It’s not news to any frequent library user that they are great resources for more than books. From online collections to board games and birdwatching kits, libraries offer more than books for patrons. Non-book collections are not rare or uncommon; however, there are some libraries where non-book items are a unique and significant portion of their collections.
Unlike museums or archives, where specimens and objects of significance are often not directly accessible to the public, these libraries have interesting items that are routinely available to non-researchers. Read on to learn more about the university library where patrons used to check out ravens for Edgar Allen Poe presentations, the forestry lab with a card catalog filled with wood, and the seed library dedicated to preserving and planting rare varieties of plants.
Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK…