Going Local: Creating Unique and Special Collections in an Academic Library

Abstract

Over the past two years, the University of British Columbia-Okanagan Library has undertaken a review to update their special collections and focus on the local geographical areas and targeted populations. From this, a localized, accessible, and unique collection has emerged that can better serve the students and faculty on campus, as well as community user groups in the area. This project helped to grow the community engagement focused strategic direction of the university and increase the visibility of the library in the surrounding community through building new relationships. This paper will focus on examining the roles libraries can play in developing targeted and focused special collections, drawing from recent experience in reimagining and expanding an existing special collections section within a newer academic campus library. It is hoped that this paper can spark considerations of the impact special collections can have on the strategic goals of a library or university or college, and on the roles and responsibilities academic libraries have in preserving local history.