Reference And Use Guidelines

General Overview of Division and Collections

Introduction

The Rare Books Division offers documentation of the various aspects of humanity through the custody, care, and access of its materials. 

Collection Overview

The Rare Books Division holds materials totaling approximately 80,000 items including books, pamphlets, broadsides, ephemera, maps, newspapers, manuscripts, incunabula, facsimiles, posters, and prints. The collection encompasses examples from nearly all eras, geographic regions and Library of Congress subject headings.

Significance of the Collection

The materials in Rare Books are held for a variety of reasons – scarcity; fragility; historical,artifactual, aesthetic and/or monetary value.

Purpose and Accessibility

The primary function of the Rare Books Division is to collect and provide access to its materials for students, senior scholars, faculty and staff of the University of Utah; for off-campus visitors from other academic institutions; and for the communities of Utah and the world. Access and use of rarebook materials is provided in conjunction with conservation and preservation for future generations.

Support and Donations

The Rare Books Division collections are one of Utah’s most valuable assets. The division depends upon the generosity of the Utah State Legislature and private donors to help create and maintain collections that have an increasingly important national and international reputation for excellence. The donation of materials and funding builds on existing collection strengths and steers us towards new scholarly directions. The impact of these donations on future scholarly pursuit is immeasurable.

lrp 4/28/99, lrp updated 9/1/99, updated 18 August 2005 LP, updated 23 August 2006 LP, updated 16 October 2008 LP, updated 15 October 2010 LP