The Special Collection | Overview

The Special Collection at Sheffield Hallam University has been built up over a long period of time.

It began as a collection of mainly 18th and 19th century books, the remains of the School of Art library which was rescued from the main building in Arundel Street after it had been hit by an incendiary bomb in 1940. During the rest of the war it had to be dispersed into various accommodations in the City Centre, eventually ending up in the Bluecoats School in Psalter Lane in 1951. Here it formed the core of the School of Art Library.

The School, along with its library, expanded greatly during the 'sixties until finally merging with the College of Technology to form Sheffield Polytechnic in 1969. As the library grew to fill many of the individual rooms in the old Bluecoats School the older material was moved to what was then the Librarian's office. It was not a static collection however, for as new material was added to stock, items too fragile or large to be put on the open shelves; as well as archives of the School of Art; and examples of work by former staff and students; were moved into the office and another storeroom for safe keeping.

As staff and students of what became Psalter Lane Campus, as well as members of the public, learnt about the Collection many new items were donated. Also the librarians, particularly John Kirby, who ran the library over the years, actively purchased and searched out relevant material. It was due to their enthusiasm that we now have a fine collection of film posters from the 1950s and 60s, the Festival of Britain Collection and a large collection of fine photographs.

In 2008 Psalter Lane Campus was closed and its library stock was moved to the Adsetts Centre at the City Campus where the subjects taught at Psalter Lane are now based. New accommodation for the Collection was created within the Adsetts Centre and two specially equipped rooms with climate control and archival quality shelving systems have been created.

The Collection continues to grow as it is intended to acquire examples of books produced by the Sheffield printing company Northend; material written by or about former staff and students of the School of Art; and items to enrich the Festival of Britain Collection.