Special Collections News & Notes

We find ourselves living in a historic moment. The outbreak of COVID-19 has thrust the LSU community into the unprecedented challenges of safely living, working, teaching and learning during a pandemic. LSU Libraries Special Collections is launching a campus-wide initiative…Read more ›

As our days under lockdown turn to weeks and now months, it’s getting harder to remember a time when going to the library and physically touching books was a possibility, and the tactile experience of holding a material piece of…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections and the Ogden Honors College will host a book talk and signing with Dr. Paul E. Hoffman and Dr. Michael Desmond on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the lecture hall…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections presents “Louisiana’s Natural Treasure: Margaret Stones, Botanical Artist,” on exhibition at Hill Memorial Library from February 10 – June 27, 2020. Selected works from the Native Flora of Louisiana watercolor drawings, as well as archival materials…Read more ›

LSU Libraries welcomes Christine Cloud as Instruction and Curatorial Assistant in Special Collections. She prepares and sets up materials for classes who visit Hill Memorial Library and helps the curator to process book donations and publicize new acquisitions. Cloud says she…Read more ›

While LSU Football was winding its way through a successful 2020 postseason, Special Collections was enjoying a big win of its own, adding a copy of the large, impressive Nuremberg Chronicle to our rare book collections. Published in 1493 in…Read more ›

2019 marks the 400th anniversary of enslaved people landing on the shores of Virginia, thus beginning the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade in North America. To recognize this event, The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Special Collections Interest Group curated its…Read more ›

As we head toward the holidays we’re reminded again at just how exciting it is to open packages: slicing through tape, unwrapping paper, shaking and guessing contents, before finally revealing the treasures tightly nestled in each box. This is especially…Read more ›

On October 24th, LSU Libraries Special Collections hosted “Afternoon in the Archives: Book Arts” in conjunction with the “Exploding the Codex: Book Arts in Special Collections” exhibition now open in Hill Memorial Library. The work of three of LSU’s Art…Read more ›

LSU Libraries Special Collections presents the exhibition, “The Hidden Treasures and Historical Importance of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris” in association with the LSU College of Art & Design. A small selection of items related to the School of…Read more ›

In the spring of 2019, LSU Libraries’ Special Collections revived its long-dormant Purchasing Committee to help to advise the Curator of Books on book acquisitions and collection development policies.   Last active some twenty years ago, the reborn committee is made…Read more ›

I was delighted to be a part of the team that put together the current exhibition, “Exploding the Codex: Book Arts in Special Collections.” You can view this exhibition in the Main Gallery of Hill Memorial Library during regular library…Read more ›

As part of Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LBP)’s Louisiana: The State We’re In,  André Moreau interviewed Assistant Curator of Manuscripts Melissa Smith in spring 2019 on the life and times of Baton Rouge composer and businesswoman Doralice Fontane (1905-1980), whose papers are housed in…Read more ›

Visitors to the Special Collections reading room at Hill Memorial Library are invited to view a selection of materials from the recently processed Richard W. Leche Papers. Richard W. Leche was the 44th Governor of Louisiana, from May 12, 1936…Read more ›

Book artist Julie Chen’s new work, Wayfinding, has found its way to Hill Memorial Library! This beautiful book is now on display in the exhibition “Exploding the Codex: Book Arts in Special Collections.” Chen’s work is focused on the physical…Read more ›

Even young children recognize a book: it’s rectangular and opens on one side to reveal multiple pages. But does it have to be so? Can books escape the tyranny of our past assumptions to assume an altogether different shape? What…Read more ›

LSU Libraries recently selected five scholars to receive travel grants supporting use of the LSU Special Collections in their research and publication projects. The grant defrays travel and lodging costs associated with a trip to Hill Memorial Library in Baton…Read more ›

Winnie Schwaid-Lindner has joined LSU Libraries as Special Collections Digital Preservation Librarian. In her new position, Schwaid-Lindner manages and maintains digital content preservation for LSU Libraries Special Collections. She ensures the usability of digital resources such as computer files, databases,…Read more ›

The LSU Libraries will host a viewing of the famed folio edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America on Saturday, May 18, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Audubon Day events are free and the public is welcome.…Read more ›

The moon has captured our imaginations for millennia: generations have pondered and puzzled over it, measured and illustrated it. This unflagging curiosity through the centuries and across the world drove efforts to reach out and touch the moon on July…Read more ›