Manuscript Collections The major emphases of Special Collections’ manuscripts collections are American history and literature. The manuscripts collections total approximately 13 million items in over 14,000 discrete collection units and over 250,000 photographs and small prints, over 8,000 reels of microfilm, nearly 8,000 microfiche, and substantial holdings of audio recordings and motion picture films. In […]

Publishing and Reusing Materials from the Library’s Collections It is not necessary to seek the Library’s permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use materials from collections. This applies whether your use is non-commercial or commercial. For Special Collections materials, we do ask as a courtesy that you credit the […]

General Policy: As a convenience to researchers and to reduce the handling of fragile materials, personal cameras may be used to make copies of rare materials in the reading room under certain circumstances. The library will deny requests to use a personal camera if such use may result in unauthorized reproduction of restricted materials, damage […]

The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library holds more than 16 million objects including manuscripts, archival records, rare books, maps, broadsides, photographs, audio and video recordings and more. Collections are particularly strong in American and British literature, the history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history and archives of the University of […]

Policies As curators of these priceless materials, the staff of Special Collections works to safeguard the condition of materials and to respect the wishes and interests of authors and donors. As librarians who want to further scholarship and teaching and want to publicize our collections, we will work with you to find creative ways to […]

We are delighted to provide your class an instructional session using the wealth of materials in our Special Collections Library. Click to request classroom instruction.    [gravityform id=”3″ title=”false” description=”true” tabindex=”false”]

Due to COVID, research is temporarily by appointment only. Up-to-date information on appointment availability and making a reservation may be found here. We welcome you to visit Special Collections on the first floor of the Harrison Institute/Small Library, one floor down from the main entrance. Our stacks are not open for public browsing, but retrieval […]

Because of the unique and irreplaceable nature of many items in the Small Special Collections Library, and because of the public trust in which its collections are held, permission to borrow items for exhibition from Special Collections is offered subject to the following considerations: formal loan requests must be received at least one year in […]

The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library administers over 13 million manuscripts, 3.6 million items in the University archives, and 325,000 rare books, as well as approximately 5,000 maps, over 4,000 broadsides; more than 250,000 photographs and small prints; over 8,000 reels of microfilm; and substantial holdings of audio recordings, motion picture films, and […]