It’s been another banner year for igniting curiosity and illuminating excellence in the Smathers Libraries. Across the state of Florida and beyond, our librarians aid our students and faculty in the research life cycle, our committees ensure open access to resources, and our curators preserve and showcase diverse special collections.
This year, we acquired three exciting collections: Gore Vidal, Andrew St. George, and Guayo. The Gore Vidal collection contains over 1,000 books, articles and ephemera relating to Vidal’s publications across seven decades, from working drafts and screenplays to translations of his books and articles into more than 40 languages. The Andrew St. George collection comprises over 8,000 photographic prints, negatives, slides, contact sheets as well as manuscripts and documents, the collection documents Andrew’s early contributions to the liberation of Hungary from Nazi control and democratic struggles against dictatorship in Cuba as well as the Caribbean and Latin America more broadly from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s. Finally, the Guayo collection is an invaluable resource that documents Cuba before, during, and after the revolution, covering counterrevolutionary missions to Cuba with Brigada 2506 and Alpha 66.
We hope you visit our branches in-person soon or engage with our collections and resources digitally wherever and whenever you desire.
Dean Judith C. Russell, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida