The Library History Buff

Promoting the appreciation, enjoyment, and preservation of library history

Librariana

Collecting Library Artifacts and Memorabilia

Cindi Trainor displaying 37 pieces of librariana at the 2007 ALA Conference.  The original (not this one) photo which was posted on Flickr has an unusual feature - by running your mouse over the photo you can see messages which explain some of the individual items which are displayed.

In his book A Guide to Collecting Librariana, Norman D. Stevens gives the following definition of librariana:

"Those artifacts, including but by no means limited to printed materials, that depict any aspect of librarians, librarianship, and/or libraries; such artifacts, which are most typically of an ephemeral nature, may be those produced or used by librarians or libraries as well as those produced and used by others; they include, in particular, representations of librarians, librarianship, and/or libraries in the popular culture of society."

The term librariana is used primarily on this Web site to refer to artifacts, memorabilia, souvenirs, and collectibles related to libraries, librarians, and their history. I have compiled some links that are primarily related to the representation of librarians and libraries in "the popular culture of society".

The collector of library artifacts and memorabilia can choose to be a generalist and collect a wide variety of  artifacts and memorabilia related to libraries and librarians or he or she may choose to specialize in certain areas such as library postcards or library souvenir china or any number of the collecting categories listed below.  The collector may also choose to collect items relating to a particular library such as the Library of Congress, a particular person such as Melvil Dewey, or a particular library organization such as the American Library Association.  The Norman D. Stevens Collection of Library Architecture located at the Canadian Centre for Architecture is arguably the world's largest collection of librariana.  Dan Lester is a collector who collects a wide variety of items. These are listed on his  Librariana Web page. I collect a little of everything but I specialize in Postal Librariana.

While Stevens' book is the "bible" of librariana collecting, an important ongoing source of librariana is the series of Whole Library Handbooks by George Eberhart.  Each of the handbooks has a chapter on librariana. The newest edition is The Whole Library Handbook 4.

Links to other librariana pages on this Web site