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Find the fullness of history in the archives, libraries

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  • October 21, 2019

library week insideJo Ann Hyatt, assistant instructor of nursing, examined the rare books housed in UAB’s Reynolds-Finley Historical Library in 1958, then located in the medical center.

Now, Reynolds-Finley is housed in the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences on University Boulevard and is home to more than 14,000 rare books, manuscripts, journals and pamphlets pertaining to the history of medicine, science and health care, dating from the 1300s through the mid-1900s. Featured online collections include exhibits on nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale and the library’s collection of 30 pre-1500s printed books.

Oct. 20-26 is National Friends of the Libraries Week; celebrate at UAB with a visit to Reynolds-Finley. The library is free and open to the public 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Like this photo? See more than 80 others in Unfolding UAB: 50 Years of Photography from the UAB Archives, on display now through Dec. 14 in the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts. The exhibition pictographically traces the history of UAB not just as an institution, but as a community that unfolded within the fabric of Birmingham, forging and building its own unique identity.

Located on the third floor of Lister Hill, UAB Archives is the university’s official repository and collects and preserves a wide variety of materials, including institutional records, manuscripts, letters, memos, photographs, scrapbooks, ledgers, audiovisual materials and university publications, ephemera, objects and realia.

UAB Archives is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday by appointment only; email uabarchives@uab.edu or call 205-934-1896 or 205-934-9671 to schedule.