One feature of USM’s Glickman Library expansion centers around the sixth floor which houses the rare books and ephemera of the Special Collections Department. The Special Collections floor will feature an exhibit area and a spacious reading room. A conference and seminar room to accommodate classes and special functions is also in the plans.
The USM special collections floor currently is comprised of three distinct collections. In the nineteen-sixties, the University received a rare book and manuscript collection from Grosvenor Plowman. This collection was supplemented by the Anthoensen Press Collection which came from the same publisher that published the Journal of New England History, among other works. The Edith C. Rice children’s literature collection is notable as it contains both English and American Nine-teenth and Twentieth Century fiction, folktales and mythology as well as nature and science books.
“Some of these textbooks even have annotations by the original students who used them, which shows you that kids are still the same as they’ve always been in many ways,” said Susie R. Bock head of special collections.
The small staff of the department takes steps to protect these rare items which include cloth tapes to maintain the structural integrity of the books and special acid free containers which are custom built for more fragile books. Special environmental controls are required to keep the temperature between sixty-eight and seventy degrees and to keep the humidity level at approximately fifty-five percent. “Temperature, humidity, and light are three of the most critical variables to control,” said Bock.
There is also a substantial University archives section which houses many yearbooks as well as back issues of other USM publications.
Bock went on to elaborate that increased security would be in place to protect the books and that for this reason, none of the materials may be checked out of the department. The books are open to anyone in the community, not just USM students. Visitors from the community need to have a photo id checked by a staff member for full access. The staff allows photocopying in most cases but when photocopying would be detrimental to the health of the material, there is a digital camera and scanner available to allow the creation of research copies. While the completion of the floor is currently slated for Mid-March 2004, the Special Collections is currently open to students and the public by appointment only.
The Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity is housed here as well, which includes the African American Collection of Maine, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender collection and the Judaica Collection.
Jayson Raschack can be contacted at [email protected]