When the University of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries mounted “Paws, Hooves, Fins, and Feathers: Animals in Print, 1500–1800,” an exhibition featuring animal-themed items from its Rare Books and Special Collections, the curators hoped to share the contents with students from local grade and high schools. Erika Hosselkus, curator of Latin American Collections, and Julie Tanaka, curator of special collections and Western European history librarian, wanted it to be a hands-on experience—but the rare books featured in the exhibition were too fragile to allow students, especially younger ones, to handle.
“We wanted to invite schools to bring classes in for exhibit tours, but we know that's not always feasible,” Hosselkus told LJ. They considered bringing some of the rare materials to share in the schools, but taking items out of the libraries’ special collections presented other issues. Instead, suggested Tanaka, what if they created something students could examine at close range?
Originally published by Library Journal.