On February 14, the Ella Strong Denison Library will host its fourth annual 鈥淏lind Date with a Rare Book鈥� event, a return to in-person programming after last year鈥檚 event was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Denison staff will select a number of volumes from the Rare Books Collection and write brief statements related to each of the titles, such as 鈥淚t may be the Late Middle Ages, but I鈥檓 devoted for centuries!鈥� or 鈥淚鈥檇 rather spend my afternoon learning more about female deities than cutting out heart-shaped Valentines.鈥� Based on these tantalizing descriptions, students will choose which volumes they鈥檇 like to get to know better.
鈥淥ur hope is that our students will be intrigued and excited by what they see and want to explore more,鈥� says Jennifer Martinez Wormser, director and Sally Preston Swan Librarian for the Ella Strong Denison Library, adding that Denison鈥檚 various themed programs, such as October 2020鈥檚 Halloween-related virtual escape room, are designed to provide students with fun opportunities to engage with the library鈥檚 volumes outside of a classroom context. 鈥淲e want students to take pride in the unique collections at Scripps and recognize that these items are here to enrich their academic experience, as well as satisfy their general curiosity.鈥�
Denison鈥檚 collection includes some very unique volumes indeed.听Livre De Prie虁res: Tisse虂 D’apres Les Enluminures Des Manuscrits Du Xive Au Xvie Sie虁cle听(A. Roux, 1886) contains pages made of silk, while the oldest item in the collection isn鈥檛 a book at all, but a cuneiform tablet from approximately 5,000 B.C.E. from the region that is today Northern Iraq. The collection also includes books that were previously owned by Ellen Browning Scripps, such as a complete set of the works of Edgar Allan Poe and a set of Shakespeare鈥檚 works featuring original watercolor illustrations.听 Artists鈥� books, which take various non-traditional forms and are often intended to be artworks, are one of the library鈥檚 most heavily used collections; one of Martinez Wormser鈥檚 favorites is Laura Russell鈥檚 2013 artist鈥檚 book听Anything Helps, which is bound in a wallet to further reinforce the issues of finRare ancial insecurity and unhoused communities featured in its pages.
Denison hosted its first 鈥淏lind Date with a Rare Book鈥� in February 2019. 鈥淚t was a great opportunity to get our community to engage with the collections at Denison Library in a different way,鈥� says Martinez Wormser. 鈥淰alentine鈥檚 Day can be an emotionally challenging holiday for some, and we thought that refocusing our students鈥� attention toward rare books would be a good way to share some library love with the community.鈥�
Due to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines and the rare condition of the books, special protocols have been put in place for this year鈥檚 event to protect both the Scripps community and the Denison collection. Attendees must register for the event in advance. Books will be displayed on supportive book cradles for ease of viewing, and distributed around the room to ensure adequate space for circulation. Library staff will turn the books鈥� pages to reduce the amount of handling involved. And, although the event is scheduled to be held in Denison鈥檚 Holbein Room, where the number of attendees will be regulated to avoid crowding, good weather may prompt an outdoor relocation to the library鈥檚 Valencia Courtyard.
Regardless of the venue, Martinez Wormser can鈥檛 wait to see which volumes will excite attendees this year. 鈥淢y favorite part is watching participants鈥� faces light up when they learn about the amazing materials we have here at Denison Library,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen we last had this event on campus, one of the books we had on display was Samuel Johnson鈥檚听Dictionary听of the English Language听(1755), which was open to the entry for 鈥榣ove.鈥櫶� Who knew that so many people would be thrilled to be huddled around a dictionary?鈥�