In celebration of Halloween, Grand Valley State University’s Special Collections and University Archives hosted a Rare BOOks open house on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at the Seidman House.
During the event, the archive’s staff and student workers helped guide guests through the building’s maze of books, which was transformed into a spooky trick-or-treating route. Participants, many of which were dressed in costume, were able to collect candy and other treats, while learning about the books’ old photographs and material the antique books were created from.
A big attraction at the event was the fictional “Necronomicon,” otherwise known as the Book of the Dead. Known for its associated infamous hauntings, students were required to sign a waiver to view the book through its plexiglass casing. The fictional grimoire, or textbook of magic, has appeared in stories by the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.
GVSU’s archive is a repository for documents and literary prints, such as books, letters and diaries. Students can utilize the collection for research, and certain material is cataloged for specific classes to study and use in curriculum.
Leigh Rupinski, archivist for public services and community engagement at the Seidman House, created the event to promote the GVSU archive with a spooky and fun twist. Students are typically asked to make an appointment to view the collection, so this event allowed viewers to enjoy rare books alongside their peers.
“My role is primarily to do that outreach and instruction component with students and get them interested in the material we have here,” Rupinski said. “I talk about primary source literacy and (help students) understand how to look at a source and analyze it for yourself.”
Rupinski emphasized that some of the rare books displayed at the event date as far back as the early 1400s. According to Rupinski, the open house allowed students to see the behind the scenes of illustration and the art form’s techniques. This included how photos were drawn, and how the discovery of new information has changed over time.
“We (had) some of our history books on display,” Rupinski said. “They (the books) diagram the human brain and what they thought the pieces (anatomy parts) were. Now, we have developed (our knowledge) from there, but this is where it starts.”
Henry Marshall, a GVSU student who loves all things spooky and collects older novels, said the event was a great reminder of why individuals should properly care for older books and manuscripts.
“It was so fun to see the collection of these older pieces of media,” Marshall said. “I think a lot of stuff like that doesn’t (often) get preserved very well. You would hope that people would take better care of (old books), but I think people don’t really think about the future of how they’ve preserved this information.”
Marshall added that the Halloween event encouraged students who might not have otherwise visited the archives to explore history preservation.
“I think it (the open house) brings a whole lot more attention to it (history preservation) for people who might not think (the archives) really suits them,” Marshall said. “(The event) incentivizes people to look into it, and gain an interest in these sorts of things.”
