The Ron Rooks Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in September 2008 by Nancy Rooks, wife of the late Ron Rooks. The collection contains items from the Music Exchange, a large and popular record store in Kansas City that Rooks owned and ran from 1979 until his death in 2006. The collection has a strong focus on popular music culture from the 1970s to early 2000s, reflected in the wide range of materials from artist write-ups, magazines and articles, concert and album posters, promotional materials, album covers and inserts, photos, concert tickets, passes, stickers, badges and so on. In addition to music, other areas of American popular culture, such as film, television, comics, and consumerism, find a spot in his collection. Rooks himself referred to these items as “Americana,” artifacts of cultural heritage in the United States. Also included in the collection is a Harry “Hap” Peebles photo album, which contains photos of country music artists from the late 1970s to early 1990s. A sizeable number of these photos are autographed.

Material in the collection has been organized by type: artist profiles, various kinds of promotional material, printed material, music memorabilia, audio/visual material, movie promos, photos and so forth. Inclusive dates are 1953 to 2005. The collection is fairly evenly distributed from 1960 onward.

The Rooks Collection also contains material from Allan Bell’s theatrical and music agency, America’s Best Attractions (ABA), which Rooks had previously acquired from Bell. ABA-related material in this collection is limited to ABA artist profiles. Researchers interested in Bell and his company may wish to refer to the Allan Bell Collection, which is also housed in LaBudde Special Collections.