Note: In order to help preserve our important materials,
Special Collections is kept at 65º F (18º C) and low humidity.
It is cold! Wearing layers is strongly encouraged when using our materials.
Our collections are available for Fall 2025 class visits!
Contact Special Collections @ x 1622 to make a request.
Welcome to Special Collections at John Carroll University. Click on the tabs above or navigation links to explore the resources available to support the information needs of students, faculty, and visiting researchers.
If you are teaching a class and would like to schedule a time for us to work with your students, please contact Special Collections.
John Carroll University Special Collections (JCUSC) is home to the University's oldest (a book printed in 1470), one-of-a-kind (signed books by Toni Morrison (1931–2019), and most valuable items. JCUSC serves the research needs of the faculty and students of the University, and visitors worldwide. JCUSC was founded in 1961, with the opening of the G. K. Chesterton Room at the new Grasselli Library.
JCUSC includes books, periodicals, rare books and incunables (early printed books from the fifteenth century), prints, drawings, photographic prints, and manuscript materials. The bulk of JCUSC represents the Robert John Bayer (1896–1956) Memorial Collection, purchased by the University in 1957. The collection's strengths are: canon law and Jesuitica, literature in English, eighteenth-century publications, and twentieth-century first editions. Special Collections is international in scope and includes materials in Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, and Spanish.
JCUSC is located in Room 324, on the third (top) floor of the Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center. The Library is located on the west side of Hamlin Quad.
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Email: Special Collections
This guide was last updated in 2025 by Diane Dias De Fazio. Special Collections acknowledges the Marian Library at the University of Dayton, from whom much of this content was inspired.