Power, Resistance, and Donor Relations

Abstract

The purpose of this panel session is to generate ideas about how changing the relationships between special collections practitioners, donors, and users can generate new possibilities for both collections and services. Reliance on donors for both materials and funds creates challenging power dynamics between the staff who manage and develop special collections, the users who access collections, and the private individuals who support those collections through donation. Donors have profoundly shaped the collections and facilities at rare book and special collections libraries in the United States. The first dedicated rare book libraries in the U.S. were built primarily through donations by wealthy white men who collected books that represent the Western canon. Mostly by emulating this model, special collections libraries proliferated and grew rapidly in the early 20th century, and one of the impacts of this early institutional collection building was to cement the relationship between rare book collections and elite culture. Today, many special collections practitioners want to build collections that represent diverse histories and material cultures, and to build relationships with communities that have been marginalized by powerful institutions in the past. Interest in historical collections produced by people of color, women, people from the Global South, poor people, and other historically minoritized groups is not new, but many institutions still have not achieved their goal of robust diverse representation in their special collections. One of the reasons for this problem is that commitments to past and current donors can take precedence over other priorities. This is problematic because it may limit the ability of special collections practitioners to change the nature of their collections. Because collections drive use, choices that donors have made and continue to make on behalf of the institutions they support empower some users while limiting others. Melissa Hubbard will present a paper describing the origins of academic rare book collections in the United States and interrogating the historical link between special collections libraries, wealthy individuals, and cultural elitism. Christine Jacobson will describe cases from Harvard University’s history in which creative interpretation of donor bequests has enabled the development of new kinds of collections, and when the institution’s power has been used to support politically marginalized people represented in donated materials. Petrina Jackson will discuss how building relationships with diverse donors can help special collections practitioners support new goals and priorities for collections and use. Because this session is intended to be generative, moderator Patrice Green will encourage attendees to share their own thoughts about donor relations and power, with a focus on developing ideas for changing practice.