When I interviewed for the FB&C Bright Young Librarians series, I was asked what I personally collect. So was every other budding-special-collections-librarian interviewee. It’s a common question, posed in an attempt to gauge what one’s personal passions are in the history of the book, literary, and graphic arts. But rarely does anyone simply ask me what I’m interested in, they ask what I collect. Here’s my answer:
1) A decent steward of cultural heritage would not squirrel away what she perceives to be worthy of collecting and preserving in a non-climate-controlled household where dangerous activities routinely occur, such as cooking spaghetti without turning the hood fan on, throwing dinner parties and serving red wine, playing with assorted rescue animals, etc.
2) Exactly what mythical fairy land are you living in where librarians earn good money? And can I go to there?
In his description of the Lilly Fellowship Program, Joel Silver recounts that the first applicants were judged in part on their “interest in rare books and manuscripts, including that evidenced by personal collecting activities.” Allow me to reiterate: amidst the selection criteria for one of the first programs aimed at expanding the special collections practitioner base was a preference that the applicant have sufficient capital and experience as an antiquarian collector…
