The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections staff members designed four displays highlighting materials from its collection. Displays are scheduled to be at each library location throughout the year on a quarterly rotation.
Each of the displays discussed below will be at that particular library location from now until June 1st. After June 1st, the displays will be moved to a new library location. If you missed the display at a specific library location, you can visit another location to see the display.
All the displays include a case of materials from our collections as well as two posters featuring more content about that topic!
Davenport Public Library at Eastern
Library History
Our display at the Davenport Public Library at Eastern showcases materials and artifacts from The Library’s history including decorative porcelain featuring the Carnegie Library, a copy of the Carnegie Library’s dedication, and library promotional items. One of our favorites is a selection of library cards offered to our patrons over the years!
The posters showcase each of our library locations including wheeled libraries and our illustrious history of library directors.
Learn more about The Library’s history on our website page, A Brief History of Davenport Public Library.
Davenport Public Library at Fairmount
Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive
Davenport Public Library at Fairmount highlights one of our most treasured and used resources, the Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image Archive. UMVDIA is a consortium of 13 institutions digital collections from the Quad Cities region ranging from Muscatine, Iowa to Galesburg, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa to Bishop Hill, Illinois. Historical and cultural institutions from these communities have digitally preserved their collections to share on this online platform for the last 22 years!
Our display features materials we have digitized and have added to this resource as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how we digitize our materials.
Davenport Public Library at Main
Huebinger’s Printing History
The display at our Davenport Public Library at Main location features the works of Melchoir Huebinger. Melchoir Huebinger was an German immigrant to Davenport in the 1880s. He was a surveyor and cartographer as well as a publisher of many maps and atlas of Davenport and Iowa. He also owned a photography studio in Davenport which documented its residents and community through the art of photography. To learn more about Mr. Huebinger and his works, Katie Reinhardt, our Special Collections Librarian, presented a program called Opening the Box: The Maps and Atlases of Melchoir Huebinger.
The German American Heritage Center and Museum is hosting a Kaffee und Kuchen program about this fascinating man on March 24th.
Davenport Public Library’s Special Collections
Local Businesses in Special Collections
Our final display is located in our very own, Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center featuring collections relating to Davenport’s local businesses. It includes flyers, instructional booklets, and catalogs of the various businesses’ wares. While it is in Special Collection, a special artifact will be showcased: Victor Animatograph Cine 16 mm camera.
Another resource to explore local business is our research guide about the Newcomb Loom Company.
Come tarry a while at each of our library locations and learn more about our community’s rich history through the collections of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center.
(posted by Kathryn)
