News
Thu, 03/12/2026
Submissions now being accepted for 2026-27 KU Libraries LibArt showcase
KU Libraries is now accepting submissions for its annual LibArt student art exhibition, marking its 16th year. Students have the opportunity for their work to be showcased year-round in the libraries’ public spaces and win cash prizes totaling $5,000.
Thu, 03/05/2026
Trevor Rivers named 2026 Textbook Hero for creating open resource to reshape introduction to biology, reduce student costs
Trevor Rivers, associate teaching professor of biology, has been named KU Libraries 2026 Textbook Hero for extending his student-centered, curiosity-driven teaching style into the creation of open educational resources (OER). Rivers’ efforts have reshaped how nearly 2,000 students each year will encounter introductory biology at the University of Kansas, and replaced an $80 commercial text with a free, easily accessible, multimedia resource, creating significant financial savings for students.
Fri, 02/27/2026
KU Libraries to debut Thursday Movie Matinees featuring Studio Ghibli film series
The University of Kansas Libraries invite the campus community to attend Thursday Movie Matinees, a new monthly curated film experience designed to bring cinema and scholarship together. Each screening will take place in The Kettle, Watson Library 325, offering an opportunity to watch movies, participate in optional facilitated discussions, and hear commentary from experts.
Fri, 02/27/2026
KU Libraries work towards improved service platform continues ahead of June launch
KU Libraries is preparing to go live this summer with a new library services platform (LSP), FOLIO, and a suite of integrated products to empower essential backend capabilities and user-facing upgrades. The new open‑source system will enhance functionality for instructors and students, increase efficiencies in essential libraries services, unify systems across the Lawrence campus, Wheat Law Library, and KU Medical Center, and better support library user needs.
Fri, 02/27/2026
Libraries advance strategic collection development, aid scholarly communication through new, renewed agreements
KU Libraries are building bridges and forging new paths as the academic community navigates rapidly evolving information needs and changing publishing practices. A set of new deals and renewals, with more in the works, demonstrates librarians’ ongoing efforts to build collections and resources while carefully managing limited funding, a complex and intricate process.
Mon, 02/23/2026
Library of Congress rare books chief to return to KU for Snyder Book Collecting Contest
Stephanie Stillo’s journey has stretched coast to coast, but it was in Kansas where an extraordinary path began to reveal itself. Stillo, who graduated from KU in 2014 with a doctorate in modern European history, returns to the university April 16 as the keynote speaker for KU Libraries’ Snyder Book Collecting Contest. The contest is now accepting student entries through March 24, celebrating 68 years of encouraging student book collections.
Fri, 02/13/2026
Celebration marks Gorton Music and Dance Library silver anniversary
Alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the Gorton Music and Dance Library gathered inside to honor the building’s silver anniversary with a reception and short program Thursday evening. Guests were treated to a performance by Cornerstone String Quartet student ensemble, while enjoying refreshments, conversation, KU Libraries’ Jayhawk Jukebox traveling exhibit, and browsing the stacks, before remarks on the library’s past and future.
Thu, 02/12/2026
BiblioBios: Associate librarian and rare materials cataloger, Dean expands access to Spencer’s collections
For more than a decade, Jason W. Dean has built a career around making rare and often inaccessible materials discoverable, understandable and usable for scholars around the world.
Sun, 02/08/2026
KU Libraries Sprints Week produces research, teaching results
Each year, KU faculty and instructors have the opportunity to turn their own research or teaching project into reality during Sprints Week, with applications for the 2026 cohort open now through March 2. Accepted applicants will be notified by the end of March with Sprints Week taking place during summer intersession – this year slated for May 18-22. Selected faculty receive a $1,000 stipend and dedicated time with expert library teams, tailored to their project.
Mon, 02/02/2026
‘No more excuse’: KU professor launches research journal for undergraduates
After years of seeing strong student theses go unpublished, a KU faculty member started an undergraduate journal to showcase international studies research.
Mon, 02/02/2026
KU Libraries activities to highlight Love Data Week
KU Libraries will host data-related events, activities and learning opportunities during Love Data Week, an international celebration of research data and data management to take place Feb. 9-13.
Fri, 01/30/2026
Gorton Music & Dance Library to celebrate quarter century milestone
For 25 years, the Thomas A. Gorton Music & Dance Library has been a cornerstone of performing arts scholarship, providing a home for learning, creativity and connection in Murphy Hall. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters are invited to a series of events Feb. 12-18 to honor the library’s quarter century of partnership as a pivotal university resource.
Wed, 01/28/2026
KU Reads continues university, community connections with slate of spring events
Several events are planned throughout spring 2026 centered on the KU Reads 2025-26 Common Book, “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” by John Green.
Thu, 01/22/2026
KU Libraries showcase student-curated collections in Watson Library exhibit
As part of ongoing efforts to broaden collections, provide unique learning experiences and incorporate student feedback, KU Libraries will unveil two new student-curated collections. The opening reception for “The Nature of Being Human: Ecology, Identity, and the Stories in Between” will take place Feb. 5 in Watson Library’s Haricombe Gallery.
Wed, 01/14/2026
Libraries’ Winter Welcome events to connect students with resources, community
KU Libraries will host a pair of engaging events during Winter Welcome, Jan. 20–25, designed to help students reconnect with campus and start the spring semester with the tools they need to succeed. The week’s activities invite students to explore library spaces, discover resources, and build community during the first days back on campus.
Wed, 01/14/2026
KU Libraries launches global speaker series on librarianship
The University of Kansas Libraries will launch "Global Conversations in Librarianship," a new speaker series highlighting international perspectives on libraries and information work, with Ukrainian library leader Tetyana Yaroshenko as the inaugural speaker Feb. 26.
Fri, 12/05/2025
International Collections Travel Grants now available through KU Libraries
A new travel grant program will support the use of KU Libraries International Collections and in-person consultation with librarians, with researchers from across the United States and around the globe encouraged to apply online through March 1, 2026.
Fri, 11/07/2025
BiblioBios: Scholar, author, librarian, Thomas leverages experience to support researchers
For nearly a decade, Library Specialist Paul Thomas has been an integral part of the University of Kansas Libraries community, supporting students, researchers and colleagues through his work in library services and information management.
Mon, 11/03/2025
Student artists honored among another record LibArt turnout
KU Libraries’ LibArt program, a year-round, juried exhibition of student art in library spaces, celebrated its largest-ever display of student artwork and named award recipients at a reception Oct. 28 at Watson Library.
Wed, 10/29/2025
KU Libraries call for applications for 2026 travel grants enabling hands-on access to primary source materials
Researchers from across the United States and abroad are invited to apply for a 2026 Spencer Research Library travel grant, designed to support in-depth research using the library’s collections and facilitate direct access to curator and librarian expertise.
Fri, 10/24/2025
Annual Review: The power of plugging in
From conference calls to in-person impact, KU Libraries Board of Advocates member Bev Kennedy Bradshaw finds joy and connection in supporting KU Libraries.
Fri, 10/24/2025
Annual Review: Picturing history in Wilson
A fire in 2009 destroyed the Czech Opera House in Wilson, Kansas, along with more than a century of historical documents and photos. Now, KU Libraries has digitized the Arthur Jellison Photograph Collection — featuring early 20th-century images of Ellsworth County life — and returned prints to the community through the Wilson Tourism Hub. The partnership has sparked new community engagement, with residents coming forward to share additional artifacts and memories tied to the historic photos.
Fri, 10/24/2025
Haunting Humanities returns with a wicked lineup of attractions
The Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas will bring the mysterious, the magical and the macabre to downtown Lawrence Oct. 29 with Haunting Humanities, the all-ages “science fair for the humanities” with a Halloween twist.
Tue, 10/21/2025
KU Libraries honor professors with Shulenburger Award for open-access scholarship
Jeffrey Girard and Rami Zeedan, two University of Kansas faculty members who championed open-access scholarship — one by creating widely used open-source software and tools, and the other by launching an open journal and textbook — have been named recipients of the 2025 Shulenburger Award for Innovation and Advocacy in Scholarly Communication by KU Libraries.
Fri, 10/17/2025
Annual Review: Library legends
KU Libraries colleagues, Mary Roach and Kent Miller, mark decades of dedication, achieving remarkable milestones.
Tue, 10/14/2025
KU Libraries launch Scite.ai access for KU Researchers
KU Libraries is now offering full access to Scite.ai, a powerful AI-enhanced research tool that helps users dig deeper into scholarly literature by showing how research is cited – not just how often – and expands access to paywalled content.
Thu, 10/09/2025
KU Libraries enable ‘once-in-a-generation’ expansion in digital access to primary sources
A new deal negotiated by KU Libraries with information services provider ProQuest has expanded digital offerings exponentially, providing instant access to immense opportunities for research, learning and discovery.
Tue, 10/07/2025
Open Access Week keynote to explore alignment of open science principles with promotion and tenure guidelines
KU Libraries will celebrate International Open Access Week with an event at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Watson Library 3 West, featuring keynote speaker Michael Dougherty, professor of psychology at the University of Maryland.
Mon, 09/29/2025
Annual Review: Finding their niche
Eli Kumin, a junior from Lenexa, and Kaya Taylor, a now-graduated senior from Wichita, spent the 2024-25 academic year as Sanders Scholars working with Digital Humanities Librarian John McEwan to improve search tools for Spencer Research Library’s medieval sigillographic collections.
Mon, 09/22/2025
New student engagement space launching in Watson Library welcoming Hawks to ‘gather and soar’
Drawing inspiration from nature and with the goal of seeing every Jayhawk rise, KU Libraries is launching “The Kettle,” a new student engagement space in Watson Library, room 325. With ongoing programming already underway, The Kettle will host a ribbon cutting and open house, come and go, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.