42 in 1924. Activities of the society and its leaders were key in transforming the MHL's several shelves of topically related material into a comprehensive resource for the study of Anabaptist-Mennonite history, life, and thought. Over the next five years, the society launched both its scholarly journal, The Mennonite Quarterly Review, and its monograph series, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History. For the next quarter century, the society was the primary funding source for the growth of the MHL. Building the collection Throughout its history, the MHL has relied on a combination of donation and purchase to build its holdings. In June 1906, Goshen College received as a gift a 1534 Bible in the Zurich (Froschauer) translation long favored by the Swiss and South German Anabaptists over the more widespread Luther translation. One of the library's most prized pieces, the only known copy of the 1564 (first extant) edition of the Ausbund, an Anabaptist hymnal still used by the Amish, was purchased for $10 in 1928 in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, bookshop. From early on, the MHL holdings incorporated significant portions of earlier North American collections such as those assembled by Mennonite publisher and bishop John F. Funk and historian John Horsch, who collected books for his work with the Mennonite Publishing House and Mennonite Historical Committee. Later, portions of several European collections (e.g., Christian Hege of Germany and W.J. Kühler of the Netherlands) gave important depth to the library's holdings. Several printers and publishers have regularly donated deposit copies of their publications, notably Mennonite Publishing Network's Herald Press/Faith & Life Resources and Pathway Publishers (operated by Old Order Amish). Contributions have also been critical in the library's effort to sustain comprehensive acquisition of newly published material. Exchanges of material with sister collections, such as Bethel College's Mennonite Library and Archives (North Newton, Kansas), Eastern Mennonite University's Menno Simons Library (Harrisonburg, Virginia), and the Heritage Historical Library (Aylmer, Ontario), have helped broaden MHL holdings beyond the Swiss South-German Old Mennonite segment that continues to characterize their core strength. In addition to printed materials, the MHL collection has long included "objects of historical interest" - ranging from quilts to toys to furniture. Although at an earlier time the library also collected manuscript items, most of these are now under the care of the Mennonite Church USA Archives, long housed under a common roof with the MHL, and still located on the Goshen