Special Collections Mission Statement

The mission of Gerber/Hart Library's Special Collections shall be to collect, safeguard, and provide access to library materials and artifactual items which document the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

Special Collections library materials are considered rare, culturally unique, culturally valuable, or monetarily valuable. Some materials may be kept in Special Collections either because they require special care or could incite theft.

The Special Collections policy will be to retain one copy of individual items with the exception that multiple copies of rare or pre-Stonewall materials may be kept or preserved.

Special Collections artifactual items are those items that are rare or culturally unique.

Access or photocopying privileges to Special Collections library materials and artifactual items may be limited due to their fragile physical condition and copyright restrictions. Special Collection library materials may be restricted due to "age of consent" and obscenity laws, including those pertaining to availability to minors. Previous restrictions applied to archival materials housed in Special Collections will also be observed.

Collecting Objectives

Gerber/Hart's Special Collections will collect the following materials with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender content:

1. Library Materials
   1. Autographed books
   2. Early (pre-Stonewall/1969) editions of books
   3. Fine-press works
   4. Book art
   5. Pulp novels (books printed on inferior paper stock, usually containing sensational stories of love, crime, etc.)
   6. Comic books
   7. International publications, including those printed in English and foreign languages
   8. Non-gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender periodicals containing a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender cover story or a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender article whose content is noted on the front cover
   9. Clippings from non-gay,lesbian, bisexual, or transgender periodicals originating in the pre-Stonewall/1969 era; clippings from non-gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender Chicago newspapers prior to January 1, 1973
   10. Legal erotica
       1. Periodicals
       2. Erotic novels (one copy of each)
       3. Audiovisual Materials
       4. Photographs
   11. Issues of all pre-Stonewall/1969 periodicals
   12. Chicago, Midwestern, and subcultural periodicals that began publication in the 1970's and ended publication prior to January 1, 1980
   13. Chicago and Midwestern publications published in 1980 or afterwards that existed for one year or less, or for which six or fewer issues were produced during the course of the publication's lifetime
   14. Audiovisual materials, including those in formats which are no longer common
2. Artifactual Items
   1. Photographs
   2. Posters
   3. Games, puzzles, toys, and collectible items directed toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community
   4. Plaques and awards with a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender organization as the official recipient or awarder
   5. Buttons, matchbooks, jewelry, stickers, and related objects
   6. Clothing imprinted with a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender insignia, slogan, or organization name
   7. Banners and flags
   8. Other items of ephemera, including calendars, theatre programs, greeting cards, postcards, stationery items, and merchandise catalogs

Gerber/Hart's Special Collections will not collect the following materials:

1. Objects that can be easily reproduced or recreated, such as props for Pride Parade floats
2. Objects of such poor and markedly deteriorating quality that the information they contain can no longer be used or preserved
3. Objects and materials the size of which Gerber/Hart cannot accommodate due to space limitations
4. Heterosexual erotica, including that which portrays activity between two women, e.g. Playboy, Hustler, Playgirl
5. Non-gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender library materials with large gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender audiences, e.g. Ms., Interview, The Utne Reader, The Village Voice. See "Collecting Objectives" Section 1.h.
6. Materials from the library open stacks area that are old, not often used, or for which no more space can be found
7. Paintings and sculpture

These Special Collections policies will be reviewed every two years by the committee charged with the oversight of Special Collections.

Definitions

Library materials are defined as monographs, monographic serials, serials, audiovisual materials, and ephemera.

Artifactual items are materials made in imitation of something natural; art made or contrived by human skill or labor.

Rare is defined as uncommon, not frequently found, scarce.

Culturally unique is defined as being of singular, unusual, or extraordinary worth to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

Culturally valuable is defined as being highly thought of, highly prized, or of great worth in some way by the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

Book art refers to unique works of art which are created in book format and in whch the artistry of the book plays an integral role in its presentation. These books are often individually hand-crafted, and may include in their presentation art works, text, or book designs which are uniquely produced for each individual "book art" work.

The term legal erotica is subject to applicable statutes.

Subculture is defined as a special interest group of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

Ephemera describes a wide range of materials, usually printed, which were originally created for a short-term or transitory purpose. Typical examples of ephemera include posters, bus and rail tickets, advertising leaflets and handbills, notices, memos, greeting cards, and postcards.