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Archives & Special Collections

Naropa University Archives and Special Collections holds more than 4,000 books and over 800 linear feet of archival materials. The strengths of our collections include: small press chapbooks and periodicals covering literary works related to Post-War American Poetics, the Outrider Movement, and the Beats. Additionally, we have many holdings of works related to Tibetan Buddhism, including Tibetan Books and the history and arts of Tibet.

As the University Archives, our primary mission is to collect, organize, make accessible, and preserve records documenting Naropa University’s foundation, development, and growth from small Buddhist institution into a fully accredited university. It is the official repository for the institutional memory of Naropa University, including records pertaining to academic programs and departments, University administration, alumni activities, and student life.

Naropa University is committed to effective records retention to preserve its history; meet requirements; optimize the use of space; and minimize the cost and liability of improper record retention. This Records Retention Schedule is applicable to every department and office on the Naropa University campuses.

The Naropa University Digital Archive is an ongoing project of the Naropa University Archives. Our mission is to preserve the institutional heritage of Naropa University and to digitize and provide access to key collections. Please contact us with any questions about these materials or collections.

Started in 1974, Bombay Gin is the literary journal of Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics—co-founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman—at Naropa University. The library holds volumes of Bombay Gin in our Permanent Reserve collections which may be consulted on-site at the library during our open hours. Find issues in our Discovery catalog.

Special Collections holds the entire catalog of Burning Deck Press publications.
To view the collection, please contact us to make an appointment.

Through the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library at Naropa University, one can access the original teachings (in audio, video, and transcript formats) of one of the most important and influential Buddhist teachers of the 20th century.

The library has an extensive collection of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche audio recordings available for checkout. Find them in our library Discovery catalog.

Additional library resources related to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche can be found on the following guide The Legacy of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche at Naropa University.

Please get in contact with us if you have questions about finding aids or guides related to our collections.

The Kavyayantra Press is the imprint for chapbooks and broadsides published through the Department of Writing and Poetics. The press was housed in the cottage where filmmaker, scholar and musicologist Harry Smith resided. The Naropa University archives collects student works, visiting printers, writers, and faculty related to letterpress coursework.


To learn more about the Kavyayanthra Press consult: Schelling, Andrew, The Kavyayantra Press: A Brief History 1993-1997, (Boulder, CO: Smokeproof Press, 1997).

Naropa University partnered with The Windhorse Guild to provide digital access to all nine volumes of the Journal of Contemplative Psychotherapy published by Naropa and the Nalanda Foundation from 1980 to 1994.

The JKS Digital Audio Collection, a continually growing resource, contains approximately 2,000 audio recordings and once complete will contain more than 11,000 audio and video recordings from our institutional archives.

The MA Student Digital Thesis Collection provides searching and indexing of theses collections to facilitate staff and faculty use. This is an ongoing project. Please contact us if you have questions about access or use. Foundation from 1980 to 1994.
The Magical Poetics Oral History Project was created by Naropa alum Robert Erik Shoemaker. Shoemaker interviews important contemporary poets writing within the Naropa community and the related areas of magical poetics.
View course catalogs for Naropa University and the Naropa Institute from 1977 through the present in PDF format.
The photographic and image collections depict daily life at Naropa beginning in 1974.
The Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi Collection highlights the activities and interdisciplinary knowledge of the founder of the Jewish Renewal Movement. The physical archive from which the digital collection is derived contains 5,000 manuscript pages, 500 audio cassettes, 500 photographs, 50 VHS tapes, and 25 posters and advertisements covering subjects as diverse as Jewish mysticism, Hasidism, spiritual eldering, interreligious dialogue, psychology of religion and paradigm shift. The digital collection includes audio recordings.
The Small Press and Chapbook Collection includes more than 1,000 poetry chapbooks, small press periodicals, and other items related to Naropa’s Writing and Poetics program. Many were created by Naropa faculty or visiting artists such as Ted Berrigan, Robert Creeley, Diane DiPrima, and many others. To view the collection, please contact us to make an appointment.

The Tibetan Collection is a library of 2,200 volumes, containing many thousands of individual texts. A catalog of a large number of these texts has been created by Naropa graduate Justin Phillips, as a gift to the library and future students.

To view the collection, please contact us to make an appointment.

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Library Information

WINTER INTERSESSION HOURS

Email library@naropa.edu for online support 

December 16th-17th:
Allen Ginsberg Library 9:00am – 1:00pm
Nalanda Library 9:00am – 1:00pm
 
December 18th-January 5th:
Closed for Winter Break!
 
January 6th-9th:
Allen Ginsberg Library 9:00am – 1:00pm
 
Regular library hours resume January 13th
 

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Naropa Campuses Closed on Friday, March 15, 2024

Due to adverse weather conditions, all Naropa campuses will be closed Friday, March 15, 2024.  All classes that require a physical presence on campus will be canceled. All online and low-residency programs are to meet as scheduled.

Based on the current weather forecast, the Healing with the Ancestors Talk & Breeze of Simplicity program scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday will be held as planned.

Staff that do not work remotely or are scheduled to work on campus, can work remotely. Staff that routinely work remotely are expected to continue to do so.

As a reminder, notifications will be sent by e-mail and the LiveSafe app.  

Regardless of Naropa University’s decision, if you ever believe the weather conditions are unsafe, please contact your supervisor and professors.  Naropa University trusts you to make thoughtful and wise decisions based on the conditions and situation in which you find yourself in.

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