Book Review: Rare Books and Special Collections

Rare Books and Special Collections. By Sidney E. Berger. Chicago: Neal-Schuman, 2014. 537 p. $129.00 softcover (ISBN 978-1-55570-964-8).

In the introduction to Rare Books and Special Collections, author Sidney E. Berger writes that the book aims to be an overview, “of the realm” (xv), and the text presents itself as an omnibus from someone who has extensive experience and knowledge of the field. A novice or an outsider to the rare books and special collections world will gain a broad understanding about its diversity from this work, but experienced librarians and other practitioners might consider it more for refreshing concepts or ideas introduced in their schooling, but not as a ready reference. Part memoir, part seminar, this book allows you to visit with Berger and glimpse at the many experiences that informed his career.

Several years ago, I took advantage of the opportunity to hear Berger give a one day workshop titled “The Medieval Manuscript from Sheep to Shelf.” His enthusiasm for the topics covered—parchment making, historical pigments, book layout and construction, and many other facets of medieval book creation—was energizing and truly a joy to experience. It was obvious to everyone in the room that he was deeply devoted to his subject, well studied in it, and passionate about sharing his knowledge with others. Having as extensive a background as Berger does with historical books, he made the most of his short time covering myriad topics that all lead back to his thesis. The workshop participants followed him down every path he carved toward making himself, and his subject matter better understood. Berger’s free-form lecture style is replicated in this book, with his obvious enthusiasm and energy for the topic combined with a roundabout way of delivering the maximum amount of information into every chapter.

The physical layout of Rare Books and Special Collections and what it is meant to accomplish mirrors his passionate and enthusiastic lecture style, delivering the maximum amount of information into every chapter with a liberal use of textual asides. Inserting personal anecdote sidebar bubbles and extensive, sometimes thematically overlapping endnotes reinforces this effort as more of a rolling oratory than a textual work. Unfortunately, the constant referral to these graphics and to information previously covered or to be covered in upcoming sections interferes with the narrative and is distracting to the topic at hand. The endnotes and reference citations suffer from this disruptive style as well, as they are inconsistently listed in notes, works cited, further reading, or subject-specific bibliographies at the end of every chapter. With such a wide range of topics, why not organize these references alphabetically by subject at the end of the book, as was so well done for “The Physical Materials of the Collections” chapter? And why defer to Wikipedia for so many standard definitions when Berger has the ability to explain something in his own meaningful way, or turn to one of the many well-known dictionaries of terminology for this field. With his accomplished and lengthy background in teaching, research, and publishing, a personal commentary on quoted resources could have highlighted his refined opinions and created a curated, annotated bibliography for any level of bibliophile looking to learn from his experience.

At the same time, it is his experience that makes this book possible. I have not seen any volume attempt to approach everything from the lexicon of printing type, to the economics of library departments, to the ins and outs of building security, public programming, descriptive bibliography, mass deacidification, and anomalous legal issues such as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Perhaps employed as a classroom text in any library training track, the juxtaposition of some of these seemingly unrelated issues can be a useful exploration into the expansive world of maintaining and making information available to library users. Berger’s voice as a teacher comes through in every chapter or lesson, making both administrative issues and historical objects tactile and relevant. As a reminder for best practices, his chapter “Running a Rare Book Department” is thorough, yet to someone who has worked in different library settings and has had to make difficult compromises, his summary seems idyllic. To someone training for this kind of position, it could be helpful for them to get a sense of everything they should be aware of as they progress through their career. In essence, no corner of librarianship is left unexplored in this text, and for Berger, all roads lead back to rare books and special collections.

In this manner, there is no beginning and no end to the journey through this text. Chapters are not necessarily building blocks, but stand-alone topics that relate from some tangent to one another. Chapters 1–5, “Some Practical Realities,” “Running a Rare Book Department,” “Archives,” “The Physical Materials of the Collection,” and “Physical Layout and Operations,” bounce around from a second general introduction (1), to the daily tasks of departmental staff (2), to detailed definitions of collection, and non-collection materials (3–4), and then back to discussions that inform daily tasks of departmental staff (5). Advice and anecdotes nestled in the Fund-Raising (6), Security (7), and Outreach (11) chapters raise thoughtful points about donors, building access points, and faculty engagement, respectively, but are very much dependent on the particulars of an institution to be widely applicable. “Legal Issues” and “Bibliography,” chapters 8 and 9, tackle topics that are exacting in nature and difficult to cover within the space of a single chapter. Much like touching on the arena of book collecting and handling (10), these chapters especially should be taken as starting points for much further study or immersion. Chapter 12 explores preservation and conservation, my specialty, and appropriately identifies broad issues such as environment, common repair jargon, item condition and reformatting, and even the differences between the often misused restoration/conservation/preservation designations. Chapters 13 and 14, “Special Collections Departments Today,” and “Other Issues,” revisit earlier topics, offering somewhat redundant commentary in some instances, and thoughtful, fresh assessments in others. Composing a retrospective on a long career, these chapters populate this book with personality and awareness.

As a vehicle for documenting a broad range of organizations in this populace, the book devotes significant space to American Library Association (ALA) specialty groups (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section and Preservation and Reformatting Section, for example) as well as independent companies, internet discussion forums, and specific library departments within colleges and universities. Berger freely acknowledges the existence of all these contributors to this realm without skipping a beat. In fact, by embracing new technologies, he manages to substantiate and reinforce his allegiance to the foundation that made them possible.

It is thrilling to see that ALA, in this increasingly digital age, has supported and promoted the publication of a work devoted to a field that is not necessarily shiny and neat, and does not always successfully translate its multi-dimensional nature to a two-dimensional environment. The importance of this book appearing now in an atmosphere where librarians wonder about what is happening to their role with institutional collections and with their profession in a new age of information is not lost on Berger. The book’s foreword, contributed by Joel Silver, an exceptional librarian, teacher, and scholar in this same community, sets the stage for this comprehensive volume when he writes that it is, “the result of many decades of Sidney Berger’s complete involvement in all aspects of books, from their creation to their institutional care . . . [enabling] him to consider and describe the world of rare books and manuscripts with a perspective that few others can match”(xii). A unique text, remarkable in its breadth, Berger’s work showcases how a dedicated career in rare books and special collections can lead to a lifetime of discovery and erudition; and how an understanding of these rare and special physical materials ensures a place for them in future libraries and personal collections.—Rachel Lapkin (Rachel_Lapkin@Brown.edu), Brown University