Harold B. Lee Library

Welcome from the Department Chair

On behalf of my colleagues, welcome to Perry Special Collections!

John Ruskin observed that, “All books are divisible into two classes: the books of the hour, and the books of all Time.”^[1] Perry Special Collections is the storehouse of the Lee Library’s timeless treasures. From cuneiform tablets to the latest publications of the Tryst Press, a local fine press, we maintain a library of more than 300,000 volumes of history’s rarest and most interesting, stimulating, and inspirational books. To that we add our archive of 10,000 or more manuscripts brimming with first-person narratives, observations, and literary works. Capping it off is our collection of a million or more photographs.

We invite you to explore our web site for more information on these materials. In addition, we encourage you to pay us a personal visit to use these treasures in your research. My colleagues are knowledgeable and capable, and our student employees are energetic and eager to serve.

Please contact us if you seek more information, and let us know how we might better serve you.

Sincerely,

Russ Taylor
Supervisor of Reference Services/Chair
Perry Special Collections

This is not the job I have now, but one I liked almost as well. The photo was taken while I worked at the Oliver H. Kelley Farm near Elk River, Minnesota. What a great time we had interpreting 19th century farm life to visitors!