{"id":6044,"date":"2026-10-23T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T15:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/?p=6044"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T16:41:29","slug":"rare-book-gallery-reopens-in-wigton-heritage-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/2026\/10\/23\/rare-book-gallery-reopens-in-wigton-heritage-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare book gallery reopens in Wigton Heritage Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"614\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2-1024x614.jpg\" alt=\"A number of rare books rest open underneath explanatory panels in the rare book gallery on Level 5 of Wigton Heritage Center.\" class=\"wp-image-6046\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2-1024x614.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2026\/10\/Level-5_Rare-Books_2.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Photo by Carli Cominoli<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rare book gallery on Level 5 of the Wigton Heritage Center has reopened to visitors.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gallery resumed its operations this month upon completion of repairs caused by a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/2026\/06\/23\/mcgoogan-library-closed\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"water pipe break this summer, opens in a new window\" rel=\"noopener\">water pipe break this summer<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The gallery \u201cis an inviting space that allows visitors to get close to historically important books from the history of the health sciences,\u201d said Erin Torell, rare books librarian at McGoogan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, visitors to the gallery can enjoy a unique selection of anatomy books, which includes a first edition of Gray\u2019s Anatomy, a text \u201cthat is significant not just to medicine but our culture as well,\u201d Torell said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other available anatomy texts are published in English, Italian and French and feature dental, obstetric and more general illustrations, Torell said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This summer\u2019s flood damaged walls behind some exhibit cases, which were pulled out from the walls as part of the drying process, Torell said. Lighting components and door seals were repaired; the latter provides the needed barrier preventing \u201cwater from entering the book display,\u201d Torell said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Returning to their normal, Torell said librarians freshen the collection as they \u201cturn the pages every three months.\u201d While this small act of momentum represents \u201ca preservation task, it also invites visitors to return to view new illustrations,\u201d Torell said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/wigton\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Wigton Heritage Center here, opens in a new window\" rel=\"noopener\">Wigton Heritage Center here<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The rare book gallery on Level 5 of the Wigton Heritage Center has reopened to visitors.&nbsp;&nbsp; The gallery resumed its operations this month upon completion of repairs caused by a water pipe break this summer.&nbsp;&nbsp; The gallery \u201cis an inviting space that allows visitors to get close to historically important books from the history of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1311,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[205,57,185,64,58,18],"class_list":["post-6044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-library","tag-exhibits","tag-faculty","tag-rare-books","tag-resources","tag-staff","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1311"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6044"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6048,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6044\/revisions\/6048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.unmc.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}