Rare Book Monthly
Articles - November - 2009 Issue
The Gifted Institution
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In this way someone who donates to a local institution may in time see a portion of their material remain nearby, see other items acquired by the great public collections, other items move to smaller focused libraries, a portion pass through the auction rooms and others later appear on listing sites. For families who give [and have given] to institutions this will be the ultimate reward: permanent public recognition: an internet search for Grand Dad's books: where are they today?
As an outsider I have no voice or say in what libraries do. But as a collector, and as organizer of the Americana Exchange, I can speak with authority for what matters to collectors and to donors. The goal of book collectors is a certain immortality. To simply have lived in the presence and pursuit of books and to someday be remembered as having been part of this exceptional enterprise is the reward that long after all blessings and grievances have dissipated, will carry a collector's name to the future generations who share the same passion. Libraries can and should do this as part of the creation of an international Library Collectible Book Exchange that formalizes the orderly reorganizing of library collections.
