News Archives

RBS Mourns the Loss of David Ferris

This weekend we received the sad news that former Rare Book School staff and faculty member David Ferris died at his home in Cambridge, MA on 18 August. David was involved with Rare Book School beginning in 1986, serving as joint assistant director in 1990 and 1991 and as Associate Director from 1993 through 1996. He co-taught “Introduction to Descriptive Bibliography” with Terry Belanger during seven RBS summers. David served as Curator of Rare Books and Early Manuscripts at the Harvard Law School Library from 1991 until 2011.

Our sincere condolences to David’s family and colleagues. […]

Message from the Executive Director concerning the events of 12 and 13 August 2017

Dear Friends and Members of the Rare Book School Community,

We are most grateful for the thoughtful messages of concern and support that many have sent. I am happy to be able to assure you that all of our RBS staff and their families are safe.

Nonetheless, we are disgusted and saddened that such hatred and violence should come to our University and to Charlottesville. We mourn the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer and Virginia State Troopers Berke Bates and Jay Cullen, and we condole with their families in their sudden and terrible loss. We thank those in the Charlottesville community who bravely protected the safety of local citizens, […]

Rachael Dealy Salisbury Appointed Director of Development

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Rachael Dealy Salisbury as Rare Book School’s Director of Development. Rachael first joined our development staff in 2013; her role quickly grew to encompass prospect development, special projects, and analytics. She gained further experience on the development team at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello, before returning to RBS in 2016 as Assistant Director of Development.

Before joining the RBS staff, Rachael secured grants and individual gifts to support the establishment of a botanical teaching garden at UVA (her alma mater), and held various positions at cultural institutions in New York City and Charlottesville, […]