 In 2009, the planetarium celebrated the International Year of Astronomy by hosting a public observing night at the university's observatory and shows documenting Galileo and the history of the telescope.Starting in 2006, A&M–Commerce has hosted the annual Cotton Belt Regional Railroad Symposium to document and preserve the history and legacy of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, commonly referred to as the "Cotton Belt Route", and other former and current railroads in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma as well as Texas.Also in 2006, musician and Fannin County native Ruby Allmond's music collection was donated to the university's James Gee Library by her longtime friend and musical collaborator, Audra Brock, after Allmond's death.