LSU Libraries Special Collections to host open house Oct. 1

BATON ROUGE – LSU Libraries Special Collections will host an open house event from 2:30-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Located in Hill Memorial Library, this event is an opportunity to meet the staff, view some fantastic and interesting items from the collections and hear about the types of things that go on in this multi-faceted library.

For example, did you know that the library has a photograph of Varina Davis (a daguerreotype) from the late 1840s or early 1850s, just a few years after the invention of photography?

Hill Memorial Library is home to more than 5,000 manuscript collections, including political papers of such notable Louisianans as Huey and Russell Long and John Breaux.

 It also is home to rare documents that help illustrate the very beginnings of Louisiana statehood, such as the Claiborne Letter Book. The library is also a place to learn about books, from “incunabula” - books printed before the year 1501, in the era of Gutenberg and the invention of moveable type - to comic books, modern artists’ books and works of science fiction and fantasy. There are many, many surprises, including one of largest and most comprehensive collections on the game of poker held anywhere.

The event will feature demonstrations of some of the work conducted at Hill Memorial Library, including minor conservation work such as making enclosures; processing and cataloging; digitizing and microfilming; as well as information and the demonstration of projects and areas that fall under Special Collections, including the T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History; the Civil War Book Review; and two important grant projects – one relating to digitizing newspapers, along with a collaborative National Endowment for the Humanities grant to digitize materials relating to Louisiana’s Free People of Color.

As part of the open house, Special Collections will also be showcasing some of its favorite items from the collections, allowing visitors to see rare and unique items and to talk with curators and other staff about our holdings and how the materials at Hill can help further research and scholarship at every level.

The Open House is also being held in conjunction with the celebration of American Archives Month, a national celebration of the power and significance of archives.

For more information about the open house, contact Lacher-Feldman at jlacherfeldman@lsu.edu or call 225-578-6544.

Hill Memorial Library is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays (closed on Saturdays when the LSU Football team is playing at home). When classes are in session, the library is open Tuesday evenings until 8 p.m. During the week, paid parking is available at the Visitors’ Center, Memorial Tower and Mike the Tiger’s Habitat. For more information, visit the LSU Libraries Special Collections website at www.lib.lsu.edu/special or call 225-578-6544.