The Harold and Mary Jean Hanson Rare Book Collection is supported by the Special & Area Studies Collections in the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The collection contains over 58,000 rare books, ranging in date from the 15th century through the present era. [1]
Subject strengths include New England authors (the Parkman Dexter Howe Collection of literature and related cultural/historical topics for the 17th–19th centuries); classical literature in early printed editions; Restoration literature; 18th century poetry, prose and drama; Irish literature of the 19th and 20th centuries; and selected 20th century British and American poetry and fiction.
Items in the Rare Books Collection are cataloged both in Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress, and the collection can be searched and browsed through the George A. Smathers Libraries Catalog. The Rare Books Collection contains over 58,000 rare items, consisting primarily of books, manuscripts, and text fragments.
The collection is non-circulating, but items can be accessed by researchers during the regular Special Collections Research Room hours. Researchers are encouraged to telephone, e-mail, or write at least 3 days in advance of their visit. [2] Over 500 items are available online through the University of Florida Digital Collections or the HathiTrust Digital Library.
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Established by a gift of the Beinecke family and given its own financial endowment, the library is financially independent from the university and is co-governed by the University Library and Yale Corporation.
Landsbókasafn Íslands – Háskólabókasafn is the national library of Iceland which also functions as the university library of the University of Iceland. The library was established on December 1, 1994, in Reykjavík, Iceland, with the merger of the former national library, Landsbókasafn Íslands, and the university library. It is the largest library in Iceland with about one million items in various collections. The library's largest collection is the national collection containing almost all written works published in Iceland and items related to Iceland published elsewhere. The library is the main legal deposit library in Iceland. The library also has a large manuscript collection with mostly early modern and modern manuscripts, and a collection of published Icelandic music and other audio. The library houses the largest academic collection in Iceland, most of which can be borrowed for off-site use by holders of library cards. University students get library cards for free, but anyone can acquire a card for a small fee. The library is open for public access.
The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United States.
Library East is a historic library in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is located in the northeastern section of the University of Florida in the middle of the Campus Historic District. When it was first created it was the largest building on campus at that time. It is a part of the George A. Smathers Libraries system and home to multiple collections of books and other library materials.
Michigan State University Libraries is the academic library system of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. The library system comprises nine branch locations including the Main Library. As of 2015-16, the MSU Libraries ranked 26th among U.S. and Canadian research libraries by number of volumes and 11th among U.S. and Canadian research libraries by number of titles held.
The Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries contains more than 130,000 books and serials published in Great Britain and the United States from the mid-17th century through the present. Its holdings of more than 800 early American imprints is the second largest such collection in the United States. The product of Ruth Baldwin's 40-year collection development efforts, this vast assemblage of literature printed primarily for children offers an equally vast territory of topics for the researcher to explore: education and upbringing, family and gender roles, civic values, racial, religious, and moral attitudes, literary style and format, and the arts of illustration and book design.
The George A. Smathers Libraries of the University of Florida constitute one of the largest university library systems in the United States. The system includes eight of the nine libraries of the University of Florida and provides primary support to all academic programs except those served by the Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. Previously the Health Science Center Library was also separate, but it was integrated into the Smathers Libraries on July 1, 2009. The current dean is Judith C. Russell. All of the libraries serve all of the university's faculty and students, but each has a special mission to be the primary support of specific colleges and degree programs, with Marston being the favorite library. As is common in research libraries, library materials are housed in a variety of locations depending upon discipline. The three largest libraries cover an extensive range of disciplines while the smaller libraries focus on three or fewer disciplines.
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro University Libraries system has two branches on campus, both located in Greensboro, NC. These include the Walter Clinton Jackson Library and the Harold Schiffman Music Library. Affiliated campus libraries include the Teaching Resource Center and SELF Design Studio in the School of Education, the Interior Architecture Library in the Gatewood Studio Arts Building, and the Intercultural Resource Center located in the Elliot University Center. During the fall and spring semesters, Jackson Library provides a 24/5 study space for UNCG students, faculty and staff with UNCG ID from 12 am Monday – 7:00 am Friday. Michael A. Crumpton is the current Interim Dean of the libraries.
The Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, previously known as the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts, is the rare book department located on the 6th floor of Broward County's Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. The Broward County Libraries Division's Bienes Museum of the Modern Book opened to the public on December 5, 1996. James A. Findlay was the first Museum Librarian. The Bienes Museum is home to special collections totaling more than 15,000 items, including rare books, artifacts, manuscripts, and reference materials. The Museum was started with the help of philanthropists Diane and Michael Bienes' donation of $1 million. Support for the start of the Bienes Museum of the Modern Books was also provided by a grant from the Broward Public Library Foundation. Additional funding was also received from the Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council. The Bienes' also donated many books and artifacts from their personal collection in order to add to the collection of items housed by the Museum. The Bienes Museum is housed in an 8,300 square foot facility that architect Donald Singer designed. The Museum has a curved wood ceiling above slatted wood walls with a combination of glass, granite, and ceramic tiles. The Museum has a 25-seat conference room and a 60-seat Ceremonial Room available for lectures and programs.
The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) are supported by the University of Florida Digital Library Center in the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC) comprise a constantly growing collection of digital resources from the University of Florida's library collections as well as partner institutions. Founded in April 2006, UFDC has added over 622,114 items - books, newspapers, oral histories, videos, photos, data sets, and more - with over 14 million pages.
The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special collections contained over 300,000 books, 11,000 manuscript collections, and over 2.5 million photographs, among many other rare and unique research materials. Since its inception, the special collections have been housed in numerous places including the crawl space of a university building and a wholesale grocery warehouse. Since 2016, the special collections have been located on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library and is considered to hold "the finest collection of rare books in the Intermountain West and the second finest Mormon collection in existence".
University of Florida Center for African Studies (CAS) is a center within of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Florida (UF). The Center provides teaching and research into issues of African languages, humanities, social sciences, agriculture, business, engineering, education, fine arts, environmental studies, conservation, journalism, and law.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is principal repository for special collections of Columbia University. Located in New York City on the university's Morningside Heights campus, its collections span more than 4,000 years, from early Mesopotamia to the present day, and span a variety of formats: cuneiform tablets, papyri, and ostraca, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, early printed books, works of art, posters, photographs, realia, sound and moving image recordings, and born-digital archives. Areas of collecting emphasis include American history, Russian and East European émigré history and culture, Columbia University history, comics and cartoons, philanthropy and social reform, the history of mathematics, human rights advocacy, Hebraica and Judaica, Latino arts and activism, literature and publishing, medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, oral history, performing arts, and printing history and the book arts.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution staff as well as the scholarly community and general public with information and reference support. Its collections number nearly 3 million volumes including 50,000 rare books and manuscripts.
The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica within the University of Florida Libraries' Special & Area Studies Collections supports the teaching and research missions of the Center for Jewish Studies and the University of Florida. The Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica currently holds over 100,000 circulating volumes. The main library is located on the first floor of Library West. The Judaica special collections are held in the Judaica Suite in Smathers Library (East).
The University of Florida Latin American & Caribbean Collections are a library within the George A. Smathers Libraries is "one of the leading research collections of its kind". Founded in 1951 to support scholarly interest in Latin America and the Caribbean, now the Latin American and Caribbean Collections are one of the University of Florida’s preeminent collections, holding approximately 500,000 volumes, over 50,000 microforms, thousands of current and historical serial titles, and a large number of digital resources. The Collections were also part of the Farmington Plan.
The University of Florida Architecture and Fine Arts (AFA) Library is a departmental library of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida, that is administered by the university's George A. Smathers Libraries system. The AFA Library hosts the university's extensive collections in architecture, art history, building construction, interior design, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, studio art, museology, and historic preservation.
The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, and the history and arts of the book. The library is named after Albert and Shirley Small, who donated substantially to the construction of the library's current building. Albert Small, an alumnus of the University of Virginia, also donated his large personal collection of "autograph documents and rare, early printings of the Declaration of Independence." This collection includes a rare printing of the Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence. Joining the library's existing Dunlap in the Tracy W. McGregor Collection of American History, Small's copy made U.Va. the only American institution with two examples of this, the earliest printing of the nation's founding document. It also includes the only letter written on July 4, 1776, by a signer of the Declaration, Caesar Rodney. The Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection boasts an interactive digital display which allows visitors to view the historical documents electronically, providing access to children and an opportunity for visitors to manipulate the electronic copies without risk of damage to the original work.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (RBML) is located on the 3rd floor of the University Library. The library is one of the largest special collections repositories in the United States. Its collections, consisting of over half a million volumes and three kilometers of manuscript material, encompass the broad areas of literature, history, art, theology, philosophy, technology and the natural sciences, and include large collections of emblem books, writings of and works about John Milton, and authors' personal papers.
The University of South Florida Tampa Library is the main research library for the University of South Florida. Housing over 1.3 million books, academic journals and electronic resources, including 52,000 e-journal subscriptions, 443,000 e-books, and over 800 databases, the library has more than 2 million visitors each year. The library offers tutoring and writing services, laptops, a career resource center, and course reserves. The facility houses several special and digital collections, including literature, oral histories, photographs, artifacts, and the university archives. The current Dean of USF Libraries is Todd Chavez.
Coordinates: 29°39′02″N82°20′29″W / 29.650614°N 82.341520°W