If you'd like to learn more about our new exhibition, you can read an interivew with our Outreach and Exhibitions Coordinator about the process of putting the exhibition together and some of the items on display!
Link is: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/news...
Some of the curators for the exhibition have written blog posts with more information on the background of their collections! Links to them have been compiled at the bottom of our most recent exhibitions blog post: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Text on a purple background which reads “On the Shelf: 200 years of building UCL’s library collections. A free, public exhibition in UCL Main Library. February 2026 – January 2027”. The top and bottom edges of the image are decorated with stamps from different UCL libraries.
UCL Library Services’ new public exhibition “On the Shelf: 200 years of building UCL’s Library collections” is now open in the Main Library.
It explores the history of 8 of our library collections and tells the stories of the staff that developed them.
More info: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll...
A few more days to apply to be our next Small Press in Residence! Outstanding collections, collaborations with us, @sladeschoolucl.bsky.social & @uclpublishing.bsky.social + £5,000 to spend flexibly!
#smallpress #libraries #archives #artistresidency #artistinresidence #funding #specialcollections
Poster titled “What’s so Special about UCL Special Collections?” scheduled 10-11:30am, Tuesday 24 March at Culture Lab, UCL East. Below the yellow title banner, a photo shows a young woman wearing a headscarf examining an open rare book on a foam support while others chat or browse exhibits in the background.
What’s so Special about UCL Special Collections? is back at UCL East! Join us on 24 Mar to explore a selection of rare books and archives, meet members of our team, and discover the stories behind these fascinating materials at this relaxed, free event.
Book now on tinyurl.com/uclopenmorning.
The programme is a collaboration with @sladeschoolucl.bsky.social & @uclpublishing.bsky.social and offers unique opportunities to work with students across both departments.
Call for applications!
We are looking for a small press to take up a temporary residency at UCL!
£5,000 to spend flexibly, an opportunity to work with outstanding collections & collaborate with brilliant students and staff!
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Here's my new blog post about Jewish dance cards and a recent UCL bicentennial event where we learned Edwardian ballroom dances from a Jewish dance card in @uclhjslibrary.bsky.social to the same tunes that were performed in 1909. #UCL200
In partnership with @uclhjs.bsky.social and the UCL IJS.
Interior page of a dance card from the Gaster Collection showing the dances and space for someone to write in agreed dance partners.
Recently we hosted an event celebrating the rich world of Jewish dancing cards round 1900. If you'd like to read more about Jewish dancing cards in our collection, Dr Sonia Gollance has written about their history
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Got to love that new book smell!
A hand holding a copy of University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus, by the Survey of London
Fresh from The Survey of London and @uclpress.bsky.social - This beautiful monograph of University College London: The Bloomsbury Campus. A rich history of UCL's main campus. #ucl200
White mad in his 60ties operating a historic printing press in a printing workshop with other printing presses visible in the background.
Barry, a former printer who now guides tours and workshops at St Bride, narrated the story of printing, exhibited traditional tools, and demonstrated printing methods!
Thank you Barry!
A photograph of the print workshop at the St Bride Foundation
Last week Book History module outing to St Bride Foundation! Established in 1891, the St Bride Foundation served the print and publishing trades. Today, they maintain thousands of publishing and design artefacts.
This term we have launched Books and Book History at UCL Special Collections, a new MA module collaboratively designed and delivered by us and @uclhistory.bsky.social.
This thread is the first in the series of student-produced posts highlighting our book history adventures!
Post: Sabrina Wiggins
One month to go… UCL turns 200! 🎉
On 11 February, we kick off #UCL200 – a year of celebrations marking our radical founding in 1826 as London’s first university, open to all. Expect parties, exhibitions, student festivals, art, books, performances, and more.
Get ready!
@uclspeccoll.bsky.social
UCL Special Collections will be closed from 5pm on Tuesday 23rd December until Monday 5th January. Wishing you all a very happy holiday!
"I am considering the techniques used to make this book, its targeted audiences, and Housman’s role in its production."
Also interested in working with our fascinating collections? Apply for a UCL RIC Visiting Fellowship & receive a grant of £5,000. Deadline 12th Jan: www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
She says her project explores the printed material produced by Housman championing the women’s suffrage movement in UCL's Housman Collection: "Works I have so far examined include An Anti-Suffrage Alphabet (1911), which features the work of women illustrators who supported the cause"
Current Special Collections Visiting Fellow Michelle Reynolds (@lovelymydear.bsky.social) is researching the role of Laurence Housman (1865-1959) in the women's suffrage movement.
Image of the main screen of the 'Prejudice in Power' digital exhibition at UCL's Student Centre. The speaker on the right in the image is Subhadra Das - more about her here: https://www.subhadradas.com/
Head of UCL Special Collections, Sarah Aitchison, @saraha73.bsky.social, reflects on the digital 'Prejudice in Power' exhibition. The visuals and eye‑catching quotations have drawn passersby to pause, reflect, and engage with UCLs eugenic history. blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... #eugenics
Also interested in working with our fascinating collections? Apply for a RIC Visiting Fellowship & receive a grant of £5,000 to come to London to delve into our collections and produce a creative or academic piece of work. We're accepting applications until 12th Jan ’26 www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
Current Visiting Fellow Andrew Whiteman (Musician @ Broken Social Scene, Creative Director @ Siren Recordings & PhD student @ Concordia) discusses his project focusing on rare AV material in our Small Press Collections. The piece he's composing in response will be premiered at UCL this summer
Open to applicants at any career stage and to diverse range of approaches to collections-based research and practice, the fellowships are a brilliant opportunity to delve into UCL's outstanding collections and collaborate with UCL's community.
Applications for The Research Institute for Collections (RIC) 2026 fellowships are now open!
RIC offers funded opportunities to conduct research using our archives and manuscripts, rare printed collections, records, and museum #collections.
To learn more and apply: www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
CFP: 'Difficult Collections' Special issue of 'Paper Trails' @uclpress.bsky.social. Focus on challenges of working with troubling heritage collections (colonialism, eugenics, representation, etc). Proposals: 31/01/26; Submissions: 31/05/26. Details: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... #GLAM ##HistorySky
A dark blue background with a cyan blue circle containing the words ‘Interested in working in museums, galleries, archives and libraries? Don’t have a degree and not sure where to start? Applications are now OPEN for The new Curators Project 2026! Link in bio.’.
Applications are now open for The New Curators Project 2026! Deadline: 8pm 22 February.
This annual project – offers 10 paid places for east Londoners aged 18-24 who do not have a degree but are interested in working in the cultural heritage sector.
Apply now: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Promotional graphic for an event titled ‘UCL Collections and Wikidata: An exploratory workshop.’ The Wikidata logo appears in the centre over a faint patterned background collected from the UCL's Ethnography Collections. Event details at the bottom read: ‘2:30–5pm, 3 Dec’ on the left, and ‘Malet Place, London, WC1E 7JE’ on the right.
Are you a UCL student or staff member curious about Wikidata?
Join us on 3 Dec for a fun, hands-on workshop where you’ll explore what Wikidata is and make your first edits using data from UCL’s Ethnography Collections.
Come start your Wikidata journey with us!
