The Horace W. Sturgis Library unveiled metro Atlanta’s first rare book museum on April 22, housed on its ground floor.
The Bentley Rare Book Gallery preserves and develops collections of rare, unique and historic books and manuscripts to engage the KSU community. The gallery holds more than 8,000 items, including medieval manuscripts, artifacts from the Apollo 14 and Apollo 16 space missions and a collection of American and British authors, including Mark Twain and Charles Dickins.
Fred Bentley and Robert Williams, the museum’s primary benefactors, launched the idea for the gallery 25 years ago with the hope of making books available to KSU students, faculty and the community.
“We have the record for the greatest Mark Twain exhibition in the world right here,” Bentley said. “It never ever gets boring.”
The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery staff has taken every precaution to allow anyone to enter without appointment to explore the exhibit. The staff hopes to extend the hours in the future.
“I think the biggest thing is there will be more access,” said rare books Curator Julia Skinner. “It makes it so classes can come in without appointment.”
Skinner mentions that anyone is welcome to make an appointment with her for a tour of the gallery.
The gallery presents a step-by-step guide to understanding books, beginning with the history of the book, what a manuscript is and an array of books to guide one through the history of the book.
Beginning in Fall 2017, the gallery will hold open houses on Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon to allow patrons to explore different themes of the books in the collection
“We’re going to be working with the community like we have been to really get rare books out to people in some new and exciting ways,” Skinner said.
Some students, like Senior Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality Major Sonia Martinez, believe the new gallery will spike a curiosity amongst students, perhaps teaching them something new.
“I think it’s intriguing because it’s easily accessible on the first floor and I think people will wander in and check it out,” Martinez said. “People might find themselves in there and interested and get sucked into whatever exhibit is going on and learn something they wouldn’t have learned in class.”
For more information on collections, exhibitions and events visit the Bentley Rare Book Gallery website.
