Amy Lucker wrote:

> Have you thought to yourself, "oh it's too much work", or

> "oh, they'll never go for this"? Well it's up to YOU. Yes, I'm speaking to you.

Amy was right on both counts, so I got off my butt (figuratively), overcame my fear of rejection, and submitted an abstract for a paper on building a collection of publishers' bindings from within a library's collections (copied below). I have started contacting people outside ARLIS who may have related notions, to provide the conference program chairs with some opportunities to assemble an interesting session. For example, Jessica Lacher-Feldman, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Hoole Library (UA), is putting together a proposal for a presentation on PBO and related Web 2.0 outreach (see below).

Have YOU built a special collection or exhibition by accumulating material from within various divisions or circulating stacks in your library? Do you have other ideas for collection development, visibility or outreach? Have you had administrative issues dealing with the redistribution of library resources? Do you have experience applying the ACRL materials transfer guidelines?

Please look at the conference theme issues identified at the bottom of this message, and if any of them apply to your experience and interests, I'd love to hear from you!

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PROPOSAL for 2010 ARLIS Conference

BUILDING A COLLECTION FROM WITHIN
by
Richard Minsky
Founder, Center for Book Arts

The “Golden Age” of American publishers’ bindings was from 1872-1929. Most libraries have hundreds, if not thousands, of beautiful and innovative bindings in their collections, but these are often in general stacks, where they are prone to loss or wear. By establishing a Special Collections category for this genre and moving the existing examples into it, these works of art can be preserved, and can be exhibited for informational and fund-raising purposes.

This will serve the art librarian’s position in several ways. Exhibitions of these works will increase the visibility of the library on campus, attracting people to look at the “real” books in a new way as valuable assets. It is likely that potential and existing donors have some of these books at home, and promoting them as important works of art enhances the donors’ perceived value of their own possessions.

In the current economic climate, this is an efficient way to develop a new resource from existing materials. Without a large expenditure on acquisitions a new collection can be developed from within the library, providing a quality resource for the community. This paradigm can be extended beyond this particular topic to a variety of special collections possibilities, including those specific to the local community.

The collection can be published online and web 2.0 resources can be deployed to enhance community participation. The University of Alabama’s Hoole Library is a good example of how this can work. Go to http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/index.html

They have effectively used new technologies to promote the collection. For example, see http://coolathoole.blogspot.com/

This sort of use of “real” materials that are attractive and tactile serves to educate the administration and constituency about the value of artifactual library materials as containers of information that cannot be transmitted digitally, and establishes a new paradigm for access to visual collections.

Three Questions for the Audience:

What visually exciting materials in your library are in general stacks?

Are there resources for identifying these materials?

Would the administration cooperate in a program to preserve these materials in special collections and promote them for scholarly and fund-raising purposes?

This paper addresses the following theme issues:

How do you increase your visibility on campus? What novel ways do you advocate for your library’s services?
In light of the current economic climate, what strategies have you developed to provide quality resources for your community?
How do libraries balance fulfilling the patron’s desire for digital content with the realities of the heavily print nature of art, architecture and design publishing?
How have you successfully created solutions using emerging technologies such as open source programs, mobile technologies, mashups and more?
Taking advantage of new technologies, what unique projects have you successfully collaborated on with your colleagues (library, IT, etc.)?
What are some strategies being employed by libraries to provide reference and instruction to distance students/faculty?
The value of visual resources libraries is being questioned in some institutions. What are the strategies that can be employed to educate institutions and administrators about the value of such collections? How do you promote these collections to faculty and students who prefer Flickr databases and web searching?
Are there new paradigms for the building of and access to visual collections that we should be moving towards?

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