A Historic Addition 📚
The Bentley's reading room hosts hundreds of students and researchers each year who come from all over the world to access our one-of-a-kind collection of historical materials. These photos, letters, scrapbooks, maps, and more tell the stories of the state and University of Michigan. But after their visit, many visitors wish they had more time to look through additional materials or reflect more closely on what they found.
The Bentley offers free, on-demand digital copies for any visitor, however, due to high demand, the turnaround time for these copies can be days or weeks.
To offer our patrons a faster, easier way to take materials home with them, we are requesting your help to purchase our first-ever scanner for public use in our reading room.
We would love your help to bring this game-changing technology to the Bentley, helping our patrons more easily access incredible pieces of Michigan history. Thanks to a generous donor, the first $1,000 in donations will be matched 1:1, making your support go even further!
Note: If our goal of $5,000 is exceeded, remaining funds will be used to support accessibility, community, and student support at the Bentley Historical Library.