KU Libraries

KU Libraries has selected FOLIO, hosted and supported by
@ebsco.bsky.social, as its new library services platform – the core system used to manage library operations such as acquisitions, cataloging, circulation, and electronic resource management.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/ebscofolio

Locked in… for a letter-locking hands on workshop! @kulibraries.bsky.social

⚠️ Service Alert

Access to certain areas and materials at Murphy Art & Architecture Library are limited and request responses may be delayed, due to a water incident over the weekend. Quick action by our Ops and Conservation Services teams limited damage to less than 500 books.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education - @caseadvance.bsky.social - has announced the 2025 Circle of Excellence Award winners, which include a Gold Award for KU Libraries’ Watson Library Centennial Celebration Season.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/CASE100

Postcard portrait of Sylvia Beach and Jane van Meter in Shakespeare and Company bookshop, with portraits of writers, including H. D., William Carlos Williams, and Bryher, D. H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce (among others), visible on the wall behind them. Joyce is the figure in white with his hand held to his head. Circa 1934. Jane van Meter Collection. MS 383, Box 1, Folder 22.

Jane van Meter and Wayne Propst, circa 1978. Jane van Meter Collection. MS 383, Box 1, Folder 66

Letters from Sylvia Beach to Jane van Meter, including Beach’s September 23, 1923 letter hiring van Meter. Jane van Meter Collection. MS 383, Box 1, Folder 23.

Bloomsday is a celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, held annually on June 16.

Spencer Research Library's blog highlights letters between Sylvia Beach, publisher of "Ulysses," and Jane van Meter, Beach's assistant, friend and KU figure.

📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog

In the room and around the 🌍

Today's "Dialogue Across Borders: Ghana Library Collaboration Workshop," is one way KU's Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship (IGEL) promotes knowledge exchange, professional development, innovation, and collaborative research.

🐩 Wishing you a 'paw-some' finals week.

Stress Busting Study Breaks seemed to be a hit this week in Anschutz and Watson Libraries, finish strong.

Finals are better with 🐶 best friends.

Thanks to Loving Paws and Libby for visiting Watson Library as part of the Stress Busting Study Break Monday night. Missed it? Join us again Tuesday in Anschutz Library from 7-8 p.m.

A Lawrence campus visit from award-winning author @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social will be among the first events of the fall semester as the University of Kansas adopts his title, “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” as the 2025-26 KU Reads: A Common Book Experience selection.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/25jgreen

Much appreciated ... student workers average nearly 1,200 hours of work per week across all major offices and divisions of KU Libraries while providing essential services to the Jayhawk community.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/dasee25

🌎 Earth Day … thanks to this green team for picking up a little on campus and Watson Library’s lawn this morning.

A new exhibition in International Collections on Watson Library's 5th Floor highlights the literary contributions of female authors in East Asia, spanning from ancient times to the present, as represented in KU Libraries' East Asian collections.

✅ and ✅

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” -Cicero

Performing the Middle Ages via Experiential Learning Students from ENGL 698 “Capstone: Performing the Middle Ages” pose with a medieval manuscript and modern memory devices in a Spencer Library classroom at the University of Kansas. My ve…

📝 englishkstate.org/2025/04/01/p...

To promote learning, discovery, and scholarship, Spencer Research Library staff is eager to collaborate with instructors and introduce students to collections that relate to coursework and research projects. Recently, that included @englishkstate.bsky.social, as highlighted in its blog.

🔎Where the magic happens.

Libraries faculty and staff were treated to a Conservation Services Open House at Spencer Research Library on Thursday to learn about the team's expert work in the care and preservation of the Libraries' wide-ranging collections.

For making courses as accessible as possible, including a transition from costly textbook and homework systems to free open educational resources (OER), KU Chemistry's Lisa Shape Elles is KU Libraries' 2025 Textbook Hero. #OEWeek25

🗞️ rockcha.lk/tbherolse

Virginia Clinton-Lisell will discuss access to learning resources without financial barriers and open pedagogy with KU Libraries set to announce its next Textbook Hero. #OEWeek25

📍 Watson Library, Three West Reading Room
🗓️ March 14
⏰ 10 a.m.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/oeweek25

Students from all majors are encouraged to submit artwork for LibArt to become part of a year-long juried exhibition inside KU Libraries’ public spaces and win cash awards, which have been recently expanded. Apply by April 4.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/25libartapps

Nola Ayers’s freshman-year courses listed in her student scrapbook, circa 1906. Call Number: SB 71/99/8.

Nola Ayers’s scrapbook entry about being “a poor home-sick freshman,” 1905. Call Number: SB 71/99/8.

A page of invitations and dance cards in Nola Ayers’s KU student scrapbook, circa 1907-1908. Call Number: SB 71/99/8.

A two-page spread in Nola Ayers’s scrapbook, circa 1906. Call Number: SB 71/99/8.

Student scrapbooks in University Archives, like this one from Nola Ayers (at KU 1905-09), offer a glimpse at student life and activities from a particular time period. Read more in this blog or visit Spencer Research Library and browse unique items.

📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlayers

“There are silly little (doodles) like fat ponies, or weird faces and hands. And they're often very sneaky..." 🎙️ Eve Wolynes, Exhibit Curator

"Marvelous Medieval Marginalia" debuted in Spencer Research Library on Saturday. See it yourself during regular hours through the spring semester.

🌱 Grow ideas ... and plants too.

Watson's Seed Library opened last week in the honors lounge on the third floor. Drop by to select your seeds anytime the library is open to the public during growing season.

Leading open education researcher, Virginia Clinton-Lisell, to visit KU's Lawrence campus, Textbook Hero announcement set to mark Open Education Week.

📍 Watson Library, Three West Reading Room
🗓️ March 14
⏰ 10 a.m.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/oeweek25

Is there a 🏆 Tony Award for "Best Library Cart in Community Theater"?

We're delighted to play a tiny role (the cart) in Lawrence Arts Center's "Matilda," opening tonight. Good luck and cheers to a love of reading, thirst for knowledge and librarians who make meaningful connections.

🌎 Partners in a global exchange of knowledge.

Cecilia Zhang, KU Chinese Studies Librarian, recently gave a Watson Library tour to visiting students from Zhejiang Normal University as part of KU International Short Programs.

Today is the day!

Make a #OneDayOneKU gift that contributes to the success of every student, faculty member, and academic department, by giving to KU Libraries.

❤️ rockcha.lk/odoku25-libr...

Pens and markers are prohibited in Kenneth Spencer Research Library’s Reading Room due to their ability to damage materials, but a new exhibit to debut in March welcomes an observation of scribbles and doodles made years ago in medieval manuscripts.

🗞️ rockcha.lk/marginalia

"There's nothing that makes me happier than to see a full library." 🎙️@KULibraries Dean Carol Smith

We have surpassed 10,000 visitors in our campus library locations since Sunday. Best wishes to all learners as we finish the semester strong together.

A new pop-up exhibit in Kenneth Spencer Research Library, "Land of Opportunity," provides glimpses of life in 19th century Kansas, capstone for former KU Libraries employee.

📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog

We're also still hopeful for flying cars and calorie free ice cream in 2124.