Collections

Art power couple Mary Heebner and Macduff Everton have been long-time contributors to Santa Barbara's creative economy. Over the last 30 years, their travels around the world have been the source of inspiration for photojournalism, visual anthropology, papermaking, painting, published books, and more, many examples of which are currently represented in the archives of the UCSB Library's Special Research Collections (SRC).

Dr. Shirley Kennedy’s motivation to preserve her personal archives began with a flood of rare Southern California rain, which seeped its ruinous way into her materials documenting the 1998 UCSB visit of Regents Scholar Fan Shengqi, a Chinese jazz musician.

The American Radio Archives, one of the world’s largest and most valuable collections of radio broadcasting will soon become part of the UC Santa Barbara Library’s Department of Special Research Collections.

A Glass Half Full: Alumnus Victor Geraci discusses the Viticulture Collection, his new book, and the future of Santa Barbara wine

If you ask Manuscript Curator and Religious Studies Librarian David Gartrell to tell you about his favorite piece in the UC Santa Barbara Library American Religions Collection (ARC), he will tell you it’s impossible to pick just one. He has a point. Since its inception in 1968, the ARC has become a unique and thoughtfully curated collection with an expansive variety of photos, recordings, writings, and other religious ephemera.

Over the years, and under the leadership of curator David Seubert, the UC Santa Barbara Library Performing Arts Collection has grown to become one of the most notable collections of its kind, containing over 300,000 historical sound recordings and over 150 archival collections.

Archivists at UC Santa Barbara Library Special Research Collections have recently launched the Black Lives Matter Community Archives project in order to document the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in Santa Barbara. 

All people living in Santa Barbara County who are invested in fighting anti-Blackness are encouraged to share their experiences and submit content to this collection. 

UCSB Health & Wellness has partnered with UCSB Library to fund and grow the Well-being Resources Collection, which has become increasingly important as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect mental health. 

Nearly 80 new titles are now accessible at UCSB Library, of which about half are e-books and half are print books. 

Dalip Singh Saund made history in 1957 when he became the first Asian American, the first Indian American, and the first Sikh elected to the United States Congress, serving California’s 29th District in the House of Representatives until 1963. His papers were recently donated to UCSB Library Special Research Collections so researchers can study his life and impact on history.