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ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s Special Collections houses some of Leicester’s historical treasures, but they’re also proving a big hit on social media’s newest platform, Bluesky.

Located on the lower ground floor of Kimberlin Library, ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s Archives and Special Collections are a real journey into the past. From fourteenth century manuscripts to Leicester Tigers jerseys, Victorian prospectuses to boxing trophies, the facility is a trove of local history, ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s past and prestigious national collections in fashion and sports.

Throughout the year the archive welcomes a host of different researchers – from undergraduate students attending archive classes to members of the public tracing their ancestors. It’s a constant source of inspiration to many of ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s initiatives and courses, including this year our 90^th anniversary of footwear design, an exhibition of our MA fine art students’ coursework, and ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv at 155 years.

Over the last year, however, ‘Archives and Rare Books’ has found a new online audience blossoming on Bluesky, social media’s newest contender, with over 3400 followers on the platform and growing.

Sharing a founder and many features with X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky really began to take off in late 2024 when X was courting controversy and starting to shed followers. As assistant archivist Dr Natalie Hayton explains, it wasn’t a bad time to launch an account for the archive.

“We had slightly good luck with the timing. We launched the Bluesky account last November to coincide with the national ‘Explore your Archive’ week, which also happened to be when lots of people were shifting from X to Bluesky. We ended up with 1500 followers in the first week, and it’s climbed steadily ever since then.”

Natalie runs all ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv Archive’s social media accounts, and regularly posts a mixture of photographs and informative videos on , ,  and . Posts celebrate aspects of ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s history, showcase their special collections and lift the bonnet on aspects of life as an archivist.

Followers, for example, can find out how staff , and why a glove-wearing archivist might just be a !

Their blog ‘’ came with its own content warning ‘’ and generated plenty of engagement. “Who would have thought we’d have had so much interest in paperclips?” says Natalie. “People seem to enjoy glimpses behind the scenes – the bits of technical know-how that archivists are able to share.”

Opening the vault

Special Collections trace ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv’s journey from its foundation as the Leicester School of Art in 1870 to the present day, capturing the evolution of courses and programmes along the way, including staff and student work. They also hold papers and materials that relate to the university’s research centres and subject strengths, including:

Sports History Collections

Fashion & the Arts

Local Collections

ÃÛÌÒ´«Ãºmv Special Collections is located in Kimberlin Library on campus and is open to any staff, student, or member of the public from Tuesday to Friday. Booking an appointment is preferred but not essential. or email archives@dmu.ac.uk to find out more, or just join the crowd and .