Not every library gets to celebrate its millionth book.
On Thursday, UNC had that opportunity for the seventh time.
Chancellor Carol Folt accepted the 7 millionth addition to the Wilson Library collection in a ceremony in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium of the FedEx Global Education Center.
“I believe everyone in here believes that the library is the heart of a university,” Folt said.
“We are obligated to keep the library alive.”
The book, donated by The John Wesley and Anna Hodgin Hanes Foundation, contains Latin poetry that was written by Juan Latino, a native of Spain of African descent, more than 400 years ago.
The foundation has given the University a book each time it reaches the milestone of another million books.
The Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, the UNC African Studies Center and the Center for European Studies collaborated with the FedEx Global Center to organize the celebration.
The book’s author is considered one of the first sub-Saharan individuals to have published a book of poems in a Western language.