Library, Museums and Press - New Faculty Orientation

Special Collections is a department within Morris Library that houses books, manuscripts, archives, and other materials that are rare, unique, particularly valuable, historically significant, and/or topically specific to the department’s collection development policy. These materials do not circulate, but they are available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room by students, faculty, and any other patron.

Ranging from ancient cuneiform records to contemporary artists’ books, Special Collections’ holdings encompass a broad range of formats, time periods, and subjects. The Special Collections Research Guides gather resources by subject area and are a great place to start browsing the department’s collecting strengths. You can also use DELCAT and the archival finding aids to search for Special Collections materials.

Some archival collections, past exhibitions, and other materials are available online in Digital Collections.

Some particular collection strengths and highlights include:

• Delawareana 

• 19th century British literature and art

• African American history and culture

• Printing history

• Decorative and fine arts

• History of chemistry

• Lincoln Collection

• Horticulture Collection

• The Special Collections Gallery and Reading Room are located on the second floor of Morris Library and are open Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. 

• The Special Collections Gallery is free and open to the public, and usually has two exhibitions per year.

• The Special Collections Reading Room (accessed through the Gallery) is open to any researcher with a photo ID. You can request materials ahead of time using the AskSpec form, but walk-ins are also welcome.

Special Collections staff can work with you to plan hands-on class sessions and/or assignments using materials from the collections that relate to the topic(s) of your course, as well as teaching students approaches to working with primary sources. Please see the Teaching and Learning page for more information.

• Contact Petra Clark (Instruction Librarian for Special Collections) to:

  • Plan a personalized class session in the Library using materials from Special Collections.

  • Schedule a staff-led tour of the current exhibition in the Special Collections Gallery for your class.

  • Learn more about what Special Collections has to offer you and your students.