The Else name is seen often around the campus of Millsaps College. It’s even the name of the college’s prestigious business school, the Charles W. Else and Eloise T. Else School of Management. Recently, the Else name found an international home at Millsaps College’s Kaxil Kiuic Biocultural Reserve in Oxkutzcab, Yucatán.
The Donna Ruth Else Roberts Library, located in the Millsaps Puuc Archaeological Research Center (MPARC), began as a conversation between Millsaps Board of Trustees member Donna Ruth Roberts and Millsaps professor of anthropology, Dr. George Bey. Roberts, a retired research librarian, is the daughter of Charles and Eloise Else and an enthusiastic supporter of Millsaps’ study abroad program in the Yucatán. She has visited the region six times since she learned about the program.
During a walk at the MPARC facility in 2018, Bey and Roberts chatted about how to improve the program. “We were discussing how to enhance the center and facilities,” says Roberts. “When he mentioned the need for a research library, I said, ‘Of course you need a library!’”
Dedicated on July 13, 2022, the library hosts a collection of more than a thousand books on Maya history and culture, as well as a collection of Maya artifacts for display. David Vlcek, M.A., and the late Terrance Winemiller, Ph.D., two of Bey’s peers who have studied with him in Kaxil Kiuic, donated Maya artifacts and books from their personal collections for the library’s display collection. Vlcek, a Wyoming-based archeologist, gave Bey the spark to pursue a research library, and Winemiller was an associate professor of anthropology, geography and geographic information systems (GIS) at Auburn University Montgomery and worked closely with Bey in the region.
Bey is excited about the possibilities the library presents for the Yucatán program. “Libraries are not just about books,” he said. “They’re places for researching and learning.
It becomes an important space for programs, especially the ones in Oxkutzcab and MPARC. Students can have a formal place to function as a classroom, study area and place to do research.”
Hannah Rutledge, Ph.D., graduated from Millsaps College in 2005 and, as an undergraduate, participated in a summer trip to the Yucatán led by Bey. In addition to her job as the director of the Biotech Commons at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Rutledge now serves as the director of the Donna Ruth Else Roberts Library. One of her most important tasks will be digitizing the library’s collection, which spans from 1841 to 2020 and includes over twenty years of research conducted by Millsaps faculty and students.
“There’s so many students and faculty whose research is informed by Kiuic, whether it’s archeology, business or biology,” said Rutledge.
“By creating an institutional repository of the publications, presentations, and conference posters that stem from it, we can make those available online so that anyone in the world can come and look at it and see what’s happening at Kiuic.”
During the dedication of the library, Roberts was able to meet Rutledge and learn about Rutledge’s vision for the library. She was impressed with Rutledge’s vision and has high hopes for the library’s future.
“It’s not just a library that we’re going to set up and have a lot of books on the shelf,” said Roberts. “It’s going to be a collection, and I think it will be one of the major collections internationally for the study of Maya history and culture.”
Millsaps College President Rob Pearigen was present at the dedication of the library. He looks forward to the impact the library will have on the study of Maya history and culture.
“The work Millsaps is doing in the Yucatán is fascinating and important, and this library is going to be a great opportunity for not just Millsaps students, but anyone interested in Maya history and culture,” Pearigen said. “I am deeply grateful for Donna Ruth’s generosity in making this library possible, her abiding support of Millsaps College and her friendship.”