IOWA CITY, Iowa — The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) says they’ve signed an agreement with the University of Iowa to maintain public access to their collections in Iowa City.
The agreement will work like an interlibrary loan, where people can request SHSI items from storage in Des Moines and the items will be sent to the UI Special Collections and Archives Reading Room during regular business hours. Requests for items can be made starting January 1, 2026. Details, including access guidelines and the process for requesting the materials will soon be posted on each organization’s websites.
The announcement follows a legal battle between the Historical Society and the Friends of Historic Preservation, a group of historians, former SHSI staff, and community members, who started a campaign to save the facility…