News Archives

UVA Special Collections’ Krystal Appiah Joins RBS Board of Directors

Rare Book School (RBS) welcomes to its Board of Directors Krystal Appiah, who is Head of Collection Development at the University of Virginia’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, where she also serves as Curator for Virginia and African American collections. Appiah’s previous positions include Curator of African American History at The Library Company of Philadelphia and Research Archivist for the Maryland State Archives’ Legacy of Slavery in Maryland program. In 2019, she was co-investigator, with Brenda Gunn, of the Ithaka S+R study Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources, […]

RBS Unveils Summer 2024 Lecture Series

Rare Book School is thrilled to announce the lineup for this summer’s lecture series at the University of Virginia.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Unless noted, these talks will take place at 5:30 p.m. ET. Lectures are 30–40 minutes in length with approximately 10 minutes for Q&A, and will be followed by a reception. RSVPs are not required. Lecture recordings will be made available by fall 2024.

For questions, please call 434-924-8851 or email contactRBS@virginia.edu. For information on past lectures, visit www.rarebookschool.org/lectures. Past lectures are also available via SoundCloud and YouTube. […]

Summer COVID Policy

Rare Book School Guidelines and Recommendations Regarding COVID-19

Rare Book School is very excited to welcome back to Charlottesville—and to our partner institutions in Chicago, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, and Upperville, VA—the faculty, students, and lecturers who form the RBS community. In order to protect the health and well-being of this wonderful community of like-minded learners, we ask all those attending in-person courses and programs this summer to adhere to some basic public health precautions recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health experts at each course location.

Please keep reading for full details, […]

Call for Papers: Primeros Libros de las Américas Project Triennial Symposium

The Primeros Libros de las Américas project, an international collaboration of more than 25 institutional partners throughout Mexico, Spain, Peru, and the United States that seeks to bring together digitally the first books printed in the Americas before 1601, is organizing its triennial symposium, which will take place in person on Friday, October 11, 2024, at the Francisco de Burgoa Library (UABJO), Oaxaca, Mexico.

Scholars who are undertaking research related to book production, trade, and use in the Americas during the sixteenth century are invited to submit presentation proposals. […]

Will Noel: A Tribute

With an abiding sense of gratitude, Rare Book School remembers our much beloved colleague and faculty member Will Noel, who died on April 29 of injuries, after being struck by a van in Edinburgh on April 10. Profoundly saddened by this tragic loss, we nonetheless remember with great admiration Will’s consummate wit, his spirited intelligence, and his pioneering work—all generously shared with so many. Again and again, Will’s largesse enlarged the bookish community and made it better.

Honored by the White House in 2013 as a “Champion of Change” because of his advocacy for and creation of accessible information and open data, […]

Rare Books Librarian —The Saint Louis University Libraries & Museums

The Saint Louis University Libraries & Museums seek an innovative Rare Books Librarian who will develop our collections, support research, increase campus engagement, and strengthen relationships with donors and stakeholders. Serving in the Distinctive Collections and Digital Services department and supervised by the University Archivist, the Rare Books Librarian will oversee a collection of more than 30,000 rare books with particular strengths in Jesuit and Catholic history, philosophy, exploration and travel, and science and medicine. The Rare Books Librarian will also support Humanities instruction in the Research and Instruction Services department as a subject liaison for one or more subjects, […]

Announcing the 2024–26 RBS-Mellon SoFCB Junior Fellows

The Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography (SoFCB) at Rare Book School is pleased to welcome its 2024–26 cohort of Junior Fellows. Many congratulations to all the new Junior Fellows; we look forward to seeing you at RBS! […]

RBS at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair

Rare Book School will be at the 64th annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, which runs from Thursday, April 4 to Sunday, April 7.

Barbara Heritage (RBS Director of Collections, Exhibitions & Scholarly Initiatives) and Adam Miller (RBS Director of Development) will be “on the ground” at the Park Avenue Armory, so if you see them, be sure to say hello! […]

Education and Outreach Librarian for Special Collections — Hamilton College

Hamilton College is currently seeking a Special Collections Education and Outreach Librarian, who will be responsible for promoting, interpreting, and encouraging the use of the Library’s special collections in support of teaching, learning, and research. Responsibilities include supporting the integration of special collections materials into the curriculum by faculty and students; research support for faculty, students, and researchers; and creating finding aids in collaboration with other special collections and archives staff. Desired qualifications include a master’s degree in library science or a related field and previous instructional experience in a college-level or higher setting. To learn more, including how to apply, […]

Conservation & Book Arts Librarian — Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is currently searching for a new Conservation & Book Arts Librarian to oversee the library’s conservation and preservation activities through the managing of the book conservation lab. Additionally, the selected candidate will build upon the existing foundations of working with faculty, classes, and students to create class sessions and learning opportunities related to book construction and other book arts topics. The Conservation & Book Arts Librarian will work within a newly formed Unique Collections department, where they will get to work closely with other collections’ managers that range from special collections, university archives, ethnographic collections, and world music collections.  […]

Traveling Seminar: Afro-Eurasian Origins of Print

The Research and Academic Program of the Clark Art Institute is sponsoring a travelling seminar on the global origins and transmission of print. The seminar will first convene September 18–21, 2024 in Williamstown, MA and in New Haven, CT to explore collections and begin establishing material and conceptual arenas of exploration. In May 2025, the working group will travel to South Korea for a week to visit collections, and final dates will be determined based on participants’ availability for future travel to Munich and Mainz, Germany. For more information, including how to apply, please click here. […]

New Training Program: San Gemini Book & Paper Conservation School

San Gemini Preservation Studies is pleased to announce a new program: the San Gemini Book & Paper Conservation School. Students will be taught the skills necessary to be a professional conservator/restorer of books and documents made with Western paper technology from the sixteenth century to the present. The program is aimed at people wishing to work in rare book libraries, archives, museums, and conservation laboratories. The classes take place from September 2024 to May 2025 in San Gemini, Italy, and all education is to be done in-person, in the English language. […]

Wells Book Arts Summer Institute

What will you make this summer? Explore the lakeside studios of the Wells College Book Arts Center at this year’s Summer Institute. Study with experienced instructors from around the country in close-knit, intensive workshops for bookbinding, letterpress, risograph printing, papermaking, marbling, book making, woodcut, and wood engraving. Summer 2024 workshops take place June 9–15 and June 16–22 in Aurora-on-Cayuga, New York. Discover more online at wellsbookartscenter.org or https://bit.ly/bookarts2024. […]

2024–26 Wells College Art Archivist Fellowship

The Book Art Center and Louis Jefferson Long Library at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y., welcomes applications for the 2024–26 Fellowship in Art Archiving. The Art Archivist Fellowship is intended for a recent graduate from a library, museum, or related program who wishes to pursue collections-based work, and is made possible through the Windgate Foundation. More information and application instructions are available here. Applications will be accepted through March 31 for an anticipated July start date. […]

RBS General and Buice Scholarship Awards for 2024 Announced

Rare Book School is pleased to announce the recipients of its General Scholarship Committee awards, as well as the winners of the Buice Scholarships for returning RBS students. Congratulations to these recipients! […]

RBS Announces M. C. Lang Fellows in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources

With pleasure, Rare Book School announces the fifth cohort of M. C. Lang Fellows in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources. Congratulations to all, and we look forward to welcoming you to RBS this summer! […]

Cluster of four Curators — Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University

The Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library at Yale University invites applications for a cluster of four curators to build, interpret, and steward the library’s extraordinary collections in one or more of the following areas of focus: 1) Indigenous history and culture; 2) European history and culture, pre-1800; 3) Caribbean and/or Black Atlantic World; 3) Medieval studies; 4) U.S. history and culture, especially pre-1900; 5) Ethnicity, race, and migration; 6) Gender and sexuality; 7) History of science; 8) Environmental studies; 9) Visual culture; and 10) Material history. To learn more about this job opening and to apply, please click here. […]

Rare Book School Summer Course Applications Now Open

Rare Book School (RBS) is now accepting applications for its summer 2024 courses. This year’s schedule features 42 classes, including online and in-person offerings at RBS’s new home in the University of Virginia’s recently renovated main library in Charlottesville. The second-floor suite boasts state-of-the-art classrooms, ample exhibition and event spaces, and spacious storage areas for our collections and printing equipment. Other in-person courses will run at our partner institutions in Chicago; New Haven, Connecticut; New York City; Philadelphia; Princeton, New Jersey; and Upperville, Virginia. […]

Rare Books Librarian (Assistant Librarian) — J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

The Division of Special Collections at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library seeks a vital contributor to its research, teaching, and collections development missions in the role of Rare Books Librarian. This key position will help guide the strategic direction of Special Collections by acting as the primary caretaker of one of the major rare books collections in Utah and the Intermountain West. An active and visible presence on campus, the Librarian will establish collaboration and teaching opportunities in a wide range of subjects and uses of collection items. Reporting to the Associate Dean of Special Collections, the Rare Books Librarian will participate in setting divisional priorities and developing practices and policies together with the Special Collections leadership team. […]

RBS Announces Summer 2024 Course Schedule

Rare Book School is pleased to announce its summer 2024 course schedule! Our list of more than 30 in-person and online courses can be found at rarebookschool.org/schedule. New and updated courses for 2024 include: 

• • Medieval Manuscript Fragments: Cataloging & Discoverability (L-145), taught by Lisa Fagin Davis 
  • A History of the Indigenous Book in the Americas (H-150), taught by Will Hansen & Robert Warrior 
  • Modern Special Collections Cataloging (L-150), taught by Brenna Bychowski 

RBS will be adding a few more courses, […]