By Brandt Mannchen
I encourage and invite all Sierra Club members and the public to visit and use the University of Houston’s (UH) M.D. Anderson Library (Anderson lived from 1873-1939) which has archives housed in its “Special Collections and Preservation” Section, second floor, Anderson Building, Main Campus. Many environmental books, documents, and papers are found in our hometown university’s library and are there for our use, enjoyment, and education.
Libraries are extremely important for research, scholarship, education, and individual learning. Without them we are ignorant about our history and we may doom ourselves to repeat our failures and forget our successes. The purpose, mission, and values of a library include preservation of material and making this material accessible in many formats to the public.
Rare, unique, and valuable books originally were a focus for many libraries (often called antiquarian). For UH, which was established in 1927 (next year will be its 100th anniversary), this traditional focus slowly changed, beginning in 1951 and solidifying in the 1980s, to become known as “Special Collections”.
Within “Special Collections”, there are many books, documents, and papers that are about our local Houston environment. UH has decided to focus on this local perspective versus maintaining a collection that focuses on a world-wide look at our environment.
The focus of a library used to be that of a person who was a historian and dealt with historical information. Now people who work at libraries are looked upon as information specialists who assist others in finding the information they are interested in and need.
In the mid to late 2000’s and until the present, UH has received collections that contain significant local environmental documents. Some of these collections (Houston History Archives) came from or are focused on Terry Hershey, Sarah and Army Emmott, The Park People, Outdoor Nature Club, Citizens Environmental Coalition, and others.
Since 2011, I have periodically given UH “Special Collections” the environmental documents and papers that I would like preserved for posterity. Many of these materials are Houston Regional Group and Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club written materials. Their preservation saves local, grassroots, Sierra Club letters, comments, policies, activities, and actions which can be provided to the public for education, knowledge, and personal learning.
Besides collections that focus on our local environment, UH has “Special Collections” for energy, sustainability, art, LGBTQ, and other issues. There’s a lot of cooperation, versus competition, among Houston Area libraries to ensure that information is stored, preserved, and presented in collections that want and specialize in this information.
In “Special Collections” books, documents, and papers are preserved in a variety of ways and formats including tape, digitization, and original order provenance, like hard or soft copy books. “Special Collections” has room for 100,000 books and compact shelving helps ensure that this inventory has room to grow.
The books, documents, and papers in “Special Collections” are housed in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment in the middle of the Anderson Building where there few or no windows or other openings to the outside. This prevents damage to the collection due to weather conditions. There is a separate power source for “Special Collections” that ensures that the collection isn’t damaged during floods, storms, and other catastrophic events.
I know from experience how damaging these events can be. In 2001, Tropical Storm “Allison” flooded my garage and ruined about 1/3 to ½ of my personal environmental papers.
Anyone who wants to learn about Houston’s environment and those who have fought to protect it can do so right now! In some instances, this information is online. In other instances, people can make an appointment and visit “Special Collections”.
No writing implements other than pencils can be brought in to view these books, documents, and papers. No ink pens or other devices are allowed so that these important written works are protected. Written materials can’t be removed from “Special Collections” and must be reviewed in the reading room. The materials to be reviewed are brought to you by a staff member and picked up and reshelved when you are through with them.
Thanks to Christian Kelleher, Director of Exhibits and External Relations and Lauren Gottlieb-Miller, Assistant Dean of Special Collections and Preservation at the UH library for showing me the “Special Collections” archives.
Come visit UH online and in-person to find out about Houston’s environmental history. Not only will you increase your knowledge, but you’ll become part of a more educated public and be better able to clarify how our history creates a path for us to move forward positively. Sounds like a win-win to me!