Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository

The Department of Heritage Collections in the Proctor Library encompasses the areas of The Flagler College Archives & Special Collections; Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository; and Digital Collections.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to support student learning by identifying photographs, documents, books, and more that are of enduring value to the mission of Flagler College and preserving them for future teaching or research needs.

 

Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository (RBFIR) is committed to preserving and providing access to old, rare, valuable, or institutionally identified subject-specific books for the education of the Flagler College community. Items in the collection date from a 14th century manuscript leaf to recently published faculty books.

The 2,400+ books, maps, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, letters, photographs, artwork, and ethnic clothing contained in this department are kept separate from the regular collection due to age, rarity, fragility, edition status (1st editions), or added considerations (signed, prior ownership by someone important, affiliation to Flagler College or St. Augustine). Some books or other print materials were donated to Flagler College expressly to be treated with the extra care a special collections department implies.

• Access to RBFIR is by appointment only. Please send Katherine Owens an email (kowens@flagler.edu) with your request.
• RBFIR is a non-circulating collection; the items may not leave the building.
• We understand that professors or students may need long-term access to materials. These items will be pulled and kept to one side in Miss Owens's office for their use.

This unit does have a collection development policy that is updated on a regular basis. Items are purchased due to the generous donation from and endowment in Mrs. Marifrances Engelhardt's name for the purpose of increasing the number of rare books available to students. The current collecting foci for this collection are items in the following fields or on the following subjects:

• Faculty/Staff Author Collection (Institutional Repository)
• St. Augustine, Florida
  • Historical in nature
  • Fictional representations in St. Augustine or St. Johns County
• Old Florida Guidebooks
• Beautiful Books
  • Signed bindings are the current focus

If you are interested in donating to the collection, please read the following guidelines:

• Due to space constraints, donations are accepted on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Miss Owens directly with a description of the item(s) you are interested in donating.
• Please review the Donation Policy for book donations to the regular Circulating Collection.
• If you are interested in donating items related to the College, Henry Flagler, or the Hotel Ponce de Leon to the Flagler College Archives, please contact the College’s Archives Specialist, Jolene DuBray, jdubray@flagler.edu.