Repost from @/abigailenjoysliterature on TikTok: “to this day, still one of the best days ever. this was one of the highlights of grad school. i yearn for access to special collections again oh my god. what’s the coolest book related artifact you’ve seen?? #reading #BookTok #literature #reader #fyp”

"P is for Point Clouds" exhibit is up in our Common Room! These aren't 3D models—they're clouds of tons of tiny points of measured, preservation-level accurate 3D data. 5 local historical locations including the Pine Grove Rosenwald School=explorable in VR, or as flythrus on our display or online +

"Z is for Zines" exhibit I curated w/ @rareuva.bsky.social help. As a librarian, zines=I can amplify more authors/experiences/topics our community cares about+needs than via just books; especially work where racism, transphobia+more violence+systematic harm=barriers to author, publish, widely share+

In the American Civil Wars class visiting Special Collections today, students were greatly intrigued by a new acquisition: the James Thomas Watt Hairston Civil War prison ledger. archives.lib.virginia.edu/repositories...

New exhibition—the ABCs of the UVA Library! From Artists' Books to Zines, with 24 stops in between. (Actually more, as the article notes) This evening's event is a sold out full house, but the exhibition will be up for the academic year at @rareuva.bsky.social (with outposts in other libraries)

The A-Z exhibits include 2 from the lab: "P is for Point-Cloud Data" by Will Rourk & @arinbb.bsky.social (on 3D captures of historic artifacts+architecture); and "Z is for Zines" by @literaturegeek.bsky.social

"A Discovery and an Eclipse: Langston Hughes’ Rise to Fame": In a new post on our blog, Curator George Riser highlights a set of poems addressed from Langston Hughes to Vachel Lindsay—whose endorsement contributed to Hughes' rise in acclaim as a poet. smallnotes.library.virginia.edu/2025/07/21/a...

Join printer Josef Beery as he recreates the first printing of the Declaration of Independence in the South Gallery of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library on Thursday, July 3, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. No tickets required!

On June 9, 2012, UVA’s first female president, Teresa Sullivan, was controversially fired by the Board of Visitors. The President’s Office received hundreds of letters of support—none was more unusual than this red shoe, sent by the Reverends Mary and Milton Cole from Des Moines, Iowa.

One of just eight known copies in the world, this lovingly adorned copy of White Fire, a story about gay male love, was gifted by its author Michael Laurie (likely a pseudonym) to his lover, Julian—whose likeness is captured in an intimate pencil and white gouache portrait drawn by Michael.

Happy Juneteenth! Here in Virginia we traditionally celebrate Emancipation Day in April, on the 3, the day Richmond fell, & on the 9, the day Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Check out my short piece here. @rareuva.bsky.social Juneteenth in Virginia: Keeping the Celebration Going

Born in Chicago's South Side, Ernie McClintock (1937-2003) was an American director, actor, teacher, and major force behind the scenes of the #BlackArtsMovement. In Chicago in 1962, Ernie met his long-time partner Ronald “Ronn” Tyrone Walker (1936-1999)—an award-winning scenic artist. #QueerHistory

Reference Librarian Anne Causey recommends Patchwork Voices by Emilee Taxman as part of @uvalibrary.bsky.social's compilation of book and film recommendations exploring the history, present, and future of trans people for #PrideMonth. Explore the full list at library.virginia.edu/news/2025/ce....

If you’ve watched Tyler Perry’s award-winning 2024 film Six Triple Eight, you might be familiar with the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the U.S. Women’s Army Corps—the only Black female battalion overseas during the Second World War.

🎓In honor of Commencement this week, we’re highlighting our collection's oldest diploma—awarded to John A. Gretter as a graduate in the School of Mathematics—from UVA's first graduating class in 1828. 🎊Congratulations to all of the soon-to-be new alumni of UVA!

While planning our current exhibit: “Seeing Stars: The Universities Earliest Observatories,” we never imagined that the University’s first telescope—an 1828 W. & T. Gilbert four foot refractor—might still be on Grounds nearly two centuries later!

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Lecture will be given on Mon, May 12 at @rareuva.bsky.social & (free) tickets are still available. Historian @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social will speak on Black Poets & the Patriots who Mocked them in Jefferson's America. Full info: www.eventbrite.com/e/thomas-jef...

How did you update your parents before cell phones or selfies? When #WilliamFaulkner was studying abroad in Paris in the fall of 1925, he included a few drawings of himself to update his mother on the growth of his beard. “Don’t faint,” he writes, saying it made him look quite “distinguished.”

The Harrison/Small building, including the reading room and exhibitions, will be closed this Saturday, May 10 due to scheduled facilities maintenance work.

Rare Book School is thrilled to announce this summer’s lecture series at the University of Virginia. All talks are free and open to the public. For the first time, RBS also will offer an option to attend virtually via Zoom livestream. Details at rarebookschool.org/lectures.

This #MayDay, AKA #InternationalWorkersDay, we’re looking back at the 1971 May Day protests that brought over 25,000 anti-war protestors to Washington, D.C., with the intent of shutting down the federal government. Their slogan: "If the government won't stop the war, we'll stop the government.”

Today we remember the late John Casteen—UVA’s seventh president from 1990-2010 who passed away last month. Casteen was a library student assistant while studying @uva in the 1960s and an avid supporter of the @uvalibrary system throughout his career.

Now that the excitement of yesterday’s news is subsiding, I must continue to give big thanks (& praise) to all the people/entities supporting the Bond Papers Project since its inception.The Albert and Shirley Smalls Special Collections is among that number, along w/the Center for Digital Editing.

Congratulations to the Julian Bond Papers Project on a Mellon grant to accelerate digitization, annotation and publication of his vast archive! Learn more about Julian Bond's collection, open for research here in the Small Special Collections Library: ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view...

Closing out #NationalLibraryWeek with Maureen Cummins' ReCategorized exploring the issue of categorizing people within library science. Maureen Cummins, Recategorized (Bearsville, N.Y.: Maureen Cummins, 2021). (N7433.4.C8 R43 2021).

#NationalLibraryWeek kicks off today! It’s a time to celebrate the places that welcome everyone, spark curiosity, and strengthen our communities. This week, take a moment to discover—or rediscover—what makes your library special. What draws you to the library? ilovelibraries.org/national-lib...

Love the Library? This #NationalLibraryWeek, celebrate the #UVA Library with a gift! Make a gift in support of the UVA Library April 6-12 and double your impact, thanks to a matching contribution! www.givecampus.com/fw4and

For #LibraryOutreachDay, we're highlighting some community outreach efforts organized by staff over the past two years! #NationalLibraryWeek 1-2: Holsinger Studio Family Day (June 2023) 3: Archiving Workshop, Black Family History Day @ Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (Feb. 2025)

In a new post on Notes from Under Grounds, Special Collections Conservator Sue Donovan describes the process of preserving The Zoological Keepsake (QL76.5.G72 L84 1830)—a book with silk-covered boards—by borrowing techniques from textile conservation. smallnotes.library.virginia.edu/2025/04/02/t...

#MiniatureMonday "This little miniature accordion-book adorned with a gold frame accented with pearls highlights the history of how pearls became the hallmark of the American woman. Vintage advertising photos of women wearing all lengths of pearls highlights the text..."

JUST A FEW SPOTS REMAIN for Spheres of Anne Spencer: A Symposium TOMORROW, Friday, March 21 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) in Shannon Library Seminar Rm 330. Free, and there will be brunch! Let us know you're coming via Eventbrite: at.virginia.edu/event/AS-sph...

Next Thursday (3/20) at 5:30, join Richard Kopley, one of the world’s foremost experts on Edgar Allan Poe, at the UVA Special Collections Library for an in-depth look at this enigmatic and iconic figure. Reception to follow! Part of the Virginia Festival of the Book. web.cvent.com/event/bda10f...

#ErinGoBragh! With the Special Collections Conservation Lab’s work identifying bookcloth containing arsenic in the collections, we’ve been seeing green everywhere—but it’s not the kind of green you want to put in your beer or your river! #StPatricksDay

Join us on Friday, March 21 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) in Shannon Library Seminar Rm 330 for a free symposium on the Spheres of Anne Spencer. Register in advance via Eventbrite: at.virginia.edu/event/AS-sph...

Bid farewell to our celebration of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-1825 farewell tour of America! Visit our exhibition "Life, Liberté, and the Pursuit of Lafayette" in the First Floor Gallery—

open today, Friday 3/7, through 5 p.m. and tomorrow, Saturday 3/8, noon - 4 p.m.

I always love to visit Special Collections @rareuva.bsky.social here at UVA. When was the last time you got to touch a priceless piece of human history? #books #academicsky #earlymodern

Our Wednesday afternoon Special Collections reference desk squad is excited to remind you to mark your calendar for our FINAL FRIDAY this Friday, Feb. 28 from 5-7pm!

This Final Friday, we’re excited to host Josef Beery for letterpress printing demos and MaKshya Tolbert for an interactive workshop exploring Anne Spencer's symbiosis of people, poetics, and flowers-by spending time with people, poems, and flowers. Join us for raffles, refreshments, and more!

Last week @josefbeery.bsky.social taught the us the basics of printing on @rareuva.bsky.social's big Common Press (1), which is what his BookBeetle (2) builds on—a screw press, as opposed to roller (see bg of pic 3 for latter); ink balls instead of brayers (leather, kept wet; wool, wood)

🎂 Happy birthday to #ToniMorrison and #AudreLorde! Did you know that Toni Morrison co-authored a series of children’s books with her son, Slade Morrison? Their first book, The Big Box, was released in 1999, and their books engaged themes such as imagination, freedom, and self-empowerment.

💐💌 Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s some fun inspiration for a gift next year: in 1962, community members in Roanoke, VA, made a giant card, complete with flowers laid in the shape of heart, for John Glenn as he prepared to become the third American in space and the first American to orbit the Earth.

The Small Special Collections Library reading room, exhibitions, and all building spaces are closed again today, Wednesday, February 12, due to weather.

The Small Special Collections Library reading room, exhibitions, and all building spaces are closed today, Tuesday 2/11, due to anticipated weather. Image from the University of Virginia Visual History Collection (RG-30/1/10.011, prints05920), Christmas card with a winter scene.

Celebrating the birthday of Anne Spencer: Harlem Renaissance poet, civil rights activist, librarian and educator, avid reader and prolific writer.

#DYK that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once visited the home of Anne Spencer (whose life and work are featured in our current exhibition “Anne Spencer: I Am Here!”)? Martin Luther King Jr. Press Photographs, 1963-65. (MSS 16096) #MLKDay

Happy birthday to #EdgarAllanPoe! 1: Aubrey Beardsley, “Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe,” in Illustrations to Edgar Allan Pod. Indianapolis: Aubrey Beardsley Club, 1926. (NC1115.B43 1926)

We're hiring a Reparative Collections Conservator in the Preservation Services department of Special Collections and Preservation Unit for a two-year term beginning in Sep. 2025! Aimed at early career conservators, especially those entering the job market for the first time in fall/summer 2025.

☃️❄️ Snowy days in the Academical Village over the years ➡️ 1. Original Rotunda before 1895 fire. “Rotunda in snow” (n.d.). (RG-30/1/10.011) 2. Rufus W. Holsinger, “Rotunda University of Virginia” (1914). (MSS 9862) Holsinger Studio Collection

New on our blog: Charlie Webb, a fourth-year student majoring in art history and working with our conservator Sue Donovan through the University Museums Internship, describes the process for identifying arsenical books in the Library’s collections! smallnotes.library.virginia.edu/2024/12/30/i...