Book Collecting

It’s time for the Kelvin Smith Library Student Book Collecting Contest!

The contest is part of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Since 2017, alumna Julia Gelfand and has graciously provided sponsorship for the Kelvin Smith Library (KSL) contest and events related to book collecting. KSL also welcomes the Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society (NOBS) as co-sponsors of the contest this year. In addition to the prize amounts, both first place winners will receive $50 gift certificates to Loganberry Books. All four winners will receive complimentary 1-year memberships in NOBS.

Prizes

• First place (Graduate): $700
• First place (Undergraduate): $700
• Second place: $400
• Third place: $200

Book Collecting Contest Rules:

Timeline

• Submission deadline: Friday, March 11, 2022 5pm EST
• Winners announced: Week of April 4, 2022
• Awards reception event and pop-up exhibit featuring items from each participant's collection: April 13, 2022 ( A virtual event will be offered if pandemic restrictions against gatherings are in place.)

Submission Guidelines

You must submit the following items by 5pm on Friday, March 11, 2022 using the KSL CWRU Student Book Collecting Contest Submission Form:

1. A 500-1500 word essay describing the theme of your collection.
2. An annotated bibliography for the books in your collection, including full bibliographic information for and a brief explanation of how each book fits the collection theme.
3. [OPTIONAL] A want list, listing books you wish to add to the collection in the future.
4. [OPTIONAL] Digital images of your books.
5. You must fill out the required fields in the online form completely.

Book Collection Guidelines

“A collection should reflect a clearly defined unifying theme or interest. It may incorporate ephemera, maps, prints, autograph material as well as books, either hardcover or paperback, as long as they are germane to the collection's focus.  How well a collection reflects the collector's intent is more significant than either the number of items or the monetary value of the collection.” -National Book Collecting Contest guidelines

• Theme: This is the most important element of the collection. The books should relate to one another in some way, which could be based on the subject, author or illustrator, geography, physical aspects of the book, or some combination of those elements. Here are just a few examples of potential themes: Cuban poetry, illustrated children’s books, computer software manuals, zines produced in Cleveland, romance novels, books by William Faulkner, underground comix.
• Number of books: Between 10 and 50. We welcome smaller collections in this contest! Even if you have a larger collection, please select no more than 50 books for this contest.
• Ownership: You must own the books submitted as part of this contest. You can also include a “want list” of books you would like to add in the future.
• Type of books: We define “book” loosely in this contest. Your collection could consist of cheap paperbacks, magazines, pamphlets, comic books, leather-bound encyclopedias, or any other bound paper media. It cannot consist of other media such as audio or video recordings. The books you select certainly do not need to be rare or expensive. The most important thing is that they relate to your theme.
• Judging Criteria: We will judge submissions based on originality, coherence of the collection, and quality of the essay and annotated bibliography.
• Eligibility: All students of CWRU (graduate and undergraduate) are eligible for the contest. If you were a winner in our contest previously, you are not eligible to participate this year. All winners are eligible to participate in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest.