What follows is a condensed version of the winning essay and annotated bibliography submitted to the Book Collecting Contest by Erin O'Malley, a freshman majoring in comparative literature at the University of Rochester. The Friends of the University of Rochester (FURL) Student Book Collecting Contest has taken place for over twenty years. The contest is open to both UR undergraduates and graduates, through the submission of an essay that describes the purpose and method behind their book collection, why it is meaningful to them, and their ideas for its future development. The collections are not judged on size or monetary value, but instead on how the entrant describes the importance the collection holds for them personally.

Written by Emily Palacio. Hello, and thank you for reading this blog!  For my film class, "Gender and Sexuality in Social Protests and Film," we had to form collective groups on a topic we are passionate about.  My group and I decided to do research at the RBSCP about Rochester’s unknown women. There are so many important women who made differences in our society, whose contributions have been forgotten, so this is one in a series of five blog posts where you will learn a bit more about some of these women and how they impacted each one of the members of this collective.

by Melissa Mead

In 1860 a new professor joined the University--he was absent from the classroom more often than not, but his impact has been as long-lasting as any of the fossils he collected on our behalf.

By Ashley Conklin (PhD student, Department of English)