About Special Collections

Staff

Beth Saunders, Curator and Department Head

Emily Hauver, Curator of Exhibitions

Susan Graham, Special Collections Librarian

Lindsey Loeper, Reference and Instruction Archivist

Robin Martin, Library Services Specialist

Laurainne Ojo-Ohikuare, Processing Archivist

Tom Beck, Emeritus Librarian

Jackie Ellis, Graduate assistant

Garrett Freas, Graduate assistant

Ryan Koons, Folklife Specialist

Contact

View the telephone and e-mail information for Special Collections staff

You can also send your questions and comments by:

chat (select "Ask a Librarian" button on the right side of any webpage),
e-mail (speccoll@umbc.edu),
phone (410-455-2353),
online research consultation with an archivist (schedule a consultation here).
or in person when the Reading Room is open (view semester hours).

Hours

The Reading Room is currently closed. Please contact Special Collections staff using the methods outlined above.
During the Fall and Spring semesters, the Special Collections reading room is open Monday-Wednesday 12-4pm and Thursday 12-8pm. All other times, and during Intersession, Winter, and Summer semesters, researchers should make an appointment in advance. To make an appointment, submit your request using the contact information above. The current listing of Library building and department hours is available on the Hours and Location page.

Blog

News, events, workshops, and collection highlights are frequently posted to the Library's myUMBC blog.

Social media

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Follow the UMBC Special Collections on Instagram

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Donations

Special Collections gratefully accepts gifts in a variety of ways. Your generosity benefits the entire UMBC community as well as visiting researchers and helps the Library execute its mission to fulfill the information needs of a research university with a distinctive undergraduate and graduate experience and to offer the highest quality resources and services for UMBC's growing and evolving teaching, learning, research, and service environment. You can help the collection reach its full potential by making a gift online, sending a check, and by donating materials (in-kind gifts). Learn more...

Internship and volunteer opportunities

Special Collections accepts interns and volunteers year-round, as allowed by staff availability. Possible projects include:

Exhibit assistance: help to curate, install, and promote an original exhibit, either in the Library Rotunda, Special Collections reading room, or online.
Provide access to published material: rehouse and learn to create holdings records for the Science Fiction & Fantasy fanzine collection
Archives processing: rehouse, arrange, and describe records and multimedia collections
Metadata creation: Learn/practice subject analysis, use of controlled vocabularies, CONTENTdm, and PastPerfect as you create item-level descriptions for scanned photography collections
Collection-level description: create collection-level records for archival and photography collections
Outreach: raise awareness of collections and resources
Digitization: prepare, scan, record technical metadata, QC, and upload collection materials to CONTENTdm