I chose to visit a small collections library because I love the idea of rare books and hard to find items, items that are like a treasure trove to those who seek them. I “visited” the Albert and Shirley Small Collections Library located at the University of Virginia. The library is really unique because it houses books that were found in Thomas Jefferson’s personal collection of books; they were not the original copies, however, the library has managed to find all of the books that were said to be in his personal collection, all except 19! That’s extraordinary considering the time period between when he was alive and now.

While trying to gather information about this library, I found the website to be a little confusing because I felt that the language that is used on the website doesn’t clearly indicate what each link is supposed to do. I was able to see what the special collections library consists of, but I didn’t feel it provided enough information about all the library has to offer. I was able to find the staff directory for the library, but it was for all of the libraries at UVA so I was unsure of who actually staffed the special collections library. I did see some different librarian roles though, one of the most interesting was Manager, Metadata and Discovery Services, but I am not sure which library that person belonged to or what that person does in that role. 

While looking at the website for the library, I was able to see everything that the library offered. The library has a vast amount of manuscripts and rare books and also contribute to their featured collections as well. The website states: “The Library focuses on collecting attention in several subject areas. We have long collected Virginiana particularly nineteenth century papers from many prominent Virginia families such as the Cabell Family, the Duke Family, and the Cocke Family” (Manuscript Collections); the library also has original manuscripts from William Faulkner and something that I thought was really cool, the Sadleir-Black Collection of Gothic Fiction, which emphasizes the works of English writers and contains 1,135 works of fiction and some of the collection is “so scarce and so rare” (Frank, 1998). The collection belonged to Michael Sadlier, a Victorian scholar who was obsessed with Gothic works and decided to collect as many as he could and then later sold his collection to Robert K. Black (Frank, 1998). The website also states that it has large amount of audio recordings, microfilm, motions pictures, photographs, and rare artifacts that can only be found here.

After scouring the website for the small collections library, I wasn’t able to find any information about accessibility for those who may be disabled, visually impaired, or who may have other impairments that may hinder them from accessing the library. The library’s website does state that most of its collection is accessible through the Virgo catalog, so anyone from anywhere can look through the catalog and access the collection. The library is open to researchers, instructors, and classes who may want to visit and tour, or study from the artifacts, books or manuscripts. In Foundations of Library and Information Science, authors Richard E. Rubin and Rachel G. Rubin mention small collections: “Like other types of services, the purpose of archives and special collections is access, although special attention is also paid to preserving and protecting the materials within them” (Rubin & Rubin, 2020). I feel this is exactly what the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections does; it allows others the chance to access rare moments of history, while also keeping those pieces safe and preserved.

References

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections. University of Virginia Library. https://www.library.virginia.edu/special-collections/

Frank, F. S. (1998). Gothic Gold: The Sadlier-Black Gothic Collection. Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, vol.26, pp.287-[312]. https://small.library.virginia.edu/collections/featured/the-sadleir-black-collection-of-gothic-fiction/gothic-gold-the-sadleir-black-gothic-collection-by-frederick-s-frank/

Manuscript Collections. University of Virginia Library. Retrieved from https://www.library.virginia.edu/special-collections/collections/manuscript-collections/

Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science. American Library Association.