In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the renovated Booth Family Center for Special Collections, the Georgetown University Library is hosting a Booth Open House Event on March 25, 2025 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Lauinger Library’s Fifth Floor.
In 2015, the Booth Center officially opened after undergoing a $5 million renovation and expansion of the previous Special Collections Research Center funded entirely through philanthropy, including a landmark $3 million gift from Suzanne Deal and David G. Booth (P’2012).
The new center provided librarians with a premier space to conduct archival work and help students, faculty, and staff access the Library’s impressive collection of rare materials in service of their research, instruction, and studies. The renovation included a classroom to facilitate hands-on learning and new exhibition spaces inviting patrons to view hand-picked selections from Booth’s archives.
In the decade since its opening, the Center has seen a grad student guest curate an exhibition on a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, high schoolers studying Booth materials to research their school’s ties to slavery, and an Italian teenager exploring manuscripts from her jazz musician grandmother. Donated materials, including a collection on author Vladimir Nabokov recently donated by alumnus Dave Barbor (C'64), have kept the center’s collection fresh and spurred new discoveries from curious minds across the Hilltop.
The Open House will showcase some of Booth’s newer acquisitions of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints. In addition, a “behind the scenes” tour of the department’s collections, exhibitions, learning spaces, and work areas will be available. Dean Harriette Hemmasi and Associate University Librarian for the Booth Family Center Keith Gorman will deliver remarks, and refreshments will be served.