The Rare Book Librarian’s Day

Abstract

I.

In the autumn of 1975, I entered library school, where I was pleased to find a program especially designed for the preparation of rare book librarians. I was less pleased to hear my instructor inform my class, at its first meeting, that jobs in rare books generally went to rich WASP males. But I am a baseball fan and know that .333 is a respectable major league batting average. So, even though I failed both “rich” and “WASP,” I gambled on “male”-and, I suppose, I have won my little bet.

I am the Curator of Special Collections—that is, . . .