Current Reads: The Trial By Franz Kafka

This post was written by Yenesis Sotomayor, Special Collections & Archives collections management associate. Hello, fellow literary connoisseurs! I am currently engaging in Franz Kafka’s Germanic dystopian The Trial. My experience so far, you may ask, consists of me sinking deeper into my hunchback position and feasting off Kafka’s depressing tale. I adore the bitter

Beautiful Bindings in the Shaw Collection

The John MacKay Shaw Childhood in Poetry Collection is the home of thousands of books which means that it is also the home of thousands of bindings. A lot of the time, the binding of a book is overlooked so, seeing as I have spent the last couple of months studying the books and bindings

Black History Month at Special Collections: Langston Hughes

This February, we are celebrating Black History Month by highlighting some of the Black authors and artists that we feature in our collections. Today I want to acknowledge poet, novelist, and activist, Langston Hughes. Hughes was a prominent figure of the Harlem Renaissance, his work known for capturing snapshots of daily life for Black Americans.

Introductions and the Medial S/f

We decided we would tell you a little about ourselves and the work we do in Special Collections and Archives. I am Dianna Bradley and I have been assisting in Special Collections and Archives for a little over 4 years now. I am a cataloger at FSU Libraries and work on managing our records, including

The Jelly Roll – The Perfect Cake for the Holiday Season

As someone who has been a long-time fan of the Great British Baking Show, I knew I wanted to try and make a showstopping cake for my recipe. After perusing through cookbooks for different cakes, I found one from 1905 for a Jelly Roll from The New England Cook Book: the Latest and Best Methods for Economy and Luxury at Home.

The Elmo TT-12F Document Camera and Special Collections Instruction

While the buzz of a classroom filled with excited discussion was somewhat lost in the move to a virtual space, this technology allowed us to share as much of the tactile experience of archives work as we could. 

Back in the Classroom: Reflections on a Year of Remote Instructional Support

We are excited to apply the new skills we have developed over the past year of remote instruction to upcoming in-person or virtual sessions, as well as continue to develop more activities to introduce and support primary source literacy at FSU and beyond.

Pocket books: small volumes in the Shaw Collection

Today we are celebrating John MacKay Shaw on the anniversary of his death in 1984. Shaw (1897-1984) was a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist who collected works of British and American poetry related to the theme of childhood.  When talking about the Shaw collection, we often highlight the 5,000 first and rare editions of major

Michael McClure: In Memoriam

On May 4th of this year, one of the great geniuses of poetry and the arts passed away, and we wanted to take a moment here to commemorate his passing. Michael McClure helped launch the counterculture Beat generation alongside Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Philip Whalen, and Diane Di Prima, and is also associated

TRANSforming the Stacks

***Trigger Warning: trans slurs/derogatory terms***     Our first submission is from Kacee Reguera, a recently-graduated student worker, who has been with Special collections for 2 years. While this project was geared towards the full-time staff, I chose to highlight her contribution first because I’m happy to see this conversation being engaged with by everyone