Special Collections

Special Collections Mission Statement and Vision

Special Collections is the combined service point for Photographic Archives, Rare Books, Manuscripts and other special materials. To use these collections, please go to the reference desk in the Ekstrom Library lower level room LL17. The staff can provide information about the collections, guide the user in searching and using the collections and provide information about related collections at other institutions. Classes and group tours are welcome. Please call to make arrangements. Special Collections can provide photographic and digital reproductions of most our materials. For more information see services and fees.

Photographic Archives

The Photographic Archives houses almost 2 million photographs and associated records and manuscripts. Hundreds of discrete collections include national documentary projects, local history photographs and an excellent museum collection of fine prints.

Rare Books

Rare Books includes books that are especially important because of their historical or literary significance, age, scarcity, or value. The collections also include literary manuscripts, rare posters and maps, and collections of books by or about particular authors or subjects in the sciences, literature, history, popular culture, and the history of books and printing.

Digital Collections

The University of Louisville Digital Collections is a growing resource including thousands of rare and unique images and documents from our photographic archives, rare books, and other campus units.

For Love of Learning

For Love of Learning is a searchable database containing brief descriptions of over three hundred of the thousands of special collections, archives, and rare materials held in the University of Louisville Libraries and Archives.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Primary sources in Special Collections, University of Louisville Libraries

Read more information on primary sources of Dr. King.