Deep within the walls of La Salle University's Connelly Library, a voice waits to be studied. Bob Dylan, the rock-and-roll poet/legend/icon, is the subject of a one-of-a-kind archive in the form of books, scholarly papers, doctoral dissertations, compact discs, records, tapes, videos, and even t-shirts and ticket stubs.

"Academic institutions traditionally haven't collected the works and biographical material of Bob Dylan or, for that matter, any other contemporary 'popular music' artists," said La Salle's Library and Special Collections Director John Baky. "Academic libraries and rare book collections are by their nature conservative and therefore cautious in collecting contemporary works, and fearful of investing in arcane subjects that might prove to be transient." Baky believes that academic libraries should provide the resources necessary for studying contemporary phenomena when they are of unavoidable influence within the culture. Bob Dylan and what he represents exemplify this sort of phenomenon, Baky said.

Dylan, known initially for his protest music of the era, became not only an icon among the anti-Vietnam war movement, but also a rock-and-roll innovator, injecting his lyrics with poignant social commentary and raising the bar of the literary trope in rock music.

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To make an appointment in the Special Collections department, call 215-951-1285.
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