Max Yela Heads UWM’s Special Collections

In 1994, Max Yela transferred to UW-Milwaukeefrom the Special Collections Department of the University of Delaware Library, becoming UWM’s first Special Collectionslibrarian. Since then, he has established programs, events and services thatencourage public interaction with Special Collections. Classes can use thefacility “like a laboratory,” Yela explains, and the general public can utilizeit for research free of charge. Housed in the climate-controlled fourth floor,Yela demonstrates one of his personal favorites, a small box-shaped art bookcalled In Here, Out There. The boxopens to a small diorama and two tiny books with parallel text can be pulledfrom the box. Nearby is a 1597 book on herbs and vegetables. These are just twoof the thousands of items in Special Collections.

What exactlyare the Special Collections?

We try to identify,collect and preserve primary source printed materials that are important forhumanities and social science programs. I’m not just collecting the informationinside of these pieces; I’m collecting the object itself as a source ofinformation. It is a way of getting at something, of documenting a thing, aperson, an event or a movement. As an example, if you have a first printing ofa first edition and a second printing of a first edition of Moby-Dickwhy would somebody use those? Moby-Dick can be accessed online; it canbe accessed in paperback in a bookstore or in a regular library. So why wouldsomeone use the original piece from 1851, let alone the second printing in1855? It would be used to document the publishing of this particular book,which is one of the most important American printings ever. When I use those Iuse it as documentation between Henry Harper and one of his friends, [Herman]Melville. The physical evidence of those two relationships is in theseeditions. So it stands for more than just the text itself. We collect theartifact. You can’t find something about these things; this is the thing itselfthat’swhat makes it primary.

What aresome ways the general public can use the Special Collections?

Special Collectionshas a number of different areas, so there are a number of constituencies thatwould be interested in those collections. We support everything from arthistory to sociology to film studies.

We have materials toinvestigate everything from Civil War research to women’s, LGBT and Jewishstudies. The largest collection is our social justice collection. Ourcollection with probably the highest profile is our book arts collection. It’snot just noted regionally, but nationallyand gaining an internationalreputation as well. In addition to groups and classes, we hold “Great BooksRoundtable Discussions” every month, on a classic piece of literature, open tothe public.

Do you havea personal favorite in the Special Collections?

There are a numberof them. My own research area is in the book as media object, and I’mparticularly interested in how artists use the book as a media object. So artistbooks are important to me; that’s what I research and teach.