Library News Online

Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff can now access thousands of top-tier global newspapers and magazines for free, thanks to a new Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ subscription that brings the PressReader digital news platform directly to the university community. Read More

Friends and supporters of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries gathered Sept. 30 to mark the tenure of Jon Shaw as dean of libraries and letters and to celebrate the legacy of Connie Vinita Dowell, M.L.S.’79, the Vanderbilt Libraries’ first dean. Read More

The complete papers of pioneering Colombian intellectual and cultural activist Manuel Zapata Olivella are now available to the public, and access has been expanded to the papers of his sister, master dancer and folklorist Delia Zapata Olivella, thanks to archival efforts by Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives. Read More

Many writers and performers with Vanderbilt ties will be featured at the 2026 Southern Festival of Books, which returns to the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Tennessee State Museum, and Tennessee State Library and Archives Oct. 17–18. Read More

The Nashville Comic Arts Festival, a free event celebrating independent comics, graphic novels and zines, will return for a third year to Vanderbilt University’s Central Library on Saturday, Oct. 3. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Peabody Library will host “STEAMrolling into Discovery,” part of the 10th annual Tennessee STEAM Festival, on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 3 p.m. Read More

The Heard Libraries, in collaboration with key university partners, are making 2026–27 the Year to Unplug—a sustained, institution-wide effort to cultivate a campus culture of reading, reflection and community. Read More

Jeff Kinney, author and illustrator of the juggernaut middle-grades "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book series, will appear at Vanderbilt University on Saturday, Oct. 24, to celebrate the release of the 21st book in the series, "Fight or Flight." Read More

Grammy and Emmy award-winning entertainer Harry Connick Jr. will discuss his debut book, "Babe: Elaboratio–A Tribute to My Mother," on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Vanderbilt University. Read More

A new pilot program between Vanderbilt University’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries and Cambridge University Press will expand Vanderbilt’s Evidence-Based Acquisitions (EBA) ebook agreement with Cambridge to include book publishing opportunities for Vanderbilt authors. Read More