I recently
read an article on LitReactor.com by Kimberly Turner about “The 10 Weirdest and
Most Wonderful Libraries in the World.” There is the Biblioburro, a donkey used
to bring books to villages in rural Columbia. An outdoor library in a Tel Aviv
park has books in 15 languages to serve Israeli migrant workers and refugees.
There are vending machine libraries, a floating library, a library-by-camel in
Kenya, and numerous Little Free Libraries in small wooden boxes on poles around
the U.S. or in recycled phone booths in Britain.
Birmingham, Alabama, doesn’t seem to
have anything quite so striking yet. But there are several libraries around the
area that you might not expect. One of my favorites is UAB’s Reynolds
Historical Library. Located in the Lister Hill Library building, the Reynolds
is devoted to the history of medicine and currently houses more than 13,000
rare books and manuscripts. In 1958 Lawrence Reynolds, a physician and Alabama
native who had amassed about 5000 items, donated them to the UA School of
Medicine, and the collection has continued to grow.
The library has strong
collections in a number of subjects, including surgery and Civil War medicine,
and also has a number of medical classics, such as first editions of William
Harvey's De motu cordis (1628)
on the circulation of blood and Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica (1543) on human anatomy. Although
currently closed for renovations, the Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences is
also located in the Lister Hill Library building.
Another
specialized library at UAB is the Patient Resource Library located on the
second floor of the Kirklin Clinic. Staff at the PRL assist patients and
families with finding information from in-house materials including reference
books, pamphlets and videos, as well as appropriate material from the Internet.
The Clarence
B. Hanson, Jr., Library, on the first floor of the Birmingham Museum of Art, is
named after the publisher of the Birmingham News
who died in 1983. He was also a museum board member for more than 20 years.
The collection includes over 35,000 items mostly related to the museum’s
collections and travelling exhibitions. Materials are used by both staff and
visitors.
Birmingham Museum of Art
Another
well-known local institution with an extensive library is the Birmingham
Botanical Gardens. This library holds over 8000 books, DVDs, gardening
magazines, a children’s section and rare and archival material. The “Thyme to
Read” book club meets monthly at what is the only public horticultural library
in the United States.
Perhaps one
of the most unexpected of these “unusual” libraries in our area is the Research
Library at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. This collection of 6000 books,
700 videos, magazines and numerous parts catalogs and service manuals has
become one of the largest devoted to motorcycles in the world. The facility is intended
for use by in-house restoration personnel and not open to the public, but
inquiries from outside researchers are welcome.
The Birmingham
Family History Center is one of many branches of the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, Utah, and is maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Genealogical research is a focus of all the centers, and
they are open to anyone and free to use. The Birmingham Center has print,
microfilm and online resources and offers free workshops and classes throughout
the year.
Many
libraries in the area have what might be considered “libraries within
libraries” that are devoted to a particular subject or resource type. Libraries
at Samford University and Wallace State have renowned genealogical
collections. Extensive printed and archival material related to local history
is available at the Birmingham Public Library downtown.
We may not have a floating library or
a library on a donkey just yet, but we do have some fascinating and useful
collections!
This item appeared on the DiscoverBirmingham.org site in May 2014.
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