The Special Collections and Archives is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The department has an online and on-site exhibit to highlight the accomplishment.

“We have been a department of the Kent State University Libraries since 1967 and taking this opportunity of celebrating our 50th anniversary to revisit our mission statement,” Kathleen Medicus, a special collections cataloger, said via email.

The exhibit will be located on the 12th floor of the library in the reading room, with some of the exhibit in the wall display case on the first floor of the library.

“This new 12th floor exhibit in the reading room focuses on main subject areas that our collections are especially strong in,” Medicus said. “We want to really spotlight these areas in the hopes of getting more students interested in using our materials for research papers, seniors’ honor’s theses, dissertation research, etc.”

To go along with the physical, on-site exhibit, the department launched their first ever online exhibit.

“The online exhibit lists the themes at the left, and when you click on each one, you get an overview of that area of our collections,” Medicus said. “Then, under each subject area, the exhibit has one or more items that are being spotlighted — examples of each subject area.”

Some of the subjects and themes highlighted in the exhibit are American Poets, British and American Literature, Children’s Literature, Kent State University History, Local History, True Crime, History of the Book, History of Science and Exploration and Performing Arts. 

“My plan is to rotate new examples into the physical exhibit throughout the year,” Medicus said. “When this happens, the online exhibit will become fuller as I add new examples.”

Anyone can go to the 12th floor and visit the exhibit or view the online version. 

“We have always been very focused on the ‘provide access’ part of our mission and are proud that a high percentage of researchers who use our collections are Kent State undergraduate students,” Medicus said. “The purpose of this exhibit is to spotlight what is here and available for the next generation of students to use.”

For more information on the exhibit, visit https://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/current-events-and-exhibitions.

Taylor Robinson is the libraries reporter. Contact her at [email protected].