About the collection
The Sheffield School of Art was founded in 1843, and our Special Collection has developed from what was salvaged from the library and art collection when the building was struck by an incendiary bomb in the Sheffield blitz in 1940.
Having been moved around various city centre locations the School of Art was finally moved to the former Bluecoat School on Psalter Lane in 1951, and eventually merged with the College of Technology to become Sheffield Polytechnic in 1969, which then became Sheffield Hallam University in 1992.
Over time the older and more fragile items from the library stock took on an identity which set them apart from the main library, and so what was formerly the librarians' office and the reading room became the Special Collection rooms.
In 2008 Psalter Lane Campus was closed and the contents of the library, along with the staff, were moved to the Adsetts Centre, the main library at City Campus.
New accommodation for the Special Collection was created within the Adsetts Centre, and two specially equipped rooms with climate control and archival quality shelving systems were created, which will ensure the safety and security of the collection, and ease of use for visitors.
Within the collection we have the archives from the School of Art, a collection of memorabilia, pamphlets and books from the 1951 Festival of Britain, student artwork, and paintings and drawings which include examples by Etty and Fullard.
The collection was greatly enhanced by the late John Kirby the former librarian at Psalter Lane (from the late 1970's until 1998), including an eclectic collection of film posters from the 50's and 60's which he acquired from local cinemas, realising their importance in the areas of both film studies, and graphic design.
We also hold a varied photography collection which includes 43 photographs from the exhibition 'Undermined? Reflections on the Miners' Strike of 1984-85', and photographs which were funded by Yorkshire Arts (now Arts Council England, Yorkshire).
This part of the collection also contains examples of early portrait photographs in their original albums and a Stereoscope from the late 19th/early 20th Century, complete with stereographic images of landscapes.
We intend for the collection to continue to grow and develop, and we hope that we can share our enthusiasm and encourage visitors to become interested in interacting with the collection and use it as it has always been intended - to inspire and educate.