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Various themes highlight the many facets of the short story. This exhibition focuses on the Dutch short story, the short story in Rotterdam, the genre’s early Gothic period, and much more. Students recommend their favorite short stories.

Each year, the American Library Association releases a top-10 list of books that were the most 'controversial', often as a result of a polarized political climate. The Erasmus University Library purchased the books that were topic of debate in recent years, in celebration of the freedom to read. View this online exhibition to find out which books were targeted, and for what reasons.

In 2023 and 2024, the University Library and the Rotterdamsch Leeskabinet collected several valuable sources for the study of the history of economics, such as a rare edition of Defence of Usury by Jeremy Bentham which contains a letter to the philosopher and political economist Adam Smith. This work and many others from our Special Collections are featured in this exhibition of some of our most notable recent acquisitions.

Along four thematic chapters we take a look at the life of Erasmus and discover how the university and the city relate to him over the centuries. With various special objects, original and replica, by and on Erasmus

The Rotterdamsch Leeskabinet collections boasts over ten thousand volumes of poetry. This (Dutch language) exhibition shows a selection of our Rotterdam-based poets, as well as poetry which features Rotterdam.

In 2021, the University Library acquired a special collection of Surinamese poetry that is now part of the rich literary collection of the Rotterdamsch Leeskabinet. Besides the beautifully designed volumes, this exhibition also shows a number of performances. 

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, travelers did not bring their own camera as we do nowadays. That's why they often bought travel books about their destination to take home as a souvenir. This exhibition contains illustrated books from the collection of the Rotterdamsch Leeskabinet and the University Library, from Art Nouveau book covers to a special handmade travel guide.