The “Journeys of the Imagination” exhibit in the CSUN University Library fills the Library Exhibit Gallery room with a curated collection of books, prints and other items to present fiction and fantasy as a response to the reality in which it is created.
The exhibit debuted on Aug. 4, 2026 and will be accessible during library hours throughout the academic year. Every piece in the gallery is sourced from the campus’s extensive archive collections and curated by Head of Special Collections & Archives Ellen Jarosz, Special Collections and Archives Librarian Mallory Furnier and University Archivist Gayle O’Hara, with help from a team of student assistants.
“We have hundreds of archival collections, and rare books and things, and so it’s fun to get to, sort of, play in the collections and share with students and the community, to show what we have,” Furnier said.
This exhibit is divided into 16 sections that explore different genres of fiction ranging from “Medieval Revival”,“Animal Friends”, “Mind-Bending Trips” and “Story Galaxies.” The theme was originally focused more on the “journeys” aspect, highlighting travel literature and some of that original concept can be seen in the “Adventures at Sea” display.
The idea to explore a more fantastical side of the topic emerged from within the collection and the curators finding extensive amounts of fiction. O’ Hara said the process of choosing the exhibition topic is extensive.
“It’s kind of an iterative process where we have this big, big idea and then we pull a bunch of stuff and then we start to kind of whittle it down to smaller themes,” O’Hara said.
After the exhibit “Words of War: Personal Experiences of Conflict” filled the space last academic year, the curators felt inclined to move toward a theme that elicits hope and levity.
“Storytelling, even if it’s fictional and even if it’s imaginary, is a way of preserving our shared human experiences,” Furnier said.
The entire curation process begins as soon as the previous exhibit is set to open. Around March, curators begin mockups of the gallery to get a sense of how items will be arranged and how each article ties together.
To make the experience more immersive, a QR code links to a digital bingo card that visitors can fill out as they look through the gallery. A completed card can be shown to the desk at the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room for a prize.
The point of the exhibit each year is to show students a piece of the archive collections that are available on campus.
“We hope that it would either speak to them in terms of their own coursework and what they’re doing or kind of intrigue them and also get students to look more in depth at what we have in special collections,” O’Hara said.
The University Library will host the opening reception for the “Journeys of the Imagination” exhibit on Oct. 15, 2026 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., in the University Library Exhibit Gallery.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article didn’t include information on the exhibit’s opening reception. The information was added on Sept. 16, 2026.
