William Faulkner’s original manuscript materials, B.B. King’s personal listening collection and papers from notable Mississippi authors are just a few items among the Archives and Special Collections at J.D. Williams Library that have been recently threatened by the discovery of mold.
Since August 18, 2015, the exhibit has been closed.
Jennifer Ford, head of Archives and Special Collections and associate professor, said the exhibit is temporarily closed to allow the remediation process to take place.
“There is a detailed action plan in place for the cleaning and parts of that process have already begun, “ Ford said.
The department of facilities and management assisted the library to find long-term methods to fix the Library’s HVAC system to prevent similar complications in the future, Ford said.
“The library is extremely appreciative of this support for a long term solution,” Ford said.
Following the cleaning process, J.D. Williams plans to reopen the exhibit.
“We do not yet have a definite re-opening date but it will likely be several weeks before this occurs,” Ford said.
The Archives and Special Collections at J.D. Williams Library encompasses a wide variety of rare and exclusive materials such as photographs, films, sound recordings and papers related to the Magnolia State, the University or the American South.
Ford believes that these sort of archives are important for Universities to have.
“Special Collections continues to play an important role for all our patrons, especially for UM students and faculty,” Ford said. “I believe our research services are essential for a large section of those groups, especially those interested in the humanities.”
Within the last two decades, Ford has seen a boost in several areas of particular interest in the collection.
“Increased archival instruction for students, development of the department’s digital program, an increase in donations of collections geared to the research interests of students and faculty, even more exhibitions and department programming connected with University events such as those for the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the integration of UM—just to name a few areas of particular growth,” Ford said.
Among some of the more unique aspects of the Special Collections is its scope—the department mainly focuses on collecting materials relating to local and regional histories.
“I would say that our Special Collections provide students and researchers unique opportunities to use rare, valuable documents in their research,” said Melissa Dennis, outreach and instruction librarian and associate professor.
Although it is difficult to narrow down the most popular artifacts—considering there are 65,000 titles and over 900 manuscript collections—Ford said that there are various research avenues to choose from.
“This year’s exhibit, like so many in the past, is a great example of how archives showcase many original items to create interest in one particular subject area,” Dennis said.
The University plans to host William Shakespeare’s first folio next year. Dennis said it will not be making its home in the Special Collections, however, but will be a traveling exhibit displayed at the Ford Center.
“The University certainly looks forward to bringing in diverse collections,” Bryan Young, an engineering librarian said.
Although the event is still in early planning stages, the exhibit will be open from April 11, 2016 until the first of May.
The artifact’s visit will commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death in April 23, 1616.
“We are going to involve as many people as possible,” said Alex Watson, reference librarian and associate professor. “We are trying to involve other groups from across the state.”
Watson co-wrote the grant to the American Library Association to bring the folio to the University.
“The folio is the first book publication of his work. There were some bootlegs before, but this was the first time it was put into a book,” Watson said.
The folio was done by Shakespeare’s followers, actors, collaborators and fellow playwrights. It remains the first and only source for many of his plays.
