A group of event attendees confer during a breakout session.

Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship

Partnering with libraries and information organizations worldwide to advance knowledge sharing, professional growth, and collaborative research.

IGEL Programs

IGEL is building programs that strengthen professional relationships among librarians worldwide, fostering communication, collaboration, and global understanding.

These include librarian exchanges, travel and research funding, virtual dialogues, and library-to-library partnerships. Many of these are in development, so stay tuned!

Carol Smith, Dean of Libraries, and Kodjo Atiso, African Studies librarian, at the library dialogues workshop at the University of Ghana

International Collections Travel Grants

IGEL is pleased to offer support to scholars from outside the University of Kansas who wish to conduct research using KU Libraries’ rich and diverse international collections. These grants of up to $1,500 aim to foster global scholarship and promote the use of KU’s unique resources in international and area studies.

Photo of Watson Library

A link to the global south

If shouting was allowed on Watson Library’s fourth and fifth floors, it’s feasible that Brian Rosenblum in the Institute for Digital Research in Humanities (IDRH) could be hailed from upstairs by Kodjo Atiso in International Collections, yet their first professional collaboration took place nearly 6,000 miles from campus, in Accra, Ghana. The serendipitous connection was the highlight of several KU Libraries’ efforts over the last year to shrink the distance between the U.S. Midwest and West Africa.

Kodjo Atiso, Librarian for Africana and International Studies, with colleagues in Kenya

Global knowledge, resources, people, and ideas

Books from International Collections

International Collections

KU Libraries are a strong supporter of international and language studies. For decades, KU librarians and staff have partnered with KU language departments and area studies programs to assemble diverse and unique materials from all over the world in support of research and learning at KU. The collections consist of over 1.5 million volumes and electronic objects and is known for its regional strengths for Africa, East Asia, Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
International Collections at KU
Visitors from the Italian Consulate review a manuscript

Special Collections

Spencer Research Library contains a wide range of rare books and manuscripts. Its primary charge is the collection and preservation of original sources for use by students and scholars of the humanities, the history of science, and the history of the book. The department contains around 500,000 items from the antiquity to the present. The major regions covered are Britain, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. In addition to physical and digital collections, Spencer Research Library hosts regular consul visits, traveling scholars and exhibits.
Spencer Research Library
A panel on stage at a Digital Humanities forum

Digital Humanities

The Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities aims to build a flourishing environment for innovative exploration at the intersection of digital technology and humanities research. The IDRH is a partnership between KU Libraries, The Hall Center for the Humanities, and The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. As a community of researchers, they are dedicated to openness and collaboration across disciplinary and institutional boundaries.
IDRH Home
A trio of Humphrey Scholars in Anschutz Library

Connection to the World

The University of Kansas is committed to enhancing global learning opportunities for students. KU is one of only 13 universities in the country to have four or more federally funded centers dedicated to international area studies - Center for East Asian Studies, Kansas African Studies Center, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. KU supports more than 1,700 international students from 117 countries.
Center for Global & International Studies

Partner with Us Globally

Connect with the IGEL team at KU Libraries
Email Brian Rosenblum
Carol Smith, Dean of KU Libraries, in front of Watson Library's windows.

KU Libraries will be acting on a global platform. Where the world goes, the University of Kansas goes. Where the University of Kansas goes, KU Libraries must also go ... KU Libraries will be actively cultivating library relationships with similarly focused research institutions across the globe, and engaging in international library collaborations with them, in support of the world’s grand challenges.

Carol Smith
Dean of KU Libraries