Isabella Inzinna
Staff Writer
Only the few and curious will ever dare to venture into the tower archives.
In your time at Fredonia, it’s not likely that you’ll ever visit the archives.
You’ll certainly pass by them, but only a select number of majors enter.
Other than that, only the curious students who have heard of the tower archives are brave enough to enter.
When looking back into the blueprints and plans for Reed Library, the tower always existed.
There was never a version of the blueprints without the tower.
Mandi Shepp, coordinator of special collections and archives, gave a lot of insight into the history of the archives.
It’s important to note that the archives are only accessible if you make an appointment with Shepp.
They highlighted a curved wall that runs through the building.
Shepp described the shape of the building saying, “the design for this building was always meant to be geometrically weird.”
Shepp continued saying, “The first version of this building looked like the Nickelodeon splats, like amoebic blobs.”
The archives didn’t really exist until the 70s.
There wasn’t really a need for one until the Stefan Zweig collection came to the school in the 60s.
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian writer who in the height of his career, was one of the most widely translated writers worldwide. Many of Zweig’s works were burned by the Nazi regime since his works were seen as “Un-German.”
With so many of Zweig’s books being burned, all of his writings are cherished, including letters he wrote. Hence, the archives were created in order to house this very important collection.
For some time, books were not properly sorted into the archives.
Many books were just placed in the archives due to their appearance.
Some books were placed in the archives due to their age. Regardless, these were not the right reasons.
Shepp said that for about fifteen years, there was no archivist position, which is what led to the disarray in the archives.
Now, a big part of Shepp’s job is educating others on what to look for and why books go into the archives.
When going to see the archives, it might be a bit confusing.
You walk into the library, turn right and walk all the way to the Carnahan-Jackson Center.
Then, when the elevator is just in front of you, ignore it and make another right.
On your left are some offices, but on your right, you’ll see some black and white pictures. Moments in the history of Fredonia that directly involve SUNY Fredonia students.
Once you step through the doors, it feels almost magical.
The little round room is lined with old books on either side and you can smell the worn, aged paper.
The room is cool in order to keep the books in good condition. There’s very little sound in the room aside from the door closing behind you and your footsteps on the floor.
Directly across from the door, there are some sculptures on display.
There are some tables in the middle of the room where you can get lost for hours flipping through fragments of history.
However, books are only the beginning of what you can find in the archives.
The archives hold: documents, reel to reels, artist books, art prints, paintings, sculptures, textiles, old band uniforms, musical instruments, music scores, vinyl collections, photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks and a VHS yearbook from 1992.
You might not have noticed this when you entered, but the wall in the back of the room is flat, which doesn’t match the curve of the building.
Upon further investigation, you’ll find a spiral staircase behind the wall.
The stairs lead up to a slightly less magical room with tall metal shelves. This is where the rest of the archives are.
Aside from the special collections held in the archives, on the fourth floor, there’s a study lounge. The lounge has two floors.
The first floor is more of a reading room with some tables and chairs for students to do work. However, just up the stairs is another study area.
With small windows that overlook the Fredonia campus and a skylight, the room is naturally lit. There are some chairs scattered around the circular room with little tables accompanying them.
There are lots of cobwebs, making the tower lounge feel much older than it is.
The lamps on the top floor feel antique, with their old, yellowing lampshades.
The tower lounge feels like a prime study spot.
Reservations to visit the lounge can be made through the Reed Library website.
Shepp’s final thoughts are that not enough students are aware of this resource that’s available to them on campus.
Shepp said, “I think it depends on the [student’s] major. My job is to tell faculty about [the archives] so they tell students.”
Shepp also said that more students are becoming aware of the archives which is exciting.
So the question is, are you brave enough to venture into the archives?