The Yale Daily News featured the Beinecke Library’s 50 years of history, and looks takes a look towards the future.

At the heart of the library’s desire to bring more students into its doors is its position as a pioneer in rare book and manuscript research. The Library’s primary missions going forward include creating greater access for students and researchers. Barbara Shailor, deputy provost for the arts and a former Beinecke director, said that the research done by students working with manuscripts has the potential to spark discussion on a national scale.

“It is absolutely — I can guarantee to you — the absolute premier institution in the U.S. for buying medieval manuscripts,” said Consuelo Dutschke, curator of medieval and renaissance manuscripts at Columbia University. “Their collection is growing more furiously, more grandly, than any other institution in the country.”

“In the field of medieval manuscripts we look for things that have potentially not been published, authors that are either unknown or not well-known,” Shailor said. “We look for pieces that really have the potential to change the discipline, and actively acquire items that might make a difference to the future of the field.”

Read the full story: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/01/30/50-years-later-beinecke-pushes-access