On behalf of the RBMS Workshops Committee and the leaders of the sessions listed below, it is my honor to invite you to join us at Indiana University Bloomington this June! Workshops are open to the public; more details follow.

The Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Workshops Committee is excited to invite you to register for one of our half-day sessions, to be held Tuesday, June 23, 2020, as part of the RBMS20 conference at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana:

• Get the Job!: A  Workshop on Creating a Personal Brand & the Ins and Outs of the Hiring Process

• C is for Critical: Investigating Themes of Power in Artists’ Books

Full details are below.

If you have already registered, and would like to add a workshop or tour to your registration, please call the ALA registration department at 800-545-2433 and press option #5 or email [log in to unmask].

Workshops are open to all—students, the public and greater Bloomington community, librarians and archivists, booksellers, as well as RBMS members!

Interested, but not sure you can make the entire RBMS20 Conference? You can register for a single workshop without attending the Conference! See more by clicking on Registration at http://conference.rbms.info/2020/registration/!

This year, the half-day workshops focus on self-marketing, the job search, and leadership in special collections; and critical practices in artists’ books collection development and teaching.

The half-day workshops and prices* are:

Get the Job!: A  Workshop on Creating a Personal Brand & the Ins and Outs of the Hiring Process ($150)

This session, presented with the support of the RBMS Membership & Professional Development Committee, will be a multi-part experience aimed at providing students, early-career, and seasoned professionals with the resources needed for self-marketing and leading in the fields of special collections librarianship, the book trade, archives and museum libraries, book arts, and teaching.

This workshop will feature:

1. a session on creating a personal brand, including web presence,

2. an open forum with professionals from a variety of institutions and with experience as hiring managers, and

3. a resume review session with one’s peers and with the workshop panelists.

Participants will:

• Apply tips for developing a personal brand, including a website and social media presence

• Gain insight into the hiring process and preparing job talks

• Write more effective resumes and cover letters

Since attendees will register in advance, the workshop leaders will set up secure online folders where they can share documents to be evaluated in the third part of the session.

The workshop will be led by:

Erika Jenns (Southern Tier Library System)

Erika Jenns is the the co-chair of the RBMS Membership & Professional Development Committee and has been chair of the RBMS Mentoring Program in the past. She provides support to 48 member libraries for digital collections, website development, digital literacy instruction, and library advocacy. She has also held positions, both as a professional and as a student, in an academic library, and in special collections, and the rare book trade. Erika presently works as Engagement Consultant for the Southern Tier Library System (NY). 

Patrick Olson (Patrick Olson Rare Books)

Patrick Olson has held a variety of special collections positions over fifteen years: hourly and professional; permanent and temporary; cataloger, curator, and department head; adjunct instructor; trade employee and trade entrepreneur. His broad experience has included reviewing hundreds of resumes, hiring and evaluating professional and support staff alike, and branding at both the personal and library department level.

Blynne Olivieri (University of West Georgia)

Blynne Olivieri is the Head of Special Collections at Ingram Library. Blynne came to UWG in December 2012 to lead digital projects as a special collections librarian. In October 2013 she became head of Special Collections. Previously Blynne served as Pacific Northwest Curator at the University of Washington from 2009 to 2012. She holds a master’s degree in Art History (2007) and a master’s degree in Library and Information Science (2009), both from the University of Washington. She is also a Certified Archivist and active on the Budget and Development Committee for RBMS.

Fernando Peña (Christie's)

Fernando Peña has nearly 20 years of experience in the rare books profession. From 2001 to 2011, Fernando was librarian at the Grolier Club in New York City. From 2011 to 2019, he headed the Rare Books Program at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science of Long Island University. In May 2019 Fernando joined Christie’s in New York as a senior specialist in the Books & Manuscripts Department. Fernando holds degrees from Stanford, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, Harvard and Rutgers. He has been active in various RBMS committees and has served on the boards of the American Printing History Association and the Center for Book Arts.

Jason W. Dean (The Linda Hall)

Jason W. Dean is Vice President for Special Collections at the Linda Hall Library. He completed his library degree in 2010, and has held positions related to rare books and special collections in four different institutions. He is an active user of social media, blogger, and writer on topics relating to rare books and special collections administration.

Anna Chen (UCLA)

Anna Chen is the Head Librarian at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Prior to that, she was curator of rare books and manuscripts and assistant professor of medieval studies and library administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the U of I, she taught librarianship courses in rare book and special collections in the university’s School of Information Sciences. Prior to her appointment there, she was assistant curator of manuscripts at Princeton University. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature from Yale University and an M.S.I.S. from the University of Texas at Austin. She has published on both medieval and modern manuscripts, with additional research interests in sensory studies and interactive print culture.

C is for Critical: Investigating Themes of Power in Artists’ Books ($140)

In this 3-hour workshop, attendees will make their own Abecedarian (ABC) artists’ book using materials from the IU Makerspace! The session will invite attendees to learn more about the history of artists’ books as a vehicle for critical discussions of power, and will examine artists including Tia Blassingame, Irene Chan, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., and others. 

Workshop attendees will view and experience a variety of books from the Indiana University artists’ books collection, in order to jump-start their thinking about how the creative use of images and text lend themselves to commentary on power and social change. In a group activity, attendees will share their values and beliefs as they relate to contemporary library practice. Specific attention will be paid to personal privilege, and modes that this privilege grants individuals unacknowledged power in their personal and professional lives.

The rest of the workshop will be devoted to construction of a simple abecedarian artist’s book, which will use either the accordion fold or boustrophedon format. Vinyl alphabet decals will be available to create the foundation of the book layout, and attendees will record their personal and professional values within the structure. Each page will be dedicated to a single letter, which will correspond to a theme of each participant’s choosing, e.g., a page that includes ideas around the theme of Information Privilege (the letter I), and allow the author to reflect upon ways that their practice might bring awareness to this subject.

This workshop is designed for those who are unfamiliar with artists’ books, as well as those wishing to examine more fully the medium as a vehicle for reflecting upon critical practice. 

Carter’s research interests revolve around increasing access to art information through a variety of channels. Her publications include topics such as the use of controlled vocabularies in providing access to digital surrogates of special collections materials, and investigations into the research needs of artists and designers in relationship to the Association of College and Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Learning, and equity in art library circulation policies. She is active professionally within the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), having served in a number of leadership roles within that organization.

*Workshops fees cover materials, tech support, space and equipment.

Space is limited in these workshops!

And, just a reminder:

If you have already registered, and would like to add a workshop or tour to your registration, please call the ALA registration department at 800-545-2433 and press option #5 or email [log in to unmask].