Collection Development for My Random Life.

This is a nice collection of bookplate images from the University of Illinois Library that came across my RSS reader. The Bookplate Collection: Second Half – 50 Watts. (the first half is here).

I love the intersect of libraries and art. For me it would be interesting if every library had its own bookplate for the books in their collections. These plates present an opportunity for libraries to communicate what they value using images and imagination. It is also a place to connect with the patron. I don’t think many patrons actively seek out a library’s mission or vision statement on the library website. With a bookplate, the patron could simply open a book, any book that matter, and be connected to the message and mission a library is building towards in the communication dense form an image can offer. I can imagine a similar digital “bookplate” image or watermark being included in any articles that downloaded from a library database or digital collection. In a way this is a form of branding the library by re-branding our products (books, articles, etc.) with the message we want to get across.

I wonder what your library bookplate would like?

I am staying in the old part of the conference motel. They have some really interesting fonts especially for the room numbers. Kinda cool, kinda retro.

ROOM 156