Hofstra Special Collections

Itiola and Leyna Examine Sara Parkel's "Even the Birds Were On Fire"

Amanda checking out the Special Collections stacks

Items labeled and ready to be reviewed

Little books!

Hofstra University Special Collections is comprised of the following collections: The Rare Books and Manuscripts, University Archives, and the Long Island Studies Institute.  Each collection contains materials that are carefully safeguarded and preserved so that Hofstra students have access to not only diverse pieces of literature but also historical documents that describe Long Island and Hofstra's rich history, as well as the past and present culture in which we all dwell.

Our class was fortunate to have a personal tour of Hofstra Special Collections by Assistant Dean Geri Solomon.  Geri meticulously demonstrated items from each of the Hofstra Special Collections starting with Rare Books and Manuscripts and finishing with items from the William Hull collection.  William Hull is a a former professor at Hofstra and author.  We also explored "Little Books" and artistic books whose form mirrored content including a book about nuts that was actually shaped like an acorn.  In addition to showing us the items in Hoftra's Special Collections, Geri explained the process of archiving and preserving works of art, literture and other documents for the sake of research and education.  Finally, Geri let us take a peek where the Special Collections items are carefully stored.  

After our tour and tutorial about Special Collections, our class individually returned to Special Collections to review documents for this site and our individual exhibits.  JS