Ever wonder if you should erase other readers’ notes and scribbles often found on library books’ margins? Ever see memorabilia slipped into books and forgotten by past readers, such as postcards, photographs, dried flowers, or other things? Find out what these things can tell you about past owners and readers of books by joining other book lovers for a Book Traces Day at Lauinger Library on Wednesday, March 29, 2017!
The event is inspired by and modelled on the "Book Traces" project at the University of Virginia, where "traces" -- or physical evidences of how books have been used (such as marginalia, bookmarks, bookplates, and other items left between pages) -- are being identified with results collected and shared at booktraces.org.
Participants will have the opportunity to comb through the pre-1923 English and American literature books on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library to look for traces of past readers and possible clues to their lives and habits.
Following is a schedule of the event’s activities:
10-10:30 a.m.: Meet in the Murray Conference Room (Lauinger Library 5th floor) for orientation and brief introduction to book traces. Coffee and donuts will be served!
10:30-12:00 p.m.: Look for book traces in the designated stacks.
12:00-12:30 p.m.: Pizza lunch and informal discussion of findings in Murray Conference Room.