The Webster Book Prize ($500)
The Webster prize was endowed by Jerome P. Webster (Class of 1910) in the late 1950s, and is one of the oldest collegiate book collecting prizes in the country. Not only that, but the winner of this prize is automatically eligible to enter the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, in which contestants can win up to $2,500, and the sponsoring library up to $1,000!
You may be asking, “Does my shelf/case/room of books qualify as a collection?”
For our purposes, a qualifying book collection is a group of items which have been acquired (not inherited) upon a specific unifying principle, rather than a mere “assemblage” of books. For instance, “children’s books” is not a collection, but books for children by a certain author, or illustrated by a certain artist, or in a certain genre, is a collection. Similarly, one cannot collect “history,” but one can form a collection of Russian history, or Labor history in Ohio, or the history of art in Spain. Your collection can be about the physical object (binding, illustration, edition) as well, as long as the unifying principle is clear.
It is NOT about how much you paid for your books, how “valuable” they are, or how many you have. For our purposes you must have at least ten (10) items (which can include books, pamphlets, offprints, and other printed ephemera), but winning collections over the years have averaged over 30 items.
To enter, you need to submit the following:
Submissions are due by 4:00pm, Monday, April 2, 2012.
***All students whose entries meet the above criteria will be given a $20.00 gift card to Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
Winners will be announced at the Honors Day ceremony on May 4, 2012.
Questions and submissions should be directed to Richard Ring (richard.ring@trincoll.edu), 860-297-2266, at the Watkinson Library in the Raether Library & IT Center.
Today's Hours
Wednesday, 16-May-12