Giving to the Libraries

August 2026

Dear friends,

As a new academic year begins at Vanderbilt, the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries are already building on last year’s momentum. This summer, we launched a mobile history lab to safeguard Indigenous cultures, hosted the premier conference for early America historians and welcomed former first lady of the United States Jill Biden and Hamnet author Maggie O’Farrell to campus for engaging book talks, among other initiatives.

Also, I am pleased to share that last month I was named dean of libraries and letters—and the inaugural Connie Vinita Dowell University Librarian—thanks to the generous support of former library dean Connie Dowell, M.L.S.’79, and her husband, Stephen P. Miller. Their gift, which demonstrates what is possible when philanthropic vision meets institutional commitment, points to a bright future for our libraries.

Will you, too, consider making a gift to the Heard Libraries? All contributions, no matter their size, shape the work that we do. When you give to the libraries, you directly support efforts to:

• Further elevate the Southern Festival of Books as one of the nation’s leading literary and arts programs by fostering community engagement opportunities and leveraging Vanderbilt’s transformative partnership with Humanities Tennessee to position the festival for sustained growth and expanded impact
• Strengthen the impact of Vanderbilt research by investing in information resources that undergird scholarship, as well as implementing open access initiatives that ensure immediate and unrestricted access to our scholars’ work worldwide
• Bolster teaching and learning on campus by embedding librarians in the classroom and providing programs, resources and immersive experiences that support students’ educational needs and experiential learning opportunities, such as the Buchanan Library Fellowship for Undergraduate Research and the Vanderbilt Cloud Innovation Lab, powered by AWS
• Safeguard the world’s cultural heritage by building and digitally preserving our archival collections, including the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Slave Societies Digital Archive and many distinctive collections that cover journalism and politics, the Civil Rights Movement, Latin American history and culture, jazz music and more

By investing in these priority areas, you will help us continue building a dynamic library system that empowers faculty, equips students and enhances Vanderbilt’s global reputation. Please make your gift today. Every contribution is appreciated.

Thank you,

Jon Shaw
Dean of Libraries and Letters
Connie Vinita Dowell University Librarian