Event Planning in Special Collections: An Audubon Day Case Study

Abstract

Outreach events and public programming in academic libraries have grown to be an essential and regular part of institutional missions over the past twenty years. Events hosted by special collections and archives help break down the public perception of these spaces as unfamiliar and unwelcoming. Yet practical approaches to event planning in the literature to date rarely focus on the special collections field. This case study details the planning and execution of a long-running, well-attended, low-cost event hosted by an academic special collections library and provides guidance for library and archives staff looking to start similar events at their own institutions. The article discusses event planning, registration and publicity, donor outreach, additional event offerings, assessment methods, and future opportunities for expansion. The recommendations included can be modified to craft an event highlighting any collection of books or archival materials of interest to the general public.