SOUTH BOISE, Idaho — The Archives of Falconry in Boise is preparing to reopen, showcasing what they say is the largest collection of falconry materials in the world. The expansion also brings a new wing focused on the introduction to falconry.
The archives are slated to reopen to the public on Saturday, May 3rd.
“We are standing in the library vault of the archives of falconry. This is where the world's most complete falconry library lives," said John Goodell, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Archives of Falconry in Boise.
“Many of these books are from Eurasia, from Japan to Germany to England to wherever," Goodell added.
The archive,which works in partnership with the Peregrine Fund and the World Center for Birds of Prey, is stocked full of thousands of books, artifacts, and art pieces that tell the story of how falconers train and interact with birds of prey.
“We're not just a museum with a display… we do more than just show these items to the public. We're actually a working archive digitizing, preserving, and cataloging," said Goodell.
The archive already had an impressive collection of falconry items, but after receiving the most complete falconry library in private hands in 2023 — the Karl-Heinz Gersmann Library — the archives closed down to work on an expansion.
“We recognize that, given that we were really the stewards of the written word on falconry, you could say, we really needed to up our game. We needed to have better security, we needed to have better fire suppression," saidys Goodell.
The expansion brings an upgraded, water-less fire suppression system, new ways for visitors to see the library, archive, and digitizing station through glass windows, and a new wing focused on the introduction to falconry.
“We're most importantly happy that we can provide access to researchers, journalists, professors, falconers, and the interested public to take a look at some of these works," added Goodell.
You can learn more about and explore the Archives of Falconry digitally here.
