WashU Libraries

Listen to Joel Minor, curator of manuscripts and the Modern Literature Collection, on the latest episode of the Authors Unbound podcast as he discusses preserving writers’ lives, legacies, and creative processes.

This week on Authors Unbound, we sit down with curator and archivist Joel Minor for a rich conversation about the human work of keeping a writer’s life available to future readers. Minor reflects on the challenge of preserving an increasingly digital writing life, the responsibility of handling materials never necessarily intended for public view, and the strange balance between personal legacy, scholarly value, and the commercial market for writers’ papers. We dive into the intimacy of the manuscripts themselves: Joy Williams cutting and taping together typewritten drafts, James Merrill’s doodles and surviving Ouija board transcripts, and the correspondence, revisions, false starts, and collaborations that reveal literature as a process rather than a polished object.

This is Joel Minor Unbound.

Listen to S4 Ep6: ueplit.short.gy/MinorUnbound

a brand new (fall) day🍁

Explore our new digital collections platform!

Discover rare and historically significant photographs, documents, books, audiovisual recordings, and more, all in one searchable place. The new platform brings together collections from across the Libraries, making it easier than ever to explore and access materials from the past.

Announcing a New Digital Collections Platform - WashU Libraries A new digital collections platform, launched in September 2026, provides access to selected digitized and born-digital materials—including images, documents, books, audiovisual recordings, and other original materials—from the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections and other rare collec...

What happens when AI, 3D technology, and ethical research come together? A new WashU project is building a digital 3D library that combines cutting-edge technology with responsible research practices, with help from the Libraries.

Learn more about this innovative project:

Building an Ethical, AI-Competent 3D Library of Human Remains - WashU Libraries In 2022, Science published the article “Medical, scientific racism revealed in century-old plaque from Black man’s teeth.” It detailed how the Terry Collection—one of the most studied collections of human remains in the U.S.—was largely built from vulnerable populations in St. Louis, more ...

First week back at WashU 📚🐻

Study sessions, friend catch-ups, new routines, and plenty of time spent finding your favorite spot on campus. Here’s to a great semester! ✨

🎬 Join us tomorrow evening at the Hi-Pointe Theatre for The Trials of Muhammad Ali, the final screening of our summer film series celebrating 60 years of Kartemquin Films. The documentary explores Ali’s life, activism, faith, and transformation from Cassius Clay to global icon.

Free and open to all!

The Trials of Muhammad Ali Screening - WashU Libraries The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013), directed by Bill Siegel, is a compelling Kartemquin documentary tracing Ali’s transformation from Cassius Clay to global icon and advocate for peace. From his Louisville roots to his exile after refusing military service during the Vietnam War, the film explores...

Looking for your next great read? 📚 In honor of National Book Lovers Day this Sunday, WashU Libraries staff shared some of the books they love most with The Source. From timeless classics to modern favorites, you might just find your next page-turner.

See their picks:

WashU librarians pick favorite books for National Book Lover’s Day In honor of National Book Lover’s Day, celebrated annually on Aug. 9, the Record asked librarians to share some of their favorite titles. The result: a tour de force by a WashU alumna, a sweeping epic of German history and one of the globe’s most beloved fantasy novels. All of these titles are a...

This year marks the 100th anniversary of poet James Merrill’s birth. Discover more about his life and legacy, and how the James Merrill Papers in our Special Collections continue to support research and scholarship in this new Common Reader article.

James Merrill: The Poetics of Place - Common Reader A lesser poet would never have won a National Book Award with poetry that claimed to be a transcription from the spirit world.