ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico members reconvened on the morning of Saturday, October 21, for breakfast and tours and information sessions about the Southwestern Writers Collection and the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography. These two collections, along with the University Archives, comprise the Special Collections at Texas State University. The Southwestern Writers Collection and Wittliff Gallery are housed on the 7th floor of the Alkek Library.
This year, the Southwestern Writers Collection and Wittliff Gallery are celebrating their 20th and 10th anniversaries respectively. These collections have been housed in the Alkek Library since 1991 when the Library opened. Katie Salzmann, Archivist at the Southwestern Writers Collection, provided an excellent overview and summary of the Writers Collection. She began by showing us a ten minute video introducing the Special Collections at Texas State. In addition, she lead the group on an outstanding behind-the-scenes tour of the facility’s preservation and processing areas.
The Southwestern Writers Collection consists primarily of manuscripts and supporting materials, such as books and journals. All of the writers represented are listed on their Web site. This collection is organized into three groups including
The criteria for acquisition of materials is twofold: first, writers collected must create works that have stood or will stand the test of time; second, these writers must be from the Southwest or write about the Southwest. Additional collections within the Writers Collection include the Texas Monthly archives and bodies of work of individual writers who write for Texas Monthly. Bill Wittliff started the Writers Collection with papers he bought at an estate sale of J. Frank Dobie and Wittliff’s Encino Press publications.
The Special Collection employees ten full-time professionals and two catalogers who report through the technical services unit. One of these employees is a development officer. The collection is funded through foundation support, individual support, and other grants. They also have a graphic designer on staff.
At present, the collection treasures are on exhibition to celebrate the anniversaries of the collections. Some of the materials in the current exhibition include J. Frank Dobie papers, Kathryn Anne Porter materials, song manuscripts of Willie Nelson, John Graves’s paddle that inspired Goodbye to a River, Sam Shepard’s notebooks and drafts of manuscripts, and their most recent acquisition, the King of the Hill archives.
A small reading room that is open to the public is also a component of the Special Collections suite of services. Public service is conducted by appointment and the collection does accept drop-in researchers as well. The reading room is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 7 p.m.). Patrons are encouraged to have a research consultation before beginning their work. Primarily, the Southwestern Writers Collection supports research and teaching at Texas State but they do see a handful of outside researchers every month. A fee is charged for scanning materials for publication, and photocopying is done on behalf of users.