By Lorelai Wilson

As an NCAA Division I institution, the University of Arkansas draws the eyes of students to the field each semester. However, its qualification as an R1 university is not as praised nor utilized by the greater student body, despite its acclaim and accessibility regarding resources. 

With a yearly budget and certain responsibilities placed upon the UA library, the special collections facility is a multifaceted system built to preserve and appeal to research projects. One of the more fleshed out collections is the Fulbright Collection, due to J. William Fulbright’s lifelong, controversial intertwinement and involvement with the university and state of Arkansas as a whole. 

Joshua Youngblood, the Associate Librarian at Mullins Library, is one of the primary faculty members in charge of the special collections. The special collections unit is an ever growing library of print and digital documents serving as accessible and well rounded assemblage of material. It graces the eyes of independent researchers and UA faculty alike, though its mass of information remains unacknowledged by a significant portion of the student body. 

“Fulbright’s senatorial papers alone are 1,200 boxes of material,” Youngblood said.

From attending a Fayetteville elementary school to serving as an Arkansas senator, Fulbright’s ties to the UA library are extraordinary. 

This is also seen prevalently in his creation of the Fulbright Program at the university, which is the largest international education exchange program in the history of the entire world, Youngblood said. 

These connections have led to a uniquely niche collection headed by UA through senatorial papers, family documents and a number of other Fulbright related content. While his story is more closely tied to the UA than major figures at other universities, special collection fixations are not rare among collegiate libraries. 

These libraries collect on subjects relative to their own history as well as the researchers that have contributed and focused in those locations. The connection certain facilities have to these subjects is explored through communication in the industry. What may be offered to the UA library may be passed on to other universities due to their known prioritization of that research. 

“We have a mission to collect the state of Arkansas, to make things available to the entire people of Arkansas and then to build in certain research areas that are really important,” Youngblood said.

The UA archive collects everything that’s been published in Arkansas, by an Arkansan, or any document relating to Arkansas. This goes into the Arkansas print collection, whereas other forms of media, such as #BlackatUark, get filed into the digital collection. As the most funded and largest library in Arkansas, the Mullins Library is responsible for regulating this collection. 

In relation to what is added to the Arkansas collection, Youngblood said journals, books, yearbooks and more make up the collection of over 100,000 items. 

With such a strong archival system and level of resources, the special collections are always being graced by researchers. Whether they are officially affiliated with the university in a research capacity, a faculty member, graduate students or undergrads, the wide ranging available information easily piques different interests. 

Grace Marr, a junior in the Honors College at the university, is fueling her honor’s thesis with documents located within the special collections. Marr found her main thesis premise through a series of interviews over the Cummins Unit, a prison scandal that took place in Arkansas throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

After getting in contact with Youngblood, Marr was able to begin her research for her thesis. 

“Online there’s catalogs of library guides for where to start if you’re interested in different topics,” Marr said. “I didn’t even know it was a thing.”

While honors students tend to gravitate towards special collections in relation to their theses, the general student body at university is seen much less frequently in the archives. Such a vibrant and accessible gateway to information seems unignorable, but it somehow stays out of the limelight. 

The archives offer information appealing to such diverse concepts that there is truly something for everyone. 

“If you need to find any kind of good resource you just go there and it will list all the books they have and all the archives and stuff that would be relevant,” Marr said. 

This level of searchability is ideal for anyone ranging from casual enthusiast to accredited expert. 

The accessibility of the archives is not only seen in its online presence, but also through the process of acquiring materials. While there are steps to be taken in order to keep the documents safe, requests for materials are typically quick, simple, and well worth it. 

“You just walk in there and they have a box for you with your name on it and it’s full of exactly what you ordered,” Marr said.

Experiencing formative yet out-of-spotlight documents can be enlightening and exciting for researchers and curiosity seekers alike. There are opportunities to explore a story as it unfolds, as Marr did with her thesis project. 

“I know it ended badly, but you never know what you’re going to find in there,” Marr said. 

The special collections can be accessed through the Mullins Library by appointment only. Reach out to Joshua Youngblood for advice on catalogs, starting points, or any other facet of the archives. There are more instructions relating to the archives for appointments and materials found here.