When Boston University students try to convert their textbooks into cash at the end of the semester, they often come away with what seems like a measly haul compared to how much they originally paid.
But at this year’s Lawrence G. Blackmon Book Collecting Contest, students had a chance to win up to $1,500 for their book collections, without even having to give up a single title.
The contest, organized by the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, was founded in 1967 by Friends of the Libraries of BU, according to the center’s website.
It was named after Lawrence Blackmon, an industrialist and collector who endowed the contest, the website stated.
Contestants were told to submit an annotated bibliography, a one-page statement explaining why they put together their collection, as well as a 1,000 to 1,500-word essay on a topic in the collection by Monday’s deadline. Each annual contest typically has fewer than 30 entries, said Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Associate Director Sean Noel.
“But all entries are usually at a very high level, in terms of quality of the collection and enthusiasm with the books they collect,” he said.
Contest entrants must be full or part-time BU students, and must own all the books in their collection. Collections can consist of up to 50 titles.
This year, the judges are English professor James Winn, College of Communication professor John Carroll and Katherine Kominis, a collector of rare books.
The books in the collections did not have to be very old to be submitted.
“There are people who collect modern editions,” Noel said. “There was a winner last year, I believe, who collected Louis L’Amour’s paperbacks.”
The criteria of selecting winners was not soley based on how rare the books were, he said, but also the enthusiasm shown by the student with the way the books were aquired.
“You can get anything from Amazon,” he said. “Books are an important part of our society, and many people are passionate about book-collecting.”
When asked about the relevance of book-collecting today, Noel said the center uses the cash prizes to encourage students to pursue their passion.
“Part of our job at the center is to educate and instill interest in archival materials and rare books,” he said.
Alex Effgen, the first-place winner in 2007, received an award for his Mark Twain collection.
“I have been collecting books on Mark Twain since the first copy I received from my grandfather in the late 1980s,” he said. “Ever since I’ve been interested in the author and developed a collection.”
He entered the competiton because he said his graduate progam was in textual scholarship at BU’s Editorial Institute, so books are a “big chunk” of his life.
“I would consider myself to be a bibliophile,” he said. “I think collecting books allows a student to learn what the medium is as much as what the message is.”
Effgen said he does not believe electronic media will make book-collecting obsolete.
“The pen never replaces the pencil, there are just certan type of techologies that will always be in existence, because they have as much established tradition as they have utility, ” he said, “I don’t think the book is going to die.”
Last year, American Studies graduate student Zachary Violette won with his collection “Ornament in Architecture in the 19th Century.”
There are six prizes ranging from $200 for the “Emerging Collector” and best essay, to $1,500 for the first prize. This year’s winners will be announced on April 5, Noel said.
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