Cushing Library - From Clay Tablets to The Hobbit

A stop on Texas A&M Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This handsome library was built in 1930 and is named for Edward Benjamin Cushing. Today it is Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, home to Texas A&M's rare books, manuscripts, university records and special collections, and much of it is open to anyone who walks in.

The collections span an astonishing sweep of time. At one end are Sumerian clay tablets inscribed around 2400 BC; at the other are shelves of contemporary science fiction paperbacks. When the libraries added their five millionth volume in 2015, author George R. R. Martin donated a rare first edition of The Hobbit to mark the moment. The archives also hold more than 50,000 photographs and over 200 original works of art.

The ground-floor exhibit galleries change regularly and admission is free. Exhibits are usually open on weekdays, so check the library's website for current hours before you go inside.

Getting here: From the Academic Building, walk about two minutes northeast to the stately library just beyond it.

Did you know?: Cushing keeps a Maps of Imaginary Places collection, with maps of lands that exist only in novels, games and legends.

Photo op: Frame the library's front entrance from the walkway, with the oaks on either side.

More on Wikipedia: Texas A&M University Libraries · George R. R. Martin · The Hobbit

Cushing Library - From Clay Tablets to The Hobbit

Stops on this tour