Special Collections And University Archives

Vanderbilt University Librarian Jon Shaw, who has led the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries since 2022, has been reappointed for a five-year term and named dean of libraries and letters, effective July 1. Shaw is the inaugural Connie Vinita Dowell University Librarian, thanks to generous support from Dowell, M.L.S.’79, Vanderbilt’s first dean of libraries, and her husband, Stephen P. Miller. Their gift, made during Vanderbilt’s Dare to Grow campaign, reflects the couple’s ongoing commitment to the Heard Libraries and strengthens philanthropic momentum for the library dean’s role and strategic priorities.  Read More

A new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries celebrates America’s semiquincentennial—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—by exploring the United States’ formative years. 'Forging a Nation' will be on view through December 2026. Read More

Lamar Alexander, BA’62, continues a six-decade journey on the path of public service, one that famously began with a thousand-mile trek across Tennessee in his signature red-and-black plaid shirt. However, for the Vanderbilt community, his legacy is rooted even deeper—stretching back to his days as an undergraduate, serving as editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler and a key student voice of support for racial integration at the university. Soon, a variety of activities led by the university will allow the broader community to learn more about his storied history and engage with the former Tennessee governor and U.S. senator. Read More

That spirit of shared responsibility anchored a recent collaboration among the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville Public Library’s Special Collections, Vanderbilt University and Tennessee State Parks, bringing history to life through dialogue, performance and community engagement. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Central Library second-floor gallery is awash with color with the opening of Brighter and Brighter: The Poetry Prints of Sam Maitin. The exhibit is on view at Central through August, when it will move to Special Collections and University Archives and be on display there through November 2026. Read More

Among the artifacts librarian Mary McSparran selected from Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives for a pop-up exhibit last fall were a NASA space suit and a journal listing books about UFOs. Neither would seem a likely choice for a literary salon, where the exhibit was on display, but this was no ordinary discussion of writers and their works. The gathering was part of a growing collaboration between Special Collections staff and Vanderbilt faculty, in which the curators and archivists play an active role in teaching by offering students access to unique materials that bring their coursework to life. Read More

Infinite Worlds: Science Fiction and the Future of Humanity is now on view in the fourth-floor lobby of Central Library. The exhibit, which features rare publications from Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives and Central Library collections, explores speculative fiction through themes such as advances in science and technology and their effect on the future of human society. Read More

The collected papers of celebrated humorist Roy Blount Jr. are now housed at Vanderbilt University’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Blount, a 1963 graduate of Vanderbilt, donated the collection in late 2024. Read More

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries have partnered with Amazon Web Services to launch the Vanderbilt Cloud Innovation Lab for Libraries and Applied Digital Preservation, powered by AWS. This initiative, the first of AWS’s cloud innovation programs to be housed in an academic library and focused on archival preservation, was celebrated Oct. 27 at a ribbon-cutting event and reception on the Vanderbilt campus. Read More

New exhibits in three campus locations celebrate the Immersion Vanderbilt program and highlight hands-on learning projects created by former undergraduate students in collaboration with the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Read More

Family, friends and colleagues of Sen. Lamar Alexander gathered at Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives Oct. 22 to celebrate his distinguished career and the digitization of the Lamar Alexander Papers by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Read More

Power of Suggestion: The Hypnotism Library of Dr. Albert Moll, curated by History of Medicine Collections curator Chris Ryland and archivist Jim Thweatt, is on view at Vanderbilt’s Special Collections and University Archives through mid-February 2026. The items in the exhibit are drawn from a multilingual collection offering a unique perspective on the history of hypnotism as well as its relationship to animal magnetism, psychotherapy, mesmerism, sleepwalking, criminology, and even yoga. Read More

The 2025 Southern Festival of Books, presented by Vanderbilt University in partnership with Humanities Tennessee, will connect faculty, students, alumni and others with university ties to a vast community that shares their love for creative expression. The festival, now in its 37th year, will be at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Tennessee State Museum and Tennessee State Library and Archives Oct. 18–19. Admission is free. 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’ Special Collections and University Archives has completed a long-term project to fully digitize the Lamar Alexander Papers, which document the life and work of a significant figure in Tennessee and U.S. political history. 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 influence of Vanderbilt University writers on acclaimed author Flannery O’Connor—and the extensive reach of O’Connor’s work on literature and beyond—are the subjects of a new Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries exhibit. 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

Digital preservation professionals from the Southeast and across the globe convened at Vanderbilt University for the inaugural Digital Preservation Coalition Members Forum in the Americas. The April 24–25 gathering, hosted by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, supported the university’s goal of engaging a global community of scholars on campus and bringing their expertise to bear on the world’s most pressing problems. Read More

A new student-curated exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries explores the exciting world of book arts, with a focus on the intersection of art, craftsmanship and literature. Read More