Historian Evan Friss brings bookstores to the library in 2026 Prichard Lecture
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2026) — UK Libraries has announced historian and bestselling author Evan Friss, Ph.D., as the featured speaker for the 2026 Edward F. Prichard Lecture.
Drawing on his most recent book, “The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore,” Friss will discuss how the “endangered species” of the independent bookstore has long influenced people’s reading tastes, fostered community and shaped political views. Along the way he’ll weave vivid stories from his wide-ranging research, drawn from archives, paper records, oral history interviews and visits to more than 100 bookstores around the country.
The Prichard Lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. A book signing will be held after the lecture and copies of “The Bookshop” will be available to purchase. Seating is limited and RSVPs are appreciated.
Friss is a professor of history at James Madison University and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time and other popular outlets.
Friss’s first two works — “The Cycling City: Bicycles and Urban American in the 1890s” and “On Bicycles” — cover the history of cycling in urban America.
“The Bookshop” was an instant, multiweek New York Times bestseller and spent 19 weeks on the Indie Bestseller List. The book earned rave reviews from publications across the country and was named a “100 Must-Read Books of 2024,” by Time, a “Book of the Week” by People, and the “#2 Best Reviewed Nonfiction Book of the Year” by Lit Hub. It was also the Goodreads Choice Award Winner in History & Biography.
Friss is currently at work on his fourth book, tentatively titled “Lists: A Human History.”
Since its inception in 1977, the Edward F. Prichard Lecture Series has featured nationally acclaimed authors, journalists, historians and public figures. The Prichard Lecture is made possible by an endowment created by Edward F. Prichard Jr., a New Deal activist who later championed educational change in Kentucky.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.