by Jessica McQuillan, MS, Library Associate Sr. for Rare Books in the University Libraries’ Special Collections Department, has been awarded the James Davis Scholarship to Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. Every year, hundreds of applicants compete for scholarships to attend Rare Book School’s program, which offers seminar-style courses in the history, care, and use of written, printed, and digital materials. The program attracts booksellers, collectors, conservators, educators, and librarians from North America and abroad to its range of courses, covering subjects such as descriptive bibliography, the history of bookbinding, rare book cataloging, digitizing the historical record, and many others. A distinguished faculty of scholars and professionals utilize the program’s collections to engage students in a hands-on, intensive examination and analysis of textual artifacts.
Of this year’s forty announced winners, a few have been selected to receive named scholarships that bring their own special recognition. The James Davis Scholarship is awarded to one applicant each year who shows “an especially strong record of good citizenship and stewardship in the bibliographical community.” Jess began establishing her record of good citizenship and stewardship at SLU’s Special Collections in July of 2015 upon her arrival, when she immediately began making significant contributions to conservation and outreach. In addition to her regular conservation duties, she made a special project out of identifying pamphlets that were still housed in acidic envelopes and getting them fitted for acid-free enclosures. During the process of becoming familiar with the library’s rare printed collections, she has engaged the community in her discoveries and cultivated a growing following for our activities on the blog and Twitter. An emissary from the stacks, her charming dispatches in Special Collections Currents reveal aspects of the collection previously undescribed. One of her greatest efforts has been to gather significant examples of decorative binding elements into an exhibit called The Binder’s Art, which opened in October with her curator’s talk and continued during finals week with a pop-up marbling station in the Pius lobby.
Special Collections is grateful for Jess’s efforts and proud of the recognition she has achieved for her contributions to the SLU bibliographical community and beyond.
