Boston University Libraries

10/22/2026

“ This is a chance to show the papers and get people who are really invested in thinking about [Nikki] Giovanni, but also all of the other people that are in the archive as well.”

Our current exhibit “'Poetry is the Culture of a People:' Understanding Nikki Giovanni through her Archive" is on display in Mugar Memorial Library through May 2027.

✍️ WBUR
📸 Dana J. Quigley

In 1970, Giovanni received a letter from Howard Gotlieb, the founding director of Boston University’s special collections. This started a decades-long relationship between the poet and the university.

09/23/2026

Visit the first floor of Mugar Library to see our new exhibit, Nikki Giovanni: Poetry is the Culture of a People!

Curated by PhD candidate Fallon Murphy, this exhibit aims to celebrate and understand the life and legacy of renowned poet Nikki Giovanni through her archival materials.

09/21/2026

We’re excited to announce the appointment of Kate Donovan as BU’s new University Librarian!

Under Kate’s leadership, we’ll partner with the entire BU community to imagine and build the library of the future.

Read more about Kate:

Kate Donovan hopes to make BU’s libraries more accessible and reimagine them in the age of AI and Big Data

09/10/2026

Join us for the opening of the Nikki Giovanni Papers at Boston University on September 17! The opening features the BU premiere of the documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project and talk back with the filmmakers followed by a reception and poetry reading with luminary poets.

Learn more and register: http://spr.ly/6180BGz9C0

09/06/2026

Happy , Terriers! 📖

Take a page out of these former BU students’ books and pick up a new read for the long weekend.

📸 Boston University Photography

09/02/2026

Join us on Thursday, September 17 for the grand opening of the Nikki Giovanni Papers at Boston University! The community celebration features luminary speakers and poets, a discussion with the award-winning filmmakers Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, and new exhbition examining her work.

2 pm – 5 pm: Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project film screening, followed by a talk back with filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, in conversation with their son Miles Brewster (Pardee ‘24, COM ‘25), filmmaker, educator, and award-winning point guard for the BU Men’s Basketball Team.

5 pm – 7 pm: Reception and Poetry Reading featuring Julieanna Richardson, founder of The HistoryMakers, and poets Tony Medina, Porsha Olayiwola and Saeed Jones, who will share reflections and poems during our reception and poetry reading.

An exhibition, featuring letters, photographs, published and unpublished poetry, vinyl records, essays, and interviews, offers an intimate glimpse into Giovanni’s early career as part of the Black Arts Movement.

08/28/2026

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a 2,000-to-3,000-word piece of narrative non-fiction about a key event in a historic figure’s life or a significant event or moment in history. The trick? This must be based on primary sources from a library’s archive. You’ll use personal letters, handwritten diaries, government documents, contemporaneous media reports, and anything else you can find in an archival repository.

Learn more about the fourteen students who tackled this challenge, posed by journalism lecturer Erick Trickey as a part of the College of Communication class JO 543: Rescuing Lost Stories: Writing Nonfiction Narratives from the Archives: http://spr.ly/6187B10Av3

📸 Oriana Fallaci Collection at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University

08/26/2026

The Boston University Libraries Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center and the Nursing Archives Associates are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2026-2026 Nursing Archives Associates Archival Research Award!

The award will help offset travel and related expenses to visit the Boston University Libraries to conduct research in the more than 200 collections that comprise the nursing archives at BU. It is open to all students, faculty, and independent researchers and will be awarded based on evidence of preparation and/or productivity in historical research related to nursing and health care. The successful grantee will receive $2,500.

The deadline for proposals is November 1, 2026. Learn more about proposal expectations: http://spr.ly/6184B1ah2Y

08/26/2026

Campus is ready for you, Class of 2030 ❤️📚

📸 Jennifer King, BU Libraries

08/24/2026

Welcome home, Terriers!

The Class of 2030 moves into their dorms this week, joining a long history of pushing carts and carrying suitcases down Comm. Ave. 🧳

Swipe for some throwbacks from move-in from 1971 and 1988.

📸 Boston University Photography