Issues

Monday marks the first full day of class at RBS. I began the day very pleasantly, dragging a chair from my room to sit beneath the Colonnade on The Lawn. Mug of tea in hand I picked up John Carter's classic, ABC for Book Collectiors. I'm familiar with this book. Pink slips cut from post it notes mark favorite entries, their edges curling from long use. This morning I took the opportunity to dip into Carter at random. The book opened under the letter I, and there I found definitions for Insert, Intaglio, Issue and my personal favorite, Issue-Mongers.

"The issue-monger is one of the worst pests of the collecting world, and the more dangerous because many humble and well-intentioned collectors think him a hero to whom they should be grateful."

Carter certainly had an eye for the well turned phrase. Nicolas Barker, who revised, enlarged and wrote the introduction for the 8th edition of Carter's work, is here at Rare Book School this week as an instructor.

A great deal of ground was covered today in class. Our instructor, Alice Schreyer, discussed definitions of terms such as edition, issue, and impression, among others. The well worn phrase, "what's so special about special collections?" advanced a discussion on the meaning of special collections, trends, digitization, the current environment, and the historical background of special collections. We closed class with a brief overview of bibliography, various definitions of the term bibliography and its uses, particularly in the Hand Press period (approximately 1450 -1800).

The discussion on the history of special collections was most interesting. Alice described the background and emerging ideas on special collections with a decade by decade approach that I've condensed and listed here:

• In the 19th C. historical societies were the first institutions to collect primary source materials that suited their particular focus or mission.
• During the 1890's - Depression, industrialists, robber barons, and other elites formed private collections as a matter of status. These collections often went on to become the foundation of private libraries that served as monuments to the collector, but also made the vast amounts of old world material available for research.
• The decades of the 1920's - 1930's saw the growth of a recognition that books in the open stacks were now valuable and demanded special care. The selected books were separated and secured under very limited access.
• The 1950's saw the rise of the idea that rare book collections should extend beyond storage and maintenance. The decade also saw the formation of friend's groups, preservation ideas and other needs that helped to formalize structure during the post-war decade.
• The mid 1970's brought the idea of profession into prominence. This concept of a new profession would involve acquiring skills to service the collections.
• Late '70's and 80's saw the rise of service and access. The MLIS degree became an important aspect of the profession.
• Today's emphasis is not on special collections as a trophy item but on their use in terms of outreach and public service.

At the end of the class day the entire enrollment for the current session of Rare Book School reconvened for a lecture given by Richard Kuhta, the Eric Weinmann Librarian at the Folger Shakespeare Library. His lecture, "The Future of Research and Rare Book Libraries (and What It Will Take for Them to Have a Future)" focused on the issues facing special collections in today's library environment. Kuhta did not shy away from problems that beset special collections from physical plant woes to funding inadequacies, but he also delivered a message of support for recruiting and developing the next generation of rare book librarians and archivists, new funding opportunities and collection development.

Kunta's lecture was personal and deeply moving as he related some of his most recent tragedies and triumphs. The lecture served as a realistic portrait of special collections today; perfectly reflecting the issues discussed in class and those we will approach during the week.