DATE: 5-8 p.m. Oct. 9 and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 10, 2009.

EVENT: Get a rare look inside museums, archives, libraries and gardens during the University of Michigan’s Behind the Scenes Days. U-M buses will provide free rides between the more distant U-M buildings and gardens.

Visitors can see world-class science and archaeological collections and trace humanity’s history from our earliest beginnings at the Ruthven Museums Building, home to the Exhibit Museum of Natural History and the museums of Anthropology, Paleontology and Zoology.

Tour laboratories, exhibit preparation areas and other spaces not usually open to the public in four different museums. View rare specimens of extinct birds such as the passenger pigeon, whose enormous flocks used to darken Michigan’s skies. Trace the life histories of ancient mammoths and mastodons with images of the recently discovered Siberian frozen baby Lyuba and fossils found in our own backyard in Southeastern Michigan. Talk to experts who can identify your own specimens and artifacts at the annual Exhibit Museum of Natural History ID Day on Saturday.

At the newly expanded and renovated U-M Museum of Art, meet curators and other professionals and tour special areas such as the Asian Conservation lab on Saturday.

On both days, see President Gerald R. Ford’s U-M office and formerly classified presidential documents at the Ford Presidential Library. Enjoy the best view of Ann Arbor from the Hatcher Graduate Library’s 8th floor Map Library. Learn about innovative town-gown research projects led by the Arts of Citizenship program. On Saturday, see a demonstration of how rare and fragile documents are conserved at the Bentley Historical Library. Tour the beautifully restored Detroit Observatory, with its original 1854-era astronomical instruments intact.

Stroll more than 700 acres of gardens and ecosystems and have fun with a scavenger hunt at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. On Friday, tour the University Herbarium with more than 1.7 million specimens of plants and fungi.

Join University Musical Society President Ken Fischer behind the scenes at Hill Auditorium at 10 a.m. Saturday. Then, enjoy a lecture on the history of the lute sponsored by the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments at the Ann Arbor District Library at 2 p.m. and a concert at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church at 8 p.m.

U-M buses will depart from North University Avenue, in front of the Dental School, throughout the two days.

The free events are part of a citywide celebration of arts, science and culture that includes Ann Arbor’s annual Art Walk, a chance to tour the city’s galleries and meet the artists.

Related Links:

• Behind the Scenes Days
• Ann Arbor Art Walk