Central Library

Vanderbilt’s Central Library and Divinity Library will be closed beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, through Sunday, Nov. 30, for scheduled facility maintenance. The libraries’ regular operating hours will resume on Monday, Dec. 1. Read More

Eight decades of Vanderbilt University history are commemorated in a new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Dare to Grow, 1945–2025 is on view in the Central Library fourth-floor lobby through mid-February 2026. The exhibit explores Vanderbilt’s remarkable growth in faculty, facilities, enrollment and the quality of its students amid national and international crises, recessions, pandemics and other disruptions from postwar to present day. Read More

VUIT will offer walk-up support at a new Tech Hub in Vanderbilt’s Central Library beginning Monday, Oct. 13. The Central Library Tech Hub is located on the south end of the main service desk in the fourth-floor lobby. The Tech Hub is designed to offer quick, in-person assistance with university-owned devices for issues such as VUnetID problems, wireless connection issues, email setup, and software access. Read More

A new exhibit at Vanderbilt’s Central Library traces the evolution of the manifesto as a literary and artistic form, showcasing the bold declarations of poets, painters and provocateurs who reshaped modern culture. Revolution and the Arts: Manifestos from Symbolism to Surrealism is now on view outside the W.T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies study room on the eighth floor of Central Library. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries will mark the centennial anniversary of the landmark Scopes trial with a new exhibit at Vanderbilt’s Central Library. Celebrating 150 Years of Evolution at Vanderbilt is on view in the Central Library second-floor gallery until mid-November 2025. Read More

The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt has awarded nearly $80,000 over the past academic year to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff pursuing community-facing arts-based projects. This is triple the impact of previous iterations of this program, spurred by new application procedures, outreach and project development methods. Creative Inquiry Grants, named for the Curb Center’s goal of elevating art as a mode of inquiry, award up to $2,500 per applicant and the use of Curb Center space and resources to the stewards of a variety of important projects. Read More

The many contributions of LGBTQ people to the political, social and cultural fabric of Middle Tennessee are explored in a new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. 'Alive with Pride: LGBTQ Existence and Resistance in Middle Tennessee' is on view in the Central Library fourth-floor lobby through September 2025. An opening reception for the exhibit will be on Tuesday, June 24, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and a series of curator talks will be held at Central Library on three Saturdays—July 12, July 19 and Aug. 9—this summer. Patrons are invited to view the exhibit from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each session, with guided tours scheduled at 11 a.m. and at noon. Read More

A new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries celebrates the rich world and colorful characters created by popular 20th-century British writer P.G. Wodehouse. “Blandings, Jeeves, and Psmith: The Worlds of P.G. Wodehouse,” curated by Special Collections and University Archives, commemorates the formal dedication of the P.G. Wodehouse Collection at Vanderbilt University. The exhibit is in the fourth-floor lobby of Central Library in wall cases stretching from the Reading Room to Suzie’s Food for Thought Café. Read More

The Buchanan Library Fellowship program supports hands-on student learning opportunities that build desirable skills and deepen students’ understanding of resources and services in Vanderbilt Libraries. With a focus on undergraduate instruction, the program connects faculty and professional librarians with students to work on experiential library projects and present their work at the end of their fellowship. Read More

Vanderbilt faculty members Jad Abumrad, one of the pioneers of podcasting, and Jacob Mchangama, a leading expert on free speech, will take part in a thought-provoking discussion Nov. 2 as part of the Dialogue Vanderbilt initiative. “Freedom or Foolishness: Are Our Digital Lives Making Society Better or Worse?” is presented by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries and the Wild Bunch Lecture Fund. Read More

Choreographer Allison Orr is visiting Vanderbilt for a weeklong residency at the Curb Center, during which she will be speaking to several classes and leading a community dance workshop in partnership with dance nonprofit New Dialect. Additionally, Orr will offer a public talk on her new book, DanceWorks: Stories of Creative Collaboration at Central Library on Thursday, Oct. 12 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Read More

Watch video of a panel discussion about the limits of free speech, especially on college campuses. Moderated by John M. Seigenthaler, former news anchor for NBC, MSNBC and Al Jazeera America. Panelists include: Haka Mitchell, Executive Director of Rocketship Nashville; Norman Tolk, Vanderbilt Professor of Physics and liaison for the… Read More

Stage & Screen: The Star Quality of Vanderbilt’s Performing Arts Collections, on view at Vanderbilt’s renovated Central Library and Special Collections, invites viewers to step “behind the curtain” of some of the world’s most memorable productions. Read More

Watch video of the panel discussion with U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander about his early swearing-in as Tennessee’s 45th governor. The event was hosted by Vanderbilt University’s Heard Libraries  and Law School on April 9. The panel was part of special programming scheduled in conjunction with the exhibit “Come on… Read More

Leonard Folgarait, professor of history of art, delivered the keynote address on Mexican photography at the Art History Graduate Student Symposium held at Duke University. Nancy Godleski has been named assistant dean for collections at Central Library. Previously, Godleski was the Kaplanoff Librarian for American History and American Studies at… Read More