Events & Outreach
The Z. Smith Reynolds Library features a variety of events, workshops, and more. The library often partners with other units on campus to offer these programs. For more information, contact the library.
Upcoming Events
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Tobacco has played a significant role in shaping North Carolina’s cultural, economic, and social identity, even before the state’s official establishment. Early depictions of Native American communities along the coast at the end of the 16th century show cultivation and use of the plant.
During the 19th century, tobacco became a cornerstone of the plantation economy, generating immense wealth for select families. In the 20th century, the rise of mass production and commercialization, along with an expanding labor force dedicated to its cultivation and processing, further embedded tobacco in North Carolina’s way of life. Marketing campaigns and iconic imagery tied to tobacco are deeply woven into the state’s historical narrative.
This exhibit showcases images, artifacts, and records from Special Collections & Archives, spanning from the sixteenth century to the modern era. It also features contributions from North Carolina artists and photographers, including Daisha Bunn and Erin Kye and their families, as well as works by photographer Dan Routh.
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Kyle and Leah Worthy, a brother-and-sister creative team, spent years working alone on their separate crafts before deciding to collaborate. Now, they combine Kyle’s photography with Leah’s writing to create handmade zines and artist’s books that tell stories inspired by their family history. In this talk, you’ll learn how their collaboration has pushed them creatively, why they allow their projects to drive their process, and how they’re working to build an audience for their work.
–ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR LibraryInformation Systems invites all students, faculty, and staff to a drop-in birthday celebration for The Bridge on Thursday, January 27! Visit us on the main floor of ZSR in the Atrium for grab-and-go cupcakes and other treats. Stop by anytime between 9am-4pm to celebrate!
–ZSR Library, ZSR 665 (Faculty Commons Classroom)Joy-Centered Pedagogy in Higher Education (2025) features a collection of 15 essays about the role that joy, playfulness, curiosity, laughter, and fun play in the college classroom. Focusing on topics as diverse as joyful silence, embodied learning, unlearning failure, and student-authored stand-up comedy, the volume offers inspiration and practical guidance for reorienting teaching around joy in order to become more welcoming, inclusive, effective, and fulfilled instructors.
Let’s meet to discuss and experiment with joy as a unique lens for understanding teaching and learning.
This book group will meet six times this semester on Wednesdays (1/28, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25, 3/4, & 3/18) from 3:30-4:30 pm in ZSR 665 (Faculty Commons Classroom inside the Faculty Commons space in the ZSR Wilson Wing). We will provide the book for the first 15 registrants. These discussions are very popular so we ask that you register only if you are available to attend all sessions.
–ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, The StudioJoin the Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), a student-led group and advisory committee that partners directly with Wake Forest’s Information Systems (IS) department to drive technological change.
Meetings are held monthly on the last Friday of the month in The Studio, located in the ZSR Library right off the Atrium (unless otherwise noted). During our sessions, you’ll engage in real-time discussions with IS staff, technologists, and subject matter experts, gaining an exclusive opportunity to engage with campus technology needs, engage in current tech-center dialogue, influence technology trends, and explore technology related careers.
Your voice is essential to ensuring our campus technology is responsive, effective, and forward-thinking. We meet for an hour and have refreshments, food, swag, snacks, and networking opportunities. Tech experience is not required, all experiences and majors are welcomed.
Come share your perspective and make a real impact on the technology you use every day!.
–ZSR LibraryJoin us for our fourth annual CozyFest- a winter evening event that centers around crafting, relaxation, and connection. This year, we’re partnering with some amazing campus partners and student organizations to create an evening filled with creative and relaxing activities, a delightful assortment of teas, a tempting s’mores bar, and so much more! So, throw on your comfiest outfit and make plans to join us for this cozy, winter event!- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Join us to hear from researcher and author Chenita Johnson about her work on writing the book “African American Firsts of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County North Carolina: Pioneers Who Greatly Impacted This City, This County, This Nation and the World” published in 2021. Ms. Johnson will discuss her research process in Winston-Salem primary source repositories, including the North Carolina Room at the Forsyth County Public Library and Special Collections & Archives at Wake Forest University. Help us celebrate Ms. Johnson’s research and writing with a small reception after her talk and Q&A.
More about Ms. Johnson and “African American Firsts of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County.”.
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, 6th Floor ZSR in the Center for AdvancementLearn more about AI- –ZSR Library, The Studio
Join the Student Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), a student-led group and advisory committee that partners directly with Wake Forest’s Information Systems (IS) department to drive technological change.
Meetings are held monthly on the last Friday of the month in The Studio, located in the ZSR Library right off the Atrium (unless otherwise noted). During our sessions, you’ll engage in real-time discussions with IS staff, technologists, and subject matter experts, gaining an exclusive opportunity to engage with campus technology needs, engage in current tech-center dialogue, influence technology trends, and explore technology related careers.
Your voice is essential to ensuring our campus technology is responsive, effective, and forward-thinking. We meet for an hour and have refreshments, food, swag, snacks, and networking opportunities. Tech experience is not required, all experiences and majors are welcomed.
Come share your perspective and make a real impact on the technology you use every day!.
–ZSR Library, Special Collections & Archives Research Room (Room 625)Join us for an exhibit opening for the newest exhibit “Reading the Revolution: Print Culture in the 18th Century.” Light refreshments will be served. February 2026 – December 2026 (Monday-Friday, 10am – 4pm; other times by appointment)Special Collections & Archives, ZSR Library room 625Curated by Megan Mulder- –ZSR Library, Library Auditorium (Room 404)Journalist Lizzie Wade will talk about her recent book, Apocalypse, which was selected as a “best book of the year” by the New Yorker in 2025. In Apocalypse, Wade takes readers on a deep dive into the cataclysms of the past to show how moments of great disruption, upheaval, and loss shaped past people and their societies, created the world we live in, and continue to offer surprising opportunities for radical change. This event is sponsored by Anthropology and Journalism.
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
–ZSR LibraryJoin historian Craig Thompson Friend, Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of History and Public History at North Carolina State University and a Wake Forest University alumnus (’83), for a special two-day exploration of the remarkable life of Lunsford Lane, the self-emancipated entrepreneur and author whose story challenges and enriches our understanding of freedom, identity, and resilience in nineteenth-century North Carolina.
These programs celebrate Friend’s acclaimed new book, Becoming Lunsford Lane (University of North Carolina Press), and are presented in partnership between the Wake Forest Historical Museum and the Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections & Archives at Wake Forest University.
Please register for these events here.
Event 1: Lunsford Lane in Wake CountyTuesday, March 3, 2026, 6:00 p.m.Wake Forest Historical Museum, 414 N. Main Street, Wake Forest, NCIn this lecture, Dr. Craig Thompson Friend will focus on Lunsford Lane’s early life and experiences in Wake County, exploring how local communities, institutions, and racial hierarchies shaped his journey toward self-emancipation. Drawing on years of archival research, Friend will illuminate how Lane’s story reflects both the constraints and possibilities of life for enslaved North Carolinians in the early 19th century.
This event is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow the presentation.
Event 2: Becoming Lunsford Lane — Rewriting a LifeWednesday, March 4, 2026, 4:00 p.m.Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Special Collections & Archives (Room 625)At this campus lecture, Dr. Friend will present a broader discussion of Becoming Lunsford Lane, highlighting how he reconstructed Lane’s life and legacy through historical detective work and critical engagement with older narratives. He will discuss the process of separating myth from memory and the challenges of writing biography within the context of race, freedom, and authorship in the antebellum South.
Presented by the ZSR Library’s Special Collections & Archives in partnership with the Wake Forest Historical Museum. Free and open to the public.
Livestream available here.
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 401 (Ammons Gallery)The Humanities Institute, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Wake the Arts, and ZSR Library invite all Reynolda Campus faculty to a reception to celebrate faculty authors and artists who have authored books or produced creative works. Please join us in the Ammons Gallery, Room 401 in ZSR Library, from 3:30-5:30pm on Thursday, March 19. A selection of drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
–ZSR Library, Library Auditorium (Room 404)The Program in African American Studies will be hosting a book talk and public conversation with Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall. Dr.Guy-Sheftall is a trailblazing Black feminist scholar, whose passion for the many communities she encompasses is evident in her work and friendships she has built over the last 55 years . She is the visionary architect of The Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College, the first for an HBCU. Since its founding in 1981, she has served as the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies, exposing her students and the broader public to the intellectual contributions of Black feminists throughout history.
At the age of sixteen, Dr. Guy-Sheftall began her matriculation at Spelman College where she majored in English and minored in secondary education. Upon graduating with honors, she attended Wellesley College for a fifth year of study. In 1968, she began pursuing her Master’s Degree in English at Atlanta University. A year later Dr. Guy-Sheftall began teaching at Alabama State University in the Department of English. But it was her return to Spelman in 1971 that ignited her true mission— to disrupt the silences surrounding Black women’s interconnected experiences. Within the traditional confines of Spelman that had once educated her, she has pushed boundaries, demanded space for Black feminist thought, and laid the foundation for future generations of radical scholarship.
Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin, Reynolds Professor of African American Studies at Wake Forest University, will lead the conversation with Dr. Sheftall. A reception and book signing will follow. Books will be available for purchase at the event.
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 477Zotero is a powerful (and free!) tool for saving, organizing, and citing research sources. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to install Zotero, how to use it to build your own library of sources, and save yourself time when writing research papers. This hands-on session is oriented toward first-time users of Zotero. No familiarity with Zotero is required. Participants should bring their own Mac or Windows laptop (Chrome browser required). Register for a workshop here!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
- –ZSR Library, 426Find it hard to focus? Want to wrap up your week right? Join the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Writing Center every Thursday for graduate student coworking hours! You bring whatever it is you need to get done, and we’ll bring the free coffee and bagels. Don’t have time to stay? Stop by and grab some treats on your way. See you there!
–ZSR Library, CAT Faculty and Staff Lounge, 6th floorJoin us for casual monthly meetups to share and discover artificial intelligence together in a new conversation series, the AI Café! Whether you’re an AI wiz or just curious to learn, join colleagues to share ideas, seek advice, and explore the potential of AI together. AI Café will be held monthly on the fourth Friday, on an alternating schedule of Zoom and in-person. Online: July, September, November, January, March, May. In person, 6th Floor ZSR in the Center for Advancement of Teaching lounge, August, October, December, February, April.
See all AI Café events and add to your calendar.