Last summer, I had the privilege of attending the Honorary Degree Conferment Ceremony and Distinguished Lecture where Professor Katalin Karikó was presented with her CUHK honorary doctorate, and to hear her lecture on the development of mRNA vaccines. It was humbling to hear directly from a scientist who devoted her life to a particular research question, despite the obstacles and the repeated instances where she sacrificed professional advancement and persisted through numerous challenges to pursue one specific area of scientific interest. The result of that perseverance and equanimity was that millions of lives were protected from COVID-19. It feels special and rewarding to be in the room where these remarkable individuals can be thanked in person, whereas their names are likely to remain in history books for decades if not centuries to come as the protagonists in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, who enabled society to resume activity without being in lockdown. It’s not always obvious to those working in universities how the work that happens in our institutions is making a tangible difference. But in times of crisis, there are these kinds of stark examples where we can see the life-changing impact of academics who have devoted their own lives to better understanding the way the world works.

That world-changing potential is what universities are about at our core. For CUHK Library, the world’s challenges feel more relevant than ever: how to navigate an ecosystem where data is generated faster than ever, a world where information, mis-information and dis-information are harder to distinguish. We also are living through the development of increasingly intertwined physical places and personas, where one can connect to others very fast, but where it can be difficult to make meaningful connections. At CUHK, we are committed to combining tradition with modernity. What that means for the Library is that we will continue to build and draw on our historic collections, and we will not shy away from exploiting new tools to enable insights for the benefit of our community and society more broadly. You might witness that marriage of historic legacy and new technologies in the newly re-opened CUHK History Gallery, near the entrance of the University Library.

An area of strength at CUHK Library is how responsive we are to the needs of the community. We will continue to work in partnership with our users. During the summer, we analysed the results of the LibQual Survey completed by staff and students last year. We were pleased to see high levels of satisfaction across the board, especially in our face-to-face services. But we also identified areas for improvement, around access to resources and how our systems area working for you, so we will be tackling those during the academic term and over the coming years, where necessary. Over the coming years, we will also work hard to make the research outputs of CUHK academics more visible and help to foster the greatest impact of our research work through support of Open Scholarship.

We are here for you – at any stage of your research and education journey. Wherever at CUHK you are working or studying, there is a library support for you, online, at the University Library or in our branch libraries. Don’t hesitate to seek support from our digital resources or our expert staff. CUHK Library is a great place to undertake research, a great place to learn and a place where you will make unexpected connections that will support you in your experience of university life! We cannot wait to see you here.