Literary Museums

Institutions that acquire, preserve, research and exhibit permanent and/or traveling collections of artifacts including manuscripts, books, periodicals, broadsides and memorabilia related to literary works from a particular region or era (e.g., the Southwest, the Depression Era); the life and career of a particular novelist, poet, philosopher, journalist or other literary figure (e.g., Edgar Allen Poe, Margaret Mitchell); a particularly beloved novel or character (e.g., Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy); or a particular literary genre (e.g., children's literature, science fiction). The collection may be housed in the childhood or family home or studio in which an individual literary figure lived and worked and may include photographs, correspondence, furnishings and other materials that help to interpret his or her intellectual and family life and the aspects of the local culture that may have served as an inspiration.