USC Libraries

10/06/2026

Who reads banned books? USC Libraries faculty & staff.

October 4–10 is Banned Books Week at the USC Libraries, where we're exploring the long history and continuing consequences of efforts to restrict what people can read.

10/01/2026

It's Banned Books Week at the USC Libraries next week. Here's how we're shining a light on issues like censorship, intellectual freedom, and the freedom to read.

The libraries' 2026 Banned Books Week programming explores centuries of censorship—and the authors, librarians, readers, and others who have resisted it.

09/23/2026

Last year, the American Library Association documented challenges to 4,235 books, many initiated by elected officials, school boards, and organized pressure groups. On Monday, October 5, join us for a timely, thought-provoking conversation about censorship, intellectual freedom, and your right to read.

Dr. HURIYA JABBAR, USC Rossier School of Education, will moderate a discussion among former librarian and current candidate for Huntington Beach City Council ERIN SPIVEY; California State Assemblymember (District 66) AL MURATSUCHI; and ERNESTO CISNEROS, a public school teacher and nationally acclaimed author of Efrén Divided and Queso, Just In Time.

In preparation for the discussion, we encourage everyone to view The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, which won this year’s Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. It follows librarians across the United States as they confront a sweeping wave of book bans and are forced to become unexpected defenders of the First Amendment. The film reveals the personal toll of censorship while framing the fight for the freedom to read as a broader struggle for democracy.

Forbidden Pages: Past and Present, an exhibition of materials from the USC Libraries Special Collections covering hundreds of years of attempts at censorship, is on display throughout the fall 2026 semester on the first floor of Doheny Library.

RSVP online.

An Exhibition, Panel Discussion, and Asynchronous Film Screening (livestream link will be shared with registrants the morning of 10/5/26)

09/18/2026

Last night's performance of The Visions of Simone Machard 2.0, presented by USC Visions and Voices, took us from 1940 France to a dystopian Los Angeles.

USC School of Dramatic Arts students and faculty brought to life playwright and professor Oliver Mayer’s new adaptation of The Visions of Simone Machard, the 1942 play by Lion Feuchtwanger and Bertolt Brecht about oppression, resistance, and the impulse to act in the face of political upheaval. Mayer’s version transplants the story to a Los Angeles shaped by oil production and constant surveillance, with design and staging by Evidence Room founding artistic director Bart DeLorenzo.

Following the staged reading, Mayer joined USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences professors Manuel Pastor and Béatrice Mousli and student performers for a conversation about the adaptation and its themes of resistance, community, and social change.

Many thanks to everyone who joined us!

09/17/2026

We recently launched two tutorials introducing students to the fundamentals of AI literacy and the responsible use of AI in classes.

They join a wealth of other AI-related tutorials, research guides, and resources created by experts at the USC Libraries in response to the rapid development of AI tools over the recent years.

The USC Libraries recently launched two tutorials for the start of fall semester to introduce students to the fundamentals of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and the responsible use of AI in classes.

09/11/2026

Yesterday, returned Peace Corps volunteers, scholars, librarians, and members of the Peace Corps Korea community gathered at Doheny Memorial Library for “The Mutual Gaze,” marking the 60th anniversary of the first arrival of U.S. Peace Corps volunteers in Korea.

Hosted by our Korean Heritage Library—which is celebrating its own 40th anniversary this year—the conference explored how personal encounters, educational exchange, and cross-cultural understanding helped forge enduring ties between Korea and the United States—and how Peace Corps service inspired lifelong contributions to Korean studies, scholarship, and public life.

Thanks to everyone who joined us in reflecting on six decades of connection, learning, and exchange!

09/01/2026

Who said libraries can't drop a beat?

Last Friday, with a little help from wireless headphones and our friends at Late Night SC, the courtyard outside Leavey Library became the dance floor for our annual Silent Disco.

Thanks to everyone who danced the night away with us and helped us kick off the new semester on a high note!

08/31/2026

On Tuesday, September 8, join us and our LA2026 partners for a virtual conversation about the power of grassroots activism in shaping education, civic institutions, and American politics.

Drawing on the themes of our exhibition “1776–1976: USC, Los Angeles, and the U.S. Bicentennial,” Allissa Richardson (associate professor of journalism and communication, USC Annenberg) and David-James Gonzales (associate professor of history, Brigham Young University) will consider how individual leadership and collective movements brought the promises of the Declaration of Independence to Southern California.

08/24/2026

The new study pods were made possible by funding from our annual Scripter Awards.

Six new soundproof study pods are now available by reservation at USC's Leavey Library.

07/29/2026

Eleven decades later, swimwear has changed, but the pleasure of a summer day at a Southern California beach has not.

These bathers posed for a photograph in Long Beach circa 1910, when beachwear required considerably more fabric than it does today.

From the California Historical Society Collection in our USC Digital Library.