General Library News

Records from two of Georgia’s highest-ranking politicians of the 1990s and early 2000s are now freely available to the public, as the University of Georgia’s Russell Library for Political Research and Studies opens collections from U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.

The collections provide insider perspectives into 21^st century congressional debates, including budget and tax reform battles, the Affordable Care Act, and the Global War on Terror and the 2003-2011 Iraq War, as well as immigration issues and federal agriculture policy. In addition, the collections include campaign memorabilia, constituent correspondence, photographs, and other objects from Chambliss’s and Isakson’s life and service in state politics dating back to the 1970s.

Bulldog fans from every corner of Georgia can relive the history of University of Georgia athletics this summer. Sports memorabilia and other artifacts will be on display at local libraries as part of the “UGA Athletics in Your Town” tour, featuring a traveling exhibit of materials from the UGA Libraries archives.

Featured in the traveling exhibit is the famed “Silver Chalice,” the oldest piece in the UGA Athletics archive. The trophy was awarded to the Georgia football team in 1894 — before they were known as the Bulldogs — after a victory over Auburn University. In addition to tickets and a program from the first game played at Sanford Stadium in 1929, visitors can get a look at a hand-written playbook from the Wally Butts era and football helmets from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1980s. Plus, the exhibit will include memorabilia from UGA’s baseball, women’s tennis, and track & field teams.

Clarke Central High School in Athens, GA, has announced a Summer Book Club for student athletes featuring The Crimson and Gold: Football and Integration in Athens, Georgia (UGA Press, 2024) by local author Mark Clegg (Economics A.B., University of Georgia). What started as a conversation in August 2025 with Assistant Head Football Coach Damien Gray and Clarke Central High librarians Angela Pendley and Naomi Craver evolved into a desire to educate students and the community about the history of integration at Clarke Central.

UGA student researchers earned top honors in this year’s Libraries Undergraduate Research Award with reflections on their work that show off their creativity, from collages that tell a story to projects that solve mysteries. 

After saving researchers more than $2 million in 2025, UGA Libraries’ open access publishing agreements are expanding even further this year.

A newly signed read-and-publish agreement with publisher Taylor & Francis brings the list of open access publishing opportunities at UGA to more than 9,000 journal titles across 14 scholarly publishers. 

Twelve­ University of Georgia faculty members will reimagine historical pieces into active-learning opportunities for students as part of UGA’s Special Collections Faculty Teaching Fellows program, now in its 11^th year on campus.

While projects are in the beginning stages, the newest Special Collections Faculty Teaching Fellows are planning unique class activities in fields from English and history to international affairs, fashion, chemistry, and physics, incorporating a broad array of materials from the UGA Libraries three special collections departments.

University of Georgia faculty are invited to apply for seed grants that can fund humanities research projects that engage with the tools and resources available through the UGA Special Collections Libraries or Creative Engagement Wing at the Miller Learning Center.

The UGA Libraries’ Fairchild-Holcomb Awards for Innovation in the Humanities will fund two awards up to $5,000 each for summer salary, travel, supplies and student support costs that will assist in original research and outreach or instructional activities that share this new knowledge.

With tools like virtual reality headsets and 3D printers, the University of Georgia’s inaugural Creative Engagement Fellows are designing active learning experiences that immerse students in a full sensory understanding of subjects from anthropology to engineering.

Twenty fellows across nine schools and colleges began working in February to engage with technologies in the new Creative Engagement Wing at the Miller Learning Center to create hands-on assignments students will never forget.

Award-winning writers whose poems, novels, and plays have been lauded across the country have been named to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, based at the University of Georgia Libraries.

The inductee class of 2026 honors Alice Friman, Charlie Smith, and Shay Youngblood. The three writers' literary legacies have been felt across the Peach State, from Friman’s tenure at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville to Smith’s roots in Moultrie and Youngblood’s connections to Atlanta.