Library Overview

From a cabinet in the reference room to a separate named library, Special Collections has grown over the last six decades to become a destination both for students and faculty on campus and for scholars from around the world. Developed by gifts and purchases, the collection includes the world's largest collection of published materials by Alabama authors, works in whole or in part about Alabama, or works published in the state. Additionally, there are works on Southern history and literature, sheet music, sound recordings, maps, and other materials that reflect the culture and history of the South. Within the collections are Confederate Imprints, the works of literary figures such as Lafcadio Hearn, Sir Walter Scott, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry James, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. There are books from the world's leading fine presses and printers as well as contemporary book bindings and unique artists' books by student and leading professional book workers. The University Archives and a historical and literary manuscript collection are housed here. The manuscript collection reflects the history and culture of Alabama from the colonial period to the present, and includes the papers of former congressmen and senators, records of businesses ranging from general stores to iron and coal companies, records of churches and social and professional organizations, and personal papers of individuals and families. A photographic collection includes pictures of individuals, structures, and scenes from the university, around Alabama, and around the nation and world; it contains examples of almost every type of popular 19th- and 20th-century photographic process.

University of Alabama Libraries
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library
Box 870266
500 Hackberry Lane
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0266
http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/
http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/happenings/events.htm
(205) 348-0500 (t)
(205) 348-1699 (f)