Special Collections / University Archives

The LaFayette Butler Reading Room

The Special Collections/University Archives of The Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library at Bucknell University offers an abundant array of original and primary sources that support the academic and administrative needs of faculty, students, staff, and visiting scholars.

Research materials in a wide variety of formats are consulted in the environmentally controlled LaFayette Butler Reading Room where unique, fragile items are used according to the guidelines set forth in the Notes to Users policy statement.

The primary mission is to serve the faculty, students, and staff of the University.

Special Collections

Ranging across a broad spectrum of topics, the library's collection of rare books, manuscripts and university records contains a number of significant highlights:

• Rich supplemental manuscript materials of the Irish Renaissance writers.
• First editions of notable literary and scientific figures, as well as works on the history of print, and of the book as art, and the history of printing, form the central focus of Special Collections.
• Renowned illustrators, including those represented in the African-American Artists Collection.

University Archives

The University Archives is the repository for institutional records; campus publications; photographic, alumni, and biographical files; topographical materials; and University memorabilia. Official documents, minutes, letters, and diaries date from the formation of the university in 1846 and include manuscript collections of early local families that document the lives of Lewisburg residents against the backdrop of the American Civil War.