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Unexpected Treasures
By Annette Moore
Photographs by Paula Goldman
Although USC is the earliest institutional collector of rare books in Los Angeles, the libraries’ diverse specialized collections are full of unexpected treasures.
“Wilson”: volleyball prop from the film Cast Away, directed by Robert Zemeckis ’73 and starring Tom Hanks, 2000 (Cinematic Arts Library) 
Not everything at USC Libraries can be neatly shelved in the stacks. Since 1911, when USC received its first donation of rare books, making it the earliest institutional collector of rare books in Los Angeles, the libraries’ diverse specialized collections have been a treasure trove of extraordinary items. The collections preserve and provide access to materials ranging from pointe shoes worn by dancers in the Bolshoi Ballet to letters written by a Union Army soldier to his mother during the Civil War to the signpost installed on University Avenue when it was closed to through traffic in 1953. Here is a sampling of what’s available.
