The Emory Libraries have identified the expansion of the Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) as a compelling strategic opportunity—the area of investment where we can make the greatest difference for current and future generations of students and scholars.
Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library is home to the papers of some of the most creative and historic figures of our time. Students and scholars from across the University and around the globe converge onto the campus to study these world-renowned research collections, enhancing Emory’s stature as a destination university.
Known internationally for its preeminent holdings in modern literature and in African American history and culture, MARBL supports the work of students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Among its rare and unique collections are the papers of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney; Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker; the late Poet Laureate of Britain, Ted Hughes; the library of early African American historian Carter G. Woodson; and the 75,000-volume Raymond Danowski Poetry Library.
A new home for Emory’s special collections is the main campaign priority of the Emory Libraries. In recent years changes in scholarship, learning, and research—and the technology that advances innovations—have dramatically altered the role of academic libraries. The vision is to become a model research library that fosters courageous inquiry through the integration of distinctive digital, print, and multimedia resources.
The first step toward this vision is to house Emory’s renowned special collections in a world-class facility that will increase access to and visibility of Emory’s extraordinary research collections of rare books, manuscripts, and archives. Located at the heart of the historic central campus, this distinctive building will establish an intellectual center for the campus that is linked not to any one academic program, but to the broadest scope of the humanities themselves. A new MARBL will allow Emory to leverage fully its most important research collections while preparing for the next chapter in the library’s—and the University’s—future growth.
Through your generosity, MARBL will relocate to a home with space for the continued growth and exhibition of its exceptional collections and have the ability to fund its robust research and teaching mission. The campaign also will build MARBL’s endowment, ensuring that its trajectory of excellence will be sustained over time. Campaign Emory will propel the library to the leading edge of the digital innovations that are expanding the horizons of knowledge across the disciplines. Bringing together scholars, unique materials, state-of-the-art digital services, and technology, MARBL will be a magnet for the exploration of new models of digital humanities research—a living humanities laboratory.
