Members of the Andrews University board of trustees, students and faculty, friends, and guests from the Review and Herald Publishing Association (RHPA) filled the Center for Adventist Research (CAR) exhibit room on Sat., Mar. 5, for a special dedication service of the Review and Herald Editorial Library collection.

The Review and Herald Editorial Library came to the CAR and the James White Library as a donation from the RHPA in Dec. 2004. This collection is a rich resource of Adventist church history, full of rare books, tracts, periodicals, and early advent charts.

Until now, the collection had been stored in a vault at the RHPA offices in Hagerstown, Md. Merlin Burt, CAR director, approached the RHPA executive committee with a proposal to donate the collection to Andrews University and move it to the James White Library with the understanding the collection would be properly cared for, while making the valuable materials accessible for new generations of Adventist researchers.

Once the books arrived in Berrien Springs, the work began for the staff at the CAR and bibliographical services department, who now had the job of cataloging the collection. Among the 2,500 books, there were several duplicates, and 1,213 have been cataloged so far, with 500 more items to go through. The RHPA and CAR are planning to share duplicates with other Adventist universities and research centers around the world. Each book in the collection has a special marker that indicates it is part of the Review and Herald Library.

“The most exciting thing [about the collection] is the stories,” stated Burt. “It’s not just dusty old books. There’s a story of faith connected with it that is remarkable and thrilling.”

Robert Smith, RHPA president, noted he was pleased to see the collection would remain a legacy of the RHPA. Burt has also agreed to assist the RHPA in putting together a museum of their own.

For more information about the CAR, visit their website: http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/index.html.

Beverly Stout, University Relations Lake Union Herald correspondent