The Kathryn A. Martin Library is home to Ramseyer-Northern Bible Society Collection, which started as a hobby and interest of the Rev. Henry E. Ramseyer, secretary of the Northern Bible Society. The collection came to the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1979 when the society was no longer able to maintain the current space housing the collection. The Chancellor of the University at the time, Robert Heller, had suggested the University's library could serve as a permanent home for the collection. It was the hope of the society that that collection could continue to be developed and displayed. The collection, which includes items from around the world, now numbers over 1,800 volumes and represents 410 languages. Some items are over 600 years old.
Dr. Krista Twu, Associate Professor of Medieval & Renaissance Literature, and Kathryn A. Martin Library Head Archivist, Aimee Brown will hold a presentation on why how the Ramseyer Collection collection provides experiential learning for students and the community. The presentation will take place on February 27, 2020, at 7:00 pm in the Library's 4th Floor Rotunda. The event is sponsored by the Kathryn A. Martin Library, with cooperation from the Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies. More details can be found on the UMD Events Calendar.
If you'd like to know more about the history of this collection, you can visit the Ramseyer-Northern Bible Society Collection page on the Library's website.
Information on the Library's Archives and Special Collections can also be found on the website.