Special Collections is the library's department for rare, valuable, and fragile materials.
Materials from this department do not check out, but we welcome you in the Special Collections Reading Room in the Main Library lobby, across from the Circulation Desk. We're open by appointment.
We have 14 boxes of toys, t-shirts, tableware, toothbrushes (and other products too numerous to name) featuring cartoon characters from Daffy Duck to Spiderman to Lisa Simpson.
Use the MSU library catalog advanced search.
Use the MSU library catalog advanced search.
We have about three dozen children's jigsaw puzzles, ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s, featuring a number of cartoon characters and superheroes.
Use the MSU library catalog advanced search.
Special Collections has about 75 pop-up books, dating from the 1890s to the present.
Most are from the 1970s to the present and feature cartoon characters and superheroes. A few are more sophisticated, such as Red Grooms' Ruckus Rodeo (above), Taller Leñateros' Bolom Chon, and Gaudi Pop-ups by Courtney Watson McCarthy.
Use the MSU library catalog advanced search.
"American Girls" dolls were introduced in 1986 and are still very popular. Special Collections has Addy, the first African American character in the line.
In the Popular Culture collection we have a handful of board games and card games. From oldest to newest:
Games can be used as teaching tools. During the Iraq War (2003-2011) the U.S. military produced card decks with images of Iraqi military officers, politicians, and government officials who were considered war criminals.
By using the decks for card games during their downtime, American soldiers would learn the faces of the "most wanted" so they could recognize and capture them if an opportunity arose.
