Special Collections

Introduction

The Special Collections at Otis College Library comprise rare, fragile, and otherwise unique items. This includes rare books, artists' books, institutional archives, and zines. Our Special Collections exist to advance the library's mission of providing a learning environment that inspires creativity.

To better conserve these items, they are housed in closed stacks (i.e., not browsable) and are non-circulating (i.e., cannot be borrowed from the library). They are viewable by appointment (see below for details). If you cannot visit or want to preview some of our collections, you can view a selection of digitized items through our publicly accessible Otis Collections Online database.

Overview of Our Collections

Rare Books

• Approximately 1,100 items, all cataloged
• Includes historical items as well as more recent publications that are too fragile or innovatively structured to exist in our Main Stacks
• Our most popular item is our original edition of Josef Albers’ Interaction of Color (Yale UP, 1963)

Archives

• Otis College institutional history
• The Ben Maltz Gallery's Archive
• We once housed the Woman's Building Archive, which is now located at the Getty. You can view some digitized images through Otis Collections Online.

Artists' Books

• This collection began in the late 1950s and was significantly developed during the 1960s-70s by our former librarian, Joan Hugo (1930--2006)
• Contains over 2,000 items, including ~250 books from the Otis Laboratory Press
• Includes work by prominent contemporary artists (e.g., Ed Ruscha) as well as work by MFA Book Arts graduates (e.g., Sarah Bryant and Daniel Mellis)

Zines

Schedule an Appointment

To view item(s) from Otis' Special Collections, schedule an appointment through Bookings. You may also contact Morgan Yanni (myanni@otis.edu), our Reference and Special Collections Librarian.

Please give at least one week of notice before your desired viewing time so we can adequately prepare. Make sure to review our Special Collections Viewing Guidelines. We welcome outside visitors!

General rules:

• Due to concerns of fragility/stability, some items cannot be handled. You are still welcome to view them, but please do not touch. The librarian will set them up for you.
• Wash your hands before viewing and/or handling materials. Why?: This reduces the amount of oils and dirt in contact with the materials, which will contribute to their disintegration.
• For handwritten notes, use a graphite pencil (we have them available). Do not use any pens or ink around the materials. Why?: If a mark is accidentally made, pencil can be removed more easily than ink.
• Photographs without flash are permitted. Please do not publish or otherwise post photos without the library's permission.
• No food or drink. Closed water is okay, but it should be kept away from the item(s).

Workshops

We have a wonderful breadth of items in our Special Collections that can be integrated into classes being taught at Otis. Professors who are interested in scheduling a Librarian-led workshop focused on some of these materials can do so through our Bookings page. Please schedule these sessions at least one week before the requested timeslot.

Before your session, please review our Special Collections Viewing Guidelines and share this document with your students.

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