I don’t know about you, but every time I walk into our Classics Library, I feel a little like Indiana Jones. As I admire the priceless treasures housed there, I can’t shake the sneaking suspicion that at any moment, a huge boulder is going to appear and start chasing me, threatening to run me over. After all, being surrounded by the collected wisdom of the ancient world creates an atmosphere like none other, teeming with whispers of long-ago adventures and still-uncovered secrets.
The University of Cincinnati’s (UC) John Miller Burnam Classics Library is undoubtedly one of a kind. From its inception to its current practices, the library holds a special place in the heart of our Classics Department, libraries, and wider scholarly community, serving distinguished international faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and many visiting scholars. It is the definition of a destination library, serving over 75,000 patrons from around the world per year, who flock to Cincinnati to browse and study its unparalleled resources.
Classics alumna, Lindsay Taylor, agrees the Classics Library is a very special place. “It probably saved me thousands of dollars as a student to have all these materials at my disposal while doing high-level research. Classics was truly the most magical and scholarly place possible to get an undergraduate degree, and the older I get, the more I realize how valuable the education I received there is. The program is just steeped in evidence and primary source evaluation and scholarly communication surrounding this evaluation, the library is at the core of that effort.”
Maintaining such a relevant and sought-after collection is no small feat for our Classics Library team. You could be forgiven for thinking that the classical studies of Greece and Rome consist of a stable set of resources, unchanged for centuries, but you would be mistaken. The ongoing study and interpretation of ancient texts continues to shed new light on both the cultures that produced them and our own modern world. Skilled collection development in this field consists of collecting and preserving primary texts while also curating modern critical works to offer a comprehensive perspective for scholars. This lofty goal is accomplished through a unique collaboration between the Classics Library and the Classics Department faculty, who work side by side to select each piece for the shelves of the Library. The Tytus Fellowships program1 is a highly competitive international fellowship where scholars all over the world compete to be one of three people in residency at the Classics Library every semester.
The Classics Library was inaugurated close to 90 years ago via a generous donation of funds by University of Cincinnati Classics Professor William Semple, Department Head from 1920 to 1951, and his wife Louise Taft. John Miller Burnam, fellow faculty member, seeded the collection by donating his personal library of around 6,000 books. Today, the marvelous collection stands at over 297,779 volumes, adding approximately four to six thousand items annually. Funding for the collection is exclusively supported by the original gift from the Semple/Taft family, the legacy of their passion for Classics scholarship. This fund supports not only the scholarly purchases for the Classics Library itself, but also the Classics Department’s research and teaching mission, including archaeological projects and student scholarships.
The Classics Library collects resources related to all aspects of the Greco-Roman world and Byzantium, as well as modern Greece. Topical areas span art, history, religion, philosophy, social customs, and more; many texts are in Latin and Greek as well as various modern languages. The Classics collection exists to serve the curriculum and research interests of UC’s faculty, students, and wider interested community. Any resources not available on-site can be requested via a robust consortium of libraries that offer scanning and digitization for quick access to ancient texts from around the world.
Staff at the Classics Library keep a watchful eye on new publications by monitoring releases from prestigious universities and related vendors in the field. Library staff regularly run inventories of new publications to see what is already owned and where new publications fit into the Library’s scope and contribute to the collection’s coverage. The Library values diverse perspectives and voices on their shelves and prioritizes underrepresented voices in the selection process when possible. By using data from many sources, such as interlibrary loan requests, the Library can keep a pulse on exactly what the scholarly community is asking for. Additionally, the Classics Department also has a Library Committee (external to the Library itself) that helps to guide the identification and acquisition of important publications.
Foundational to the Classics Library’s identity is its robust physical collection housed in the magnificent Blegen Library building. While the core of the collection remains print based, with many precious volumes dating back centuries, this also reflects the current state of the published scholarship in Classical Studies.
While the Library does subscribe to multiple electronic book packages and databases, and purchases individual e-books on subjects peripheral to the core collection, or which have a broader appeal beyond Classical scholarship, many new books acquired by the Library exist only in print format. This is especially true for Greek imprints. Furthermore, in many instances, print formats better serve scholars than digital ones.
While Semple funding generously finances the acquisition of Classics materials, the UC Library funds all the expert staff that make this happen, including Content Services, the Preservation Lab, all Classics Library staff and student staff, as well as the Library’s Fulfillment team.
With new materials continually being added, the Classics Library maintains a strong connection with UC Library’s Content Services department. Housed in Langsam Library, this team provides essential acquisitions and cataloging support for nine libraries on campus, including Classics; every new item passes through this department before finding its permanent home on the Library’s shelves. Staff members in Content Services routinely facilitate purchases from domestic and foreign vendors, receive new issues of serial publications, and catalog books in languages ancient and modern. All of this “behind-the-scenes” work serves to strengthen the Classics Library’s collection and ensure that patrons can find exactly what they need.
Taking good care of its impressive resources is always a top priority for the Classics Library, a goal supported by another key partner on campus: UC Library’s prestigious in-house Preservation Lab. Meeting quarterly, the Preservation Lab collaborates closely with Classics Library staff to determine materials that are a priority for single-item conservation and/or longer-term preservation projects. Preservation treatment recommendations are made by the Preservation Lab’s conservators and carried out with the agreement of the subject specialist. Additionally, the Lab coordinates commercial bindery services, such as the rebinding of journals and new paperback acquisitions.
Naturally, physical space is an ongoing consideration for the Classics Library as the collection continues to grow. The library staff systematically select resources to remove from the collection via a considered and nuanced process. Withdrawal decisions are weighed heavily, as each text lends a unique perspective to the collection; for example, additional copies of texts may serve to support course readings, or newer editions of a seminal work may complement previous editions, but an earlier edition still retains its value. Staff don’t withdraw the last copy of a book. Withdrawals are limited to unnecessary multiple copies or copies in poor shape. The Classics collection is hand-curated specifically for UC’s Classics community, and each piece is special.
As previously mentioned, the Classics Library operates with a unique budget model. While most of UC’s Libraries are grouped under the same budget fund, the Classics Library is funded solely by the Classics Department through the founding gift of the Semple/Taft family. This endowment has been providential for the Library, shielding it from many difficult decisions related to cuts; so far, there has been enough funding to responsibly cover faculty, student, and community requests and desires. Both the Classics Library and Department recognize what a gift this is and remain very grateful for the generosity which has made such a collection possible.
That is not to say that the Classics Library isn’t concerned about a day when scrutinizing purchases may become a reality. If the collection were to become more digitally focused, the high cost of licensing and lingering questions about resource ownership and long-term access will need to be addressed. With modern interpretations and diverse perspectives being important priorities, it’s quite possible that, as the publishing world simultaneously transforms, many contemporary texts will become exclusively available digitally. Librarians, charged with preserving the scholarly record and facilitating access to that record, must continue to strive for resource ownership and accessibility—whether through print editions or electronic resources.
Speaking of digital resources, the Classics Library also aspires to contribute more to the ongoing digitization of rare materials in the future, should the opportunity and infrastructure materialize. This project would involve identifying items in the collection that would serve a large audience should they be accessible digitally. When possible, resources should be open and accessible to support scholarship, education, and the creation of new knowledge across the globe. The Classics Library sees themselves as an important part of this process.
Mike Braunlin, the Interim Head of the Classics Library and an integral member of the Classics team for 50 years, offers only one future concern for the Classics Library: he is worried about the practice of reading in general. Recent research suggests a decline in students’ stamina for long-form reading and indicates that many college graduates read significantly fewer books2, and Mike sees this as a significant obstacle for the Classics Library in particular. He believes that being scholars of history informs our ability to make decisions for the future; without that knowledge, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Nevertheless, Mike is excited to focus on the possibilities ahead. In the Classics Library, he sees a collection that reflects the history of the discipline while also examining new trends and highlighting perspectives that have not always been represented. He’s witnessed the growing diversification of the scholars entering the library and finding perspectives they can relate to and build upon.
As Indiana Jones famously advised his students, “70% of archaeology is done in the library.” Thanks to a world-class collection and dedicated faculty and staff, new discoveries continue to be made in the Classics Library, right here at the University of Cincinnati.
1University of Cincinnati, Department of Classics. (n.d.). Tytus fellowships and Cincinnati summer residencies. University of Cincinnati. https://classics.uc.edu/humanities/classics/tytus
2Horowitch, R. (2024). The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books. Atlantic Monthly, 334(4), 14–16.
Special recognition and sincere gratitude to contributing author Lauren Reder and editors Erin Smith, Lindsay Taylor, Holly Prochaska, and Daniel Markovich for their meaningful insight. I extend deepest appreciation to Michael Braunlin, whose thoughtful interview and expertise greatly enriched this work.
