News Archives

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, […]

Videos of All RBS Summer 2024 Lectures Now Available

Rare Book School proudly presents the video recordings of all eight talks from our Summer 2024 Lecture Series. The complete list, with links, is below.

Audio recordings of the lectures will be posted soon. In the meantime, please enjoy these and other videos on the RBS YouTube channel!

Archive of the People: The Johnson Publishing Company
Watch on YouTube
LeRonn Brooks
Curator of the African American Art History Initiative, Getty Research Institute

Scholarly Editing and the Challenges of Attribution
Watch on YouTube
Stephen Karian
Professor and Catherine Paine Middlebush Chair of English, […]

Assistant/Associate Conservator – American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum

The American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum seeks to hire an Assistant/Associate Conservator to perform conservation treatment for Library materials, with an emphasis on non-bound materials. The Conservation Department at the American Philosophical Society is responsible for conservation treatment and preventive care of items found in the Society’s diverse special collections library.

This position aids in the preventive conservation of the collections and includes treatment and documentation of individual items such as manuscripts on paper and parchment, printed maps, ephemera, photographic materials, and graphic works on paper. Candidates will be considered at both the Assistant and Associate level, […]

You’re Invited to RBS’s Final Summer Lecture on July 31

Please join Rare Book School for our final lecture of the summer, happening this Wednesday (July 31) at 5:30 p.m. in the University of Virginia’s Special Collections Library Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public, and is followed by a reception in UVA’s Edgar Shannon Library, Room 230. Videos from our previous summer lectures are now available on the RBS YouTube page.

Wednesday, July 31
Auditorium, UVA Special Collections
Collecting Daily Life in Early American Manuscripts
Ashley Cataldo, […]

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, […]