Exhibitions
Special Collections and University Archives create unique exhibitions each year that are featured in our galleries across campus. Smaller exhibitions are featured in our reading rooms and topics rotate much more frequently. Explore our blog to learn about current small exhibitions on display.

Visit our galleries
Hornbake Library Gallery
Hornbake Library, Room 1202
Current exhibition
Get Out the Vote: Suffrage and Disenfranchisement in America
Over the years, voting rights have expanded and contracted for many marginalized communities. At the heart of the fight for voting rights are these advocates and grassroot organizations who have demanded expanding the right to vote. Explore items that illustrate the history of voting rights in America.
Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library Gallery

Perfoming Arts Library, Room 1510
Current exhibition
The Art & Craft of Puppetry
The exhibit explores how puppets have captured our imagination by examining specific puppets, universal characteristics, international aesthetics, and local puppet companies. Six puppets will be on view, including a character from the original Fraggle Rock series on loan from The Jim Henson Company and others on loan from the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Images from Division of Cultural and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution will help exemplify different types of puppets as well. A video within the exhibit will show how Artist-in-Residence at the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, Yael Inbar, creates puppetry performances.
The exhibit will complement the festival “Collaboration through Puppetry in the 21st Century” April 8-9, 2022 produced by the International Program for Creative Collaboration and Research in the School of Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies.
The Katherine Anne Porter Room
Hornbake Library, Room 1218
The Katherine Anne Porter Room was established by the University of Maryland in appreciation of the generosity and interest of this distinguished American author. From that time until ill health prevented it, Miss Porter came often to this room to work on her papers. She thought of it as a place where individuals could "view and enjoy her library and furnishings" in an atmosphere that reflected her personal taste and style. Today, this room serves as a permanent exhibition and is open to all visitors and free of cost.
Each year the University Libraries creates new exhibitions showcasing items from our rare and archival collections. Explore the exhibitions below and use the categories to refine the results. Visit our galleries in the Hornbake and Michelle Smith Performing Arts Libraries for current physical exhibitions.