News
Tue, 09/15/2026
Help pick the next KU common book
KU Reads: A Common Book Experience is inviting students, faculty, staff, and campus community members to help shape the next KU Reads: A Common Book Experience by nominating a book for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Fri, 09/11/2026
Applications now open for next round of Dean's OER Grant Initiative
KU Libraries is accepting proposals for the Dean's OER Grant Initiative, which supports faculty in adopting open educational resources (OER) in high-enrollment courses.
Fri, 09/04/2026
KU student-designed mural reflects community, belonging in Watson Library
KU Libraries collaborated with students from the Department of Design for a new mural in The Kettle in Watson Library. The public is invited to an opening reception at 4 p.m. Sept. 24 to celebrate the work and partnership.
Wed, 09/02/2026
KU alumna, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara to headline KU Reads event Oct. 8
The University of Kansas will welcome home one of its own this fall when KU alumna and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara returns to Lawrence for a public event celebrating the 2026-27 KU Reads: A Common Book Experience selection.
Mon, 08/31/2026
KU Libraries seeks nominations for 2026 Shulenburger Award recognizing innovators in Open Scholarship
KU Libraries is accepting nominations through Sept. 18 for the 2026 David Shulenburger Award for Innovation and Advocacy in Scholarly Communication, which recognizes members of the KU community who are expanding access to research, advancing open scholarship, and transforming how knowledge is shared.
Thu, 08/27/2026
KU Libraries adds access to LaTex platform Overleaf
KU Libraries has negotiated a new deal providing students, faculty, and staff on the KU Lawrence and Edwards campuses access to Overleaf, a cloud-based platform for writing, editing, and collaborating on scientific and technical documents using LaTeX, a markup system to format documents.
Thu, 08/20/2026
KU Libraries celebrates Hawk Week with events across campus locations
As students settle back into campus life, KU Libraries is rolling out a full week of Hawk Week programming, August 24-28, designed to introduce Jayhawks to library spaces and services while tying into the university's broader welcome-back festivities.
Tue, 08/18/2026
KU Libraries opens ‘Ad Astra: A Kansas Story Written in the Stars’ exhibition
“Ad Astra: A Kansas Story Written in the Stars” is now open in Watson Library’s Haricombe Gallery, tracing Kansas’ deep roots in human spaceflight. The public is invited to a reception Sept. 10 featuring a keynote with KU alumnus and astronaut Steve Hawley, who will also sign copies of his new memoir.
Fri, 08/14/2026
KU librarian races to save record of Ngäbe voices, one fragile page at a time
A University of Kansas Libraries project is preserving decades of Indigenous Panamanian history: KU librarian Milton Machuca-Gálvez and architecture graduate student Miguel Ángel Castro Cano have digitized 61 issues of Drü, a hand-assembled bulletin produced from 1988 to 1998 by Acción Cultural Ngäbe documenting the culture, land rights and politics of Panama's Ngäbe people.
Mon, 08/03/2026
Spencer Museum announces KU Common Work of Art for 2026-2027
The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas has selected the painting “Winter Flight” by Kay WalkingStick as the KU Common Work of Art for the 2026-2027 academic year. The painting complements themes from the KU Reads book, “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey.
Thu, 07/30/2026
KU to host THATCamp 2026, a day of hands-on digital humanities collaboration
The Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Kansas will host THATCamp 2026 on Aug. 28. The free event, open to all KU faculty, staff, students and community members, encourages exploration at the intersection of technology and humanities.
Thu, 07/16/2026
KU Libraries now provides access to Inside Higher Ed
Members of the KU community on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses now have unlimited access to Inside Higher Ed, a leading online publication covering news, analysis and commentary on higher education, through a new institutional subscription provided by KU Libraries.
Mon, 06/22/2026
Whayne Scholars to highlight research projects, KU’s African American Experience Collections during public talks July 9
The University of Kansas Libraries will host a public presentation featuring the 2026 recipients of the Alyce Hunley Whayne Visiting Researchers Travel Awards at 3 p.m. July 9.
Wed, 06/10/2026
KU Libraries welcomes first international librarian-in-residence through global engagement initiative
The University of Kansas Libraries has welcomed its first international librarian-in-residence, marking a major step forward for the Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship (IGEL) and its efforts to build meaningful global partnerships.
Wed, 06/03/2026
More than a century of KU student journalism now freely available online
KU Libraries have digitized more than 140 years of University of Kansas student newspapers, from the first campus publication in 1878 through 2017, making the collection freely available through Kenneth Spencer Research Library’s digital repository.
Mon, 06/01/2026
Love of language and libraries leads KU graduate to Rubinstein/Mason scholarship
What started as a fondness for libraries and a curiosity about Korean hangul — the writing system and alphabet used for Korean language — has grown into a calling. University of Kansas graduate Daphne Tibbetts has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Rubinstein/Mason Award to support graduate study in library science, with her sights set on becoming a Korean studies librarian.
Thu, 05/14/2026
KU Libraries student employees recognized with dean’s awards
Two University of Kansas student employees who do vital work in Spencer Research Library's public services and a KU Libraries student ambassador were honored among their peers and supervisors at the 14th annual Dean's Award for Student Employee Excellence (DASEE) luncheon on May 7, at Watson Library.
Tue, 05/12/2026
Former dean Lorraine Haricombe to speak on libraries and digital scholarship
The University of Kansas Libraries will welcome former dean and international library leader Lorraine Haricombe as the next guest in its “Global Conversations in Librarianship” series.
Fri, 05/01/2026
KU Libraries select Sprints Week participants for research and teaching collaborations
The University of Kansas Libraries have selected three faculty and academic staff members to collaborate with specialized teams of librarians during Sprints Week, May 18–22, an intensive program designed to address course development and research challenges.
Wed, 04/29/2026
Prepare for coming changes to KU libraries systems
KU Libraries – including the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, Wheat Law Library, and KU Medical Center – is preparing to launch a new library services platform (LSP), FOLIO, on June 3, bringing backend upgrades and user-facing changes that will affect how students, faculty, and staff search for and access library materials. Users must save legacy data from Bookbag and My Favorites by May 26.
Wed, 04/29/2026
Lost history recovered: KU digital humanities team adds missing pages to The Call archives
In a cardboard box tucked away in an office in the 18th and Vine District, a decade of Kansas City history was slowly turning into a collection of unreadable plastic circles. A KU librarian and three undergraduate students stepped in to preserve the archives from The Call.
Tue, 04/28/2026
Winners crowned at the 68th annual Snyder Book Collecting Contest
The University of Kansas Libraries recently honored 11 student finalists and awarded cash prizes during a reception at Watson Library. Established in 1956, the contest is designed to encourage students to experience the joy of building personal libraries highlighting their unique interests and passions.
Wed, 04/08/2026
KU Libraries to host ALC Spring Meeting, showcase Africa-related resources
For the first time in a decade, KU Libraries will host the spring meeting of the African Studies Association’s Africana Librarians Council. The university community is invited to Africa Day on April 15.
Wed, 04/01/2026
KU Libraries select travel award recipients, prepare to host visiting scholars
Six scholars representing institutions in four states, the District of Columbia and Italy were recently selected as KU Libraries' travel award winners, enabling visiting faculty, students and independent researchers to connect to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library’s rare materials and expert curators.
Thu, 03/26/2026
KU Libraries, CURF open student research gallery at Anschutz Library
A small crowd gathered Wednesday afternoon along with KU Libraries faculty and staff for the opening of the Student Research Gallery at Anschutz Library, marking a new showcase for student research posters.
Mon, 03/23/2026
New student research gallery to debut at Anschutz Library
KU Libraries and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) will open an exhibit featuring Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol in a new gallery space in Anschutz Library dedicated to highlighting student research on the Lawrence campus. The community is invited to an opening reception, with light refreshments and brief remarks from CURF and KU Libraries collaborators on March 25 at 2 p.m.
Wed, 03/18/2026
Winter research roundup from journals published by KU Libraries
New research published in KU Libraries-hosted journals explores some of today's most pressing issues in sports, education, health and philosophy.
Tue, 03/17/2026
KU Libraries launch inaugural David M. Bergeron and Geraldo Sousa Exhibit highlighting partnerships, showcasing collections
In a new exhibition in Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, historical texts and contemporary artwork sit side by side, inviting intergenerational exploration and new ideas about the universal experience of growing older. An opening reception for “Aging, Art, and Activism: Reimagining Our Aging Futures through Creative Representations and Personal Narratives” will take place March 31.
Fri, 03/13/2026
KU Reads Teach-In explores use of ‘Orbital’ in the classroom
KU Reads: A Common Book Experience invites faculty and instructors to join the 2026 KU Reads Teach-In, an afternoon of informal discussion and faculty-led sessions to encourage integration of next year’s book selection, “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey, into curriculum and programming.
Fri, 03/13/2026
KU grant program works to cut textbook costs and boost retention
A recent $225,000 investment from the Office of the Provost into the Deans’ Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant Initiative aims to reduce textbook-related costs for students and support retention by encouraging adoption of free and public educational materials in high-enrollment courses over the next few years.