Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries

Join us for the 2023 Lillian Smith Book Awards Ceremony, which will be held on September 21,2023, at 7 p.m. The Lillian Smith Book Awards are sponsored by the Southern Regional Council, University of Georgia Libraries, DeKalb County Public Library/The Georgia Center for the Book, and Piedmont College. This free event includes remarks from both recipients and a Q&A followed by a book signing. 

The LSBA committee is proud to award the 2023 Lillian Smith Book Award to:

Indigenous Guale Indians first greeted Jesuit missionaries to the Georgia coast in 1566, but their missionary effort there was spectacularly unsuccessful. Franciscans arrived a decade later and worked with Guale leaders to establish Mission Santa Catalina as Spain’s northern outpost along the eastern seaboard. The mission was overrun and destroyed in 1680 by raiders from South Carolina.

Join the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library for an afternoon of family fun highlighting the new exhibit, Exploring St. Catherine's Island. Scott Jones from Media Prehistoria will display stone tools, hunting weapons, cordage, and bone tools, in addition to conducting a fire-making demonstration. Visitors can also conduct their own archaeology dig and create a pinch pot to take home! 

Since 1948, the Georgia Museum of Art has been serving the University of Georgia by providing inspiration without admission charges. Its collection has grown from an initial 100 American paintings to more than 17,000 objects. Its founder, Alfred Heber Holbrook, also served as its director for 21 years and set the tone for the museum’s mission.

Home Box Office (HBO) is the longest-running subscription television service in the United States. Started in 1972, the network allowed subscribers to watch unedited theatrically released films and live sporting events for a flat rate every month. This exhibit highlights some of the groundbreaking programming created by and aired on HBO over time with items selected from the Peabody Awards Archive. This display was curated by exhibition assistant Madeline Nagy.

Join the Russell Library for the fourth annual Food, Power, and Politics Lecture featuring Maurice Bailey, President & CEO of Save Our Legacy Ourself (SOLO), a non-profit based on Sapelo Island. Bailey will discuss the revival of heritage crops and the preservation of the culture, heritage, and traditions of the Saltwater Geechee people on Sapelo Island. Nik Heynen will moderate the event. Light reception to follow. 

This summer the Russell Library is proudly hosting the traveling exhibition The Fourth Grade Project featuring 72 photographs by Judy Gelles. Over the past decade, Judy Gelles (1944 – 2020) interviewed and photographed more than 300 fourth-grade students from a range of economic and cultural backgrounds in China, Dubai, England, India, Israel, Italy, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, South Africa, South Korea, and multiple areas of the United States. This art project connects children locally and globally, building bridges and tearing down walls.

Join the UGA Special Collections Libraries for an opening reception to celebrate a series of new case exhibitions across the galleries curated by UGA undergraduate students. Enjoy food and drink in the exhibition hallway and meet student curators inside the galleries to learn more about their displays.

The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection welcomes Peabody Award winning documentary film producer George King to Athens for a screening of his newest film, “Thumbs Up for Mother Universe- Stories from the Life of Lonnie Holley.” The screening is free and open to the general public as well as UGA faculty, students, and staff.

Join the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library for an afternoon of crafts, storytime, and performances by Rebecca Sunshine Band and the Wooten Woopets on Saturday, June 17, 2023, from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. This event is free and open to the public.  Free parking for off-campus visitors is available in the Hull Street Deck.