Newsletter Edition: Spring 2026
At the University Library, curiosity is far more than a habit of the mind—it is our unofficial campus superpower. It beckons students into undiscovered worlds, nudges them toward fresh questions, and occasionally sparks the sort of insight that can redirect a major, reshape a scholarly path, or open an entirely new chapter of one’s life. This issue of eNews revels in curiosity in all its wonderfully varied forms: scholarly and playful, reflective and imaginative, steady and delightfully unruly. In short, the kind of curiosity that ignites when books, people, and ideas converge—and refuse to sit still.
Some of that motion begins in the quietest of moments. Picture a student slipping into the Robert and Maureen Gohstand Leisure Reading Room, selecting a novel “just because,” and rediscovering the delicious pleasure of sinking into a story with no exam, rubric, or obligation in sight. In an era ruled by swipes, pings, alerts, and algorithmic whispers, choosing to read slowly is more than an indulgence—it is its own gentle rebellion, and one centered in self‑care. It is also, quietly, an act of scholarship: deep reading nurtures focus, empathy, and reflective thinking, the very traits that support all intellectual work. What begins with a paperback often radiates outward into classrooms, conversations, and transformations that can’t quite be quantified.
Curiosity also leaps beyond traditional pages and finds expression in more unexpected formats—like zines. These handmade, heartfelt publications remind us that knowledge need not arrive in hardcovers or peer‑reviewed journals. Sometimes it appears in collage and comic panels, in stapled sheets brimming with critique, humor, identity, vulnerability, and imagination. Our zine workshops invite students to explore storytelling, activism, DIY publishing, and the wonderfully elastic borders of what counts as scholarship. Zines prove, joyfully, that information can be both rigorous and whimsical—and that students’ voices carry power no matter the format they choose.
Our students' curiosity also finds a home in fellowships and internships that open doors into archives, rare books, special collections, and research questions that matter deeply to them. In these spaces, students preserve cultural memory, trace textual histories, and follow intellectual threads wherever they lead. Their work reminds us that scholarship is not solely analytical—it is experiential, hands‑on, creative, and often serendipitous. Here, curiosity becomes a lived practice: part discipline, part exploration, and at times a true adventure.
And of course, curiosity is essential in navigating today’s complex digital landscape—a world where technology, truth, authority, creativity, and bias intersect in real time. Courses like LIB 290: The Information Ecosystem and the proposed LIB 291: Critical Thinking in the Age of Artificial Intelligence demonstrate how the Library evolves alongside the digital ecosystems our students inhabit daily. By helping Matadors evaluate information, understand algorithms, engage with AI, and develop digital agency, we prepare them not just to excel academically but to participate thoughtfully and ethically in a rapidly shifting society. In this realm, curiosity acts simultaneously as compass and shield.
Together, these stories showcase what makes a university library a uniquely vibrant place: a home for joy and rigor, imagination and inquiry, the quiet pleasures of slow reading and the exhilarating pace of digital discovery. At the center of it all are our students—seeking, questioning, wondering, challenging, and, always, moving forward.
As you explore this issue, I invite you to join us in celebrating the many ways curiosity animates our campus community. Whether through a novel chosen on a whim, a rare document studied with care, or a clearer understanding of the technologies shaping modern life, the CSUN Library remains a place where exploration is encouraged, supported, and joyfully sustained.
Because when curiosity is in motion, anything is possible.
Emy Decker, Dean of the University Library, CSUN
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