What do science fiction novels, Westerns, ghost stories, and mysteries have in common? They can all be found at The Browne Popular Culture Library thanks to a recent donated collection from University alum Dr. Gary Hoppenstand that’s been appraised at $140,000.

“He’s donated before to our library so we have the Gary Hoppenstand Adventure Fiction Collection,” Nancy Down, head librarian at the BPCL, said. “This is just the latest gift that becomes part of that.”

The collection now include a variety of genres, such as science fiction, ghost stories, Westerns, graphic novels, and mysteries. Down said the books tend to reflect Hoppenstand’s research interests as an English professor at Michigan State University. Highlights include first editions of Shirley Jackson novels, a leather-bound set of Elizabeth Daly’s books, and autographed copies of other novels.

“It really was the breadth of the donation — a lot of different titles and the rarity of the donations make it a one-of-a-kind collection,” Happenstand said in an article from the University’s marketing and communications department. “Basically, I’ve cleaned out my library that I’ve used for my own research and my own work.”

The recent additions to the collections will be available for students to check out and read on location at the library with the idea of students and scholars being able to have access to a wide scope of books and authors on a given topic.

“All these different materials help attract people,” Down said. “You could do your research (all) in one place.”

Last year for the first time grants were given to scholars from other institutes to travel to the University and conduct research at the BPCL. A collection like Happenstand’s makes the library an even better option for those considering participating.

“Having these in depth collections offers more options and increases the different topics they can do research on,” she said.

Happenstand said he’s happy to know that the collection has gone to the right home and is in “good hands” at the University.

“Bowling Green has won the prestigious Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America for its crime and detective fiction collection, so it’s the best place in the world to donate that kind of material, and also because of my special relationship with the University.”    

“It’s just kind of a real cool collection,” Down said.