Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Library History and Collections
Libraries serve as cornerstones of knowledge, culture, and community, and their histories and collections often reflect the unique character of the institutions and regions they serve. This article delves into the history and collections of several libraries, highlighting their diverse offerings and contributions to research, education, and public engagement.
Houston Public Library's History Research Centers
The Houston Public Library (HPL) has consolidated its special collections libraries under the umbrella of HPL’s History Research Centers. This new banner encompasses three distinct centers, each with its own unique focus and history: the Houston History Research Center, the Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus, and the African American History Research Center.
Houston History Research Center
Formerly known as the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, this center was the first of HPL's special collections libraries. Housed in the Julia Ideson Building (550 McKinney St.), it serves as an anchor to both the history of HPL and the city of Houston. Its collections include architectural drawings, Hispanic Collections, and an expansive collection of local photographs and audio-visual materials.
Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus
Established in 1968 as the Clayton Library for Genealogical Research, this center has become one of the nation's top genealogy resources. Located at 5300 Caroline St., it offers a wealth of resources for family history research, available both in-person and online. The house that William Lockhart Clayton built is synonymous with genealogy and family history research.
African American History Research Center
Since 2009, the African American Library at the Gregory School has been known as the African American History Research Center. Located in the historic Fourth Ward at 1300 Victor St., the former Gregory School serves as a repository for documenting the Black experience in Houston and beyond.
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Access and Engagement
According to Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, Director of the Houston Public Library, the renaming of these special collections libraries is intended to provide the Houston community and visitors with a greater understanding of what can be found at the History Research Centers. Angela Kent, Head of History Research Centers, emphasizes that visitors can tour the historic buildings, view exhibits, and attend library programs, while also accessing and researching HPL’s rare and unique special collections and archives. The History Research Centers are open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Western Washington University Special Collections
Western Washington University (WWU) Special Collections, located on the 6th floor of the Wilson Library building (516 High St.), provides access to cultural heritage materials that support original research, active learning, and public dialogue around issues and ideas that have shaped our world. The collections include rare books, campus history materials, historical children’s literature, Judaica, Holocaust & Genocide Studies materials, and mountaineering resources.
General Collecting Areas
Brief descriptions of the general collecting areas are available below. To search for specific materials, use the library catalog or Archives West, which contains guides to archival (non-published) collections.
Rare Book Collection
The Rare Book Collection contains materials dating back to the Middle Ages and beyond. The collection is frequently added to and, at present, is particularly useful for teaching book history, medieval manuscripts, and the exploration and settlement of the Pacific Northwest.
Campus History Collection
The Campus History Collection documents the history of Western Washington University since it first opened as the New Whatcom State Normal School in the fall of 1899. Holdings are primarily printed materials, including campus newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, and selected campus publications.
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Historical Children's Literature Collection
Originally established as a state normal school, Western Washington University continues to be a leader in the field of teacher training and is a natural home for a collection of books on the history of children’s education. Dating back to the eighteenth century, these collections provide insight into the cultural and social impact of children’s literature. Areas of strength include readers and primers, poetry for children and teens, and pop-up books.
Judaica Collection
Numbering 2,000 volumes and dating back more than 500 years, the Judaica Collection brings together rare books documenting the global Jewish experience. The collection includes texts in fifteen languages other than Hebrew.
Holocaust & Genocide Studies Collection
The Holocaust & Genocide Studies Collection, begun by minister and theology educator Edward S. Setchko, was acquired to support WWU’s Ray Wolpow Institute. It consists primarily of materials documenting antisemitism, Jewish ghettos, and concentration camps.
Mountaineering Collection
The Mountaineering Collection traces the history of mountaineering as a sport as well as its complex relationship to larger social and environmental issues, including gender, race, class, conservation, and tourism development.
Archival Material
Special Collections holds approximately 100 wide-ranging collections of unpublished archival material, relating primarily to campus and local history. Several collections complement printed holdings of rare books and historical children’s literature.
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Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST)
The Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST) is a distributed retrospective print journal repository program serving research libraries, college and university libraries, and library consortia in the Western Region of the United States. Under the WEST program, participating libraries consolidate and validate print journal backfiles at major library storage facilities and at selected campus locations. The resulting shared print archives ensure access to the scholarly print record and allow member institutions to optimize campus library space. This collaborative regional approach to managing library collections represents an important step, when joined with other initiatives, toward development of a highly trusted network-level shared print archive. This map shows the distribution of the WEST archives across the western region of the US. The chart shows the Library of Congress classification breakdown for the WEST archived collections.
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