News Archives

Remembering John T. Casteen III, Bibliophile and UVA President Emeritus

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of John T. Casteen III on 18 March 2025, after a brief illness. A scholar of medieval literature and an advocate for public education, Casteen served with great distinction as the seventh president of the University of Virginia. Over the course of two decades (1990–2010), he guided UVA to greater national prominence, significantly expanded programs and facilities on Grounds, and led the University through two enormously successful capital campaigns. 

A visionary leader, Casteen brought Rare Book School to UVA from Columbia University in 1992, hiring RBS Founding Director Terry Belanger as University Professor and Honorary Curator of Special Collections and giving the School a new home in Alderman Library (now known as Shannon Library). […]

RBS General and Buice Scholarship Awards for 2025 Announced

Rare Book School is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of its General Scholarship Committee awards, as well as the winners of the Buice Scholarships for returning RBS students. Congratulations to these recipients! […]

Breaking Bread and Building Catalogs: How an RBS Course Led to a Years-Long Bibliographical Collaboration

On a summer day in 2017, Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum and Jay Moschella sat down to discuss Spanish plays over lunch at a Korean restaurant near the grounds of the University of Virginia. 

The two were in Charlottesville for the week, attending Stephen Tabor’s Rare Book School (RBS) course G-45 Analytical Bibliography. For Szmuk-Tanenbaum, a longtime RBS supporter, one of the School’s great strengths is the way it brings people together, not in a commercially minded way, but rather for “something much more familiar and casual and friendly,” fostered through shared meals and breaks with other RBS students.  […]

RBS Fellowship to Offer Prize for Winning Essay on Bibliographical Scholarship

The Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography (SoFCB) is pleased to announce its annual Essay Prize for 2025, to be awarded to a scholarly article that exemplifies the Society’s mission of advancing the study of texts, images, and artifacts as material objects through capacious, interdisciplinary scholarship. The $500 prize seeks to recognize innovative scholarship that brings together multiple fields of study and that strives to be accessible to the bibliographical community at large.

Articles published in any format (journal, edited collection, book chapter, digital platform), in any field, and of any time period are eligible for consideration. […]

Special Collections Cataloging Librarian – Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is now accepting applications for a Special Collections Cataloging Librarian. Reporting to the Head of Special Collections, the Cataloging Librarian is responsible for ensuring the accurate and appropriate bibliographical description of Special Collections material. Specific tasks include cataloging new acquisitions; processing backlogs; reviewing, revising, and updating existing metadata as appropriate; creating and modifying authority records through the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Program; and performing related research. The full posting and application instructions can be found here. For full consideration, please apply by 1 April 2025. […]

New RBS Course on Censorship Added to Summer 2025 Schedule

Rare Book School is excited to announce a newly added course to its Summer 2025 schedule. H-205 Censorship from the Inquisition to the Present will run 3–8 August 2025 at the University of Chicago. The first-round deadline to apply for H-205 is Friday, 7 March 2025. 

H-205, taught by the University of Chicago’s Ada Palmer, will examine the histories of censorship and information control, with a focus on books and on changes in information technologies. Many sessions will specifically explore censorship in early modern Europe, including the Inquisition and its practices, the impact of the printing press, […]

Endowed Scholarship and Matching-Gift Challenge, Totaling $2 Million, to Honor RBS Founding Director Terry Belanger

Rare Book School is proud to announce that it has received a $1 million commitment from bibliophiles, collectors, and RBS supporters Cathy and Glen Miranker to honor the legacy of our founding director and long-time course instructor Terry Belanger by increasing scholarship access for RBS students.

To maximize the Miranker Family’s generosity, we are endeavoring to raise an additional $1 million for the Terry Belanger Endowed Scholarship before 30 September 2026, coinciding with the year of Terry’s 85th birthday. Each dollar raised toward this amount will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling the impact of each gift received. […]

Rare Book School Summer Course Applications Now Open

Rare Book School (RBS) is now accepting applications for its summer 2025 courses. This year’s schedule features more than 40 classes, including online courses and  in-person offerings at two new partner institutions: the University of Michigan and Oxford University’s Bodleian Library (also RBS’s first international courses).

Rare Book School’s summer 2025 in-person courses in Charlottesville will be offered in the University of Virginia’s recently renovated Edgar Shannon Library. Other in-person courses will run in Chapel Hill (NC), Chicago, New Haven (CT), Philadelphia, Princeton (NJ), and Upperville (VA). […]

RBS Announces Summer 2025 Course Schedule

Rare Book School is pleased to share its summer 2025 course schedule! The list of more than 40 in-person and online courses can be found at rarebookschool.org/schedule.

This summer’s course schedule includes classes at two new partner institutions: the University of Michigan and Oxford University’s Bodleian Library (also RBS’s first international courses). […]

Library Services Manager – Rare Books & Special Collections, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

The Library Services Manager – Rare Books & Special Collections (LSM) role at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will oversee the services, procedures, conservation, organization, and continued development of unique and rare materials. This leadership position is essential to ensuring these valuable resources remain accessible, well-preserved, impactful, and available for the community. The LSM will work closely with a dedicated team to achieve these goals. This position reflects the library’s ongoing commitment to preserving and sharing the library’s most unique and valuable resources. Learn more and apply: https://www.carnegielibrary.org/careers-at-clp/. […]

Announcing a Special Preview of Summer 2025 Courses

Including Our First-Ever International Classes

Rare Book School is thrilled to provide a sneak peek of our summer 2025 course schedule (so far), which includes classes at two new partner institutions: the University of Michigan and Oxford University’s Bodleian Library (also our first international courses).

The complete summer course schedule will be announced later this month, and applications will open in January 2025. We encourage you to check back on our website for updates. […]

Call for Applications: Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies Online Courses

After the success of the first two editions of its online courses, the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University is delighted to announce a new run of online Palaeography courses, running from 25 November to 6 December 2024.

• Latin European Medieval Palaeography, run by Dr Manuel Muñoz García
• Early Modern English Palaeography (1500–1700), run by Dr. Arnold Hunt

There are limited spaces (24 students per course). Find full details and application forms on the IMEMS website. The final deadline for applications is 10 November 2024, […]

Call for Proposals: SHARP Conference, “Communities and Values of the Book”

Rochester, New York, will host the 2025 SHARP Conference on July 7–11, 2025, with the theme “Communities and Values of the Book.” This theme encourages participants to examine communities and values, separately or together, and explore their intersections within book culture and bibliographic history. SHARP invite proposals for individual papers, lightning talks, workshops, and fully planned panels. Proposals should think expansively about the theme topics, including voices from marginalized and non-mainstream communities. Abstracts are due by December 1, 2024. For more information, including how to submit an abstract, click here. […]

RBS Receives Largest Donation in School’s History

$3.1 Million Gift Endows Permanent Curator Position

Glen (left) and Cathy Miranker (right) view the teaching collections with RBS Miranker Family Director of Collections, Exhibitions & Scholarly Initiatives Barbara Heritage (center). Photo by Stephanie Gross, 2024.

(Oct. 1, 2024 – Charlottesville, VA) Rare Book School has received a groundbreaking $3.1 million donation to endow a full-time curatorial chair for the School’s teaching collection and exhibitions program. It is the largest single gift in Rare Book School’s 41-year history.

The contribution secures the continued educational use, growth, conservation, and exhibition of the RBS teaching collection of more than 100,000 items and represents a powerful vote of confidence in the School’s unique approach to instruction, […]

Preservation & Book Arts Librarian — Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT is hiring a new Preservation & Book Arts Librarian, who will work within the library’s unique collections department to run our book conservation lab. They will be in charge of ensuring the long-term well-being of the library’s general and special collections. They will work to build and maintain an outreach program working with faculty and students to learn about book arts and give hands-on experiences. First review of applications will begin on October 10, 2024. For more information, including how to apply, please click here. […]

RBS Scholarship and Fellowship Applications Now Available

Rare Book School at the University of Virginia is now accepting applications for its 2024 scholarship and fellowship cycle. […]

RBS Announces Matching-Gift Challenge and Raffle Prizes

Having concluded its summer courses earlier this month, Rare Book School is excited to reveal this year’s record-breaking matching-gift challenge. Thanks to the RBS Board of Directors, all gifts made to the Annual Fund before September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $150,000. Individuals who make a gift to the Annual Fund help provide year-round programs for all students of the book. […]

Call for Proposals: The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast

The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) podcast series welcomes proposals for single episodes, to be featured in its fourth season in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public. Please see the call for proposals for more details and submission instructions. The deadline to submit proposals is October 11. […]

Technical Services Librarian — Mount Vernon

George Washington’s Mount Vernon is seeking a new Technical Services Librarian, a full-time, exempt-status position reporting to the Chief Librarian. The Technical Services Librarian will be responsible for cataloging all formats and managing serials in an Integrated Library System, OCLC WorldShare Management Services (OCLC WMS). They will oversee technical services operations related to policies, procedures, workflows, and systems. […]

Head of Special Collections & College Archives — Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College is seeking a new Head of Special Collections and College Archives, who will serve as an innovative and collaborative library leader providing strategic direction for the collections, programs, services, and initiatives with the unique collections and college archives of Trexler Library. Primary responsibilities include forging strong collaborations across the campus community to provide a rich array of library instruction, research services, digital scholarship, creative projects, and exhibits. They will oversee and integrate the College Archives, digital scholarship, Special Collections, Rare Books, and local digital collections with the teaching, learning, and community engagement mission of Muhlenberg College. This position will work closely with a talented and resourceful team of librarians, […]