Over the summer, LSU Libraries has participated in twenty-one freshman, parent, and transfer student orientation events coordinated by the Office of Orientation in two separate venues, as well as the LSU Summer Scholars Program held near the end of the summer.

For freshman, their parents, and transfer students interested in the many services available for students at LSU, forty campus entities participate in an information-table setting throughout the summer at the Cotillion Ballroom in the Student Union as part of the campus orientation process. Campus groups including dining services, recreation, security, residential life, academic success, and the LSU Libraries gather together to speak to the students and parents about campus life.

At the end of the two-day orientations, many of the parents congregate at Middleton Library for “decompression” time while freshman students register for classes. Refreshments are provided by the Office of Orientation, and parents have the opportunity to speak to one another, relax in the library, and ask questions about library services.

On July 24, Jessica Lacher-Feldman, Head of Special Collections at Hill Memorial Library, and Mitch Fontenot, Instruction and Outreach Librarian at Middleton Library, presented to 41 members of the LSU Summer Scholars program, “an eight-week summer bridge program that prepares selected under-represented minority students to make a successful transition from high school to the University." Lacher-Feldman and Fontenot spoke about the collections and services that Hill Memorial Library and Middleton Library make available to patrons, focusing on those that are especially useful for first-year students.