ADDITIONAL INFORMATION>Expansion and Support

 The department accepts additions to its collections and holdings, especially unpublished personal papers, diaries, photographs, scrapbooks, and research files that complement the subject areas of the collection. Please contact Bill Jones for assistance in donating materials.

 The Friends of the Meriam Library was formed in 1986 to encourage wider interest in the Library and to support its programs among alumni, faculty, students and friends of the university. In this short time, the Friends have funded several important projec ts for the Special Collections department including training in restoration and conservation of rare materials, processing of manuscript collections, and monies for archival supplies and equipment. In 199l, the centennial anniversary of Chico State, the Friends published a history of the early years of the campus from the edited works of two well known Chico State history professors, W.H. Hutchinson and Clarence MacIntosh. Additionally, the Friends invite interesting guest speakers to the Chico State campus each spring to discuss issues related to book arts, collecting, and publishing. Memorial gifts and special contributions through the Friends are always appreciated and serve as a much needed source of funding for items difficult to acquire from the traditional library budget.

 Over 30 years ago, local citizens formed the group the Association for Northern California Records and Research (ANCRR) who' s goal is to preserve and make available historic public records from the local area. Researchers in many fields find these documents invaluable to their pursuits of family history and historical and geographical research. The Butte County Public Records are available through the department of Special Collections, many of which have been microfilmed for ease of use. Since 1971, ANCRR has published over 35 publications focusing on the people, settlement, and history of northeastern California. ANCRR sponsors an annual local history competition in which researchers, especially non-academic ones, are encouraged to submit manuscripts dealing with specific aspects of life in northeastern California for publication.