Welcome to LSU Libraries

In 1986, LSU purchased the library of New Orleans photographer Clarence John Laughlin, the 'father' of American surrealist photography and author of Ghosts along the Mississippi (1948). Originally called "The Laughlin Library of the Arts," the collection has more than 30,000 items, with a focus on science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writing. Other subjects represented include 19th- and 20th-century art and design (particularly Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau book design), photography, Victoriana, humor, sex, psychology, spiritualism, surrealism, and the occult.