The University of Louisville has long been a steward to historical materials documenting not only life on campus and across the Louisville area, but also of national and global cultural heritage. Since its creation in 2013, the University of Louisville's Archives & Special Collections (ASC) has brought together, under one library, these records and those who care for them. The team of ASC, as the library's broad name suggests, includes folks who work in every facet of sustaining and enriching memory around campus. We are archivists, digital initiatives and metadata librarians, curators of manuscript, photographic, and rare book collections, records and repository managers, and oral and local historians. Our team also includes a robust and supportive cohort of student colleagues spanning across departments and degree programs.

ASC Picks: Selections from our Growing Collections aims to reintroduce our team to the campus community. Staged alongside our newly refurbished research room, renovated for the first time since this space opened its doors in 1981 as the Photographic Archives reading room, ASC Picks threads a forward-looking moment in our history with a reflection on the "why" of our work. Our team members and student colleagues each have offered an item or two to this space with accompanying personal curatorial notes. The stories told here represent a small fraction of our shared vision for and deep belief in the transformative power of remembering together. We present these selections with the hope that you will continue to join with us in the pursuit of a more representative, more just, more mobilizing, and more connective historical record. And we thank you for your belief and support in these collections and in us that makes our work as ASC possible.