Selectors: Richard Buboltz and Rachael Clark

Kasle Collection

The Kasle Collection was established in the mid-1950s by means of a generous grant from Mr. and Mrs. Abe Kasle and Family. The collection contains materials on Judaic-Christian heritage with a special emphasis on Judaica, Hebraica, and Yiddish literature.  

Individual items from this collection are shelved with like material throughout the Purdy/Kresge Library, with rare or fragile items housed in both the Purdy/Kresge Closed Collections and the vault. Other items are housed in the secure Storage area of the Adamany Undergraduate Library. All material from the Kasle Collection is clearly labeled as such in the online catalog, and can be viewed by doing a keyword search on “Kasle Collection.” Those items located in the Closed Collections, vault, or secure Storage can be requested using a form that is accessed via a link on the catalog record for each individual title. 

Abe Kasle & the Kasle Collection in the News

Dr. G. Flint Purdy and Abe Kasle

Photograph from In Tribute to the Menory of Abe Kasle, Michigan Jewish History, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 1970

To read the article, stop by the Subject of the Month display in the Purdy/Kresge Library during April and May 2013 or request from storage.

Holdings in the Wayne State University Library System (WSULS) contain rare books and special collections materials that support the teaching and research mission of the University.  At WSULS, a distinction is made between rare books and special collections.

Rare books are defined as books or manuscripts that, because age, uniqueness, monetary or historic value, scarcity or limited/nonexistent holdings elsewhere, are housed separately from the circulating collections in a secure location.  The criteria may be expanded, as needed, to include other book materials deemed significant.

Special Collections are identified groups of library holdings that have been arranged by theme, provenance, format, or subject comprehensiveness/intentional groupings.  Special Collections are usually housed separately from the general collections, but may be distributed throughout the general collections and intellectually grouped through guides, finding aids, or catalog access. Rare books may be part of a special collection.