January 2026

Message from the Dean

The January 14 edition of The Advocate carried a wonderful editorial describing the status of LSU’s new library project, and calling for financial support comparable to the support shown for LSU’s sports teams.

I found the editorial thrilling, and I’m grateful for its frank appeal for financial support.

Save the Date:

Friends of the LSU Libraries Book Bazaar

Mark your calendar! The Friends of the LSU Libraries will host their annual Book Bazaar on April 16–18, 2026, at the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum on AgCenter Dr.

This year’s sale marks the 50th anniversary of the Book Bazaar, a beloved Baton Rouge tradition featuring thousands of used books in every genre, the proceeds of which support LSU Libraries.

The 2026 Book Bazaar is sponsored by Frost-Barber of Louisiana, LLC, and Kean's Fine Dry Cleaning, with all proceeds benefiting LSU Libraries.

New Banned Book Space Opens in

LSU Library

In 2025, Matt and Melissa Juneau made a generous $30,000 gift to LSU Libraries with a clear and purposeful vision: to create a permanent space dedicated to banned and challenged books in the main library. Thanks to their support, that vision became a reality in December 2025 with the opening of the LSU Libraries Banned Book Space, located in Room 227 of the LSU Library.

Designed as a welcoming, 1950s-style living room, the space features new furniture from Frost-Barber, LLC, inviting patrons to read, reflect, and engage at their leisure. Bookcases highlight banned and challenged titles from our collections, while wall displays include a timeline of book banning in the U.S., a list of frequently challenged classic works, and the top 10 most challenged books from the previous year.

The space is dedicated in memory of Adam Desselle, educator, and Montez Juneau, librarian, honoring their lifelong commitment to education and the transformative power of books.

From the Stacks

LSU Libraries is celebrating the research and creativity of LSU’s faculty through "From the Stacks: LSU Faculty Authors," a new, monthly Q&A series highlighting books written by LSU faculty members. This initiative highlights recent publications and offers insight into the scholarship that shapes the university’s academic community. All faculty-authored books are included in the Libraries’ physical collection and as part of the faculty book list in the LSU Scholarly Repository. Here are the latest entries.

Prosanta Chakrabarty is the Edwin K. Hunter Chair for Communication of Science Research, Professor and Curator of Fishes; SEE Division/Museum of Natural Science. As an ichthyologist, Dr. Chakrabarty has been interested in the evolution of life forms from fishes. In this Q&A, he discusses the influences that led to the writing of his book, Explaining Life Through Evolution, (MIT Press 2023).

Julia Irwin is LSU’s T. Harry Williams Professor of History. Her book, Catastrophic Diplomacy: US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century (University of North Carolina Press 2024), offers a sweeping history of US foreign disaster assistance, highlighting its centrality to twentieth-century US foreign relations.

Gaines M. Foster is the Murphy J. Foster Professor of History Emeritus at Louisiana State University. This month’s “From the Stacks,” highlights his book, The Limits of the Lost Cause: Essays on Civil War Memory (LSU Press, 2024), a collection of essays that challenge ways of thinking about the impact the American Civil War had on the South.

PAWS-itive News

LSU Libraries' media highlights from October-December 2025 include the launch of the library’s new Creator Space; highlights of items in our Special Collections; coverage of Special Collections’ fall exhibition, “Public Pathogens: Louisiana’s Historical Struggle with Disease;” and more.

Check out all the great press we received.