into all the details, but highlighting a few will give you some sense of what was going on back then.

Research collaboration is often seen as a driver of growth—sparking new ideas, broadening perspectives, and strengthening institutions through shared expertise. 

Agatha Christie is one of the best-selling novelists, with her novels holding the Guinness World Record as the best-selling fiction author of all time, having sold over two billion copies (Guinness World Record, 2026). But what truly sets her apart from other detective fiction writers is this: her novels reward rereading. Unlike many mystery novels where the sole purpose is discovering the murderer’s identity, Christie’s books are worth revisiting because the “truth” is always unexpected—yet on a second read, you’ll discover hints cleverly hidden throughout. The clues were always there; we simply didn’t see them.I randomly picked up a detective novel in a library after reading some Sherlock Holmes, and began my journey with Christie through The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. What struck me immediately was her daring decision to center the story around a first-person narrator who is intimately tied to the investigation, yet whose account subtly manipulates the reader’s trust in ways that shatter genre expectations. This twist forces you to reevaluate every detail from a new angle upon finishing, making it a landmark in detective fiction that you’ll itch to experience for yourself. It was brilliant and disorienting in the best possible way.

This past November, you may have noticed some curious posters inside lifts or beside notice boards, inviting you to “discover a library hidden gem.” These posters were part of a quiet, experimental campaign by the Library to explore two key questions: 1. Can we spark curiosity about lesser-known Library services through storytelling? 2. Which physical spaces are most effective for prompting interaction in a passive campaign?