MTSU's Center for Popular Music received a one-time grant of $140,000 from the Provost's office in honor of its 25th anniversary, according to MTSU officials.
The center's staff used the grant to install a compact-shelving unit that doubles its storage space.
The center, located in Room 140 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building, is the largest and oldest research facility of its kind, said Dale Cockrell, Interim Director of the Center. It houses recordings, photographs and documents from as far back as the 1700s.
"The center has an international reputation," Cockrell said in a press release. "We have had scholars visit from every continent except Antarctica … more than 40,000 scholars have used these archives since the inception of the center."
An anniversary celebration is scheduled to be held during homecoming week on Saturday, Oct. 23 from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the James E. Walker Library.
At the celebration, an exhibit of the history of the song "Happy Birthday" has been planned in honor of the center's birthday. The event is open to the public, and free cake and other refreshments will be served.
The center's staff is undergoing preliminary plans to move the music and memorabilia to a larger location at some point in the future.
"The first 25 years focused on collecting and cataloguing," Cockrell said. "We're thinking that the next 25 should target outreach and program-building."
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