By Kendra Wilkerson/@kendrasatx
A new Special Collections Reading Room at Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s Main Campus will house rare books and archives.
The facility opens its doors Feb. 26, offering 1,500 volumes of books and archives to educate readers on topics ranging from the Holocaust to early Texas history.
The special collections library opened at Brooks City-Base Campus in April 2013. It contains rare, fragile and unique materials ranging from books, research papers, archives and photographs related to Texas history.
University Librarian Stefanie Wittenbach said only a portion of the university’s books and archives will move from its original location at Brooks City-Base Campus to Main Campus.
Wittenbach said she and history professor Edward Westermann identified the most important titles from the collection to bring to the Main Campus, adding the rest are stored off-site at Brooks Campus.
“The books in our special collections provide valuable historical information on the region and state, the cultural history of the United States,” she said.
Collections most relevant to the academic curriculum were either donated by book collectors or purchased for use in the university library.
“The first two private collections donated to Archives and Special Collections were the La Prensa archive and the Robert H. Thonhoff collection,” Wittenbach said. The “La Prensa” archive contains hard copy newspapers from the late 1920s to the late 1970s.
“We have almost 9,000 books that … Harry Mazal purchased over 60 years,” Wittenbach said. “He wanted to provide the materials to prove that the Holocaust happened.”
Aside from housing rare books and archives, the special collections facility offers students the benefit of not having to travel far off to conduct research.
“Now, because of the growing special collections, students will not have to travel off campus to find rich primary and secondary sources on Texas, the Holocaust, and other areas of history,” said Amy Porter, assistant history professor.
The reception will start at 4 p.m. Feb. 26 in the university library on the second floor of the Central Academic Building at Main Campus. Refreshments will be served.
