which provides resources to library groups, was there, as were a number of FOL representatives. Collectors and librarians were also represented, and Abebooks sent Maria Hutchison, their account manager for rare and antiquarian booksellers.
As I reflect on my experience, I understand that this beginning round of introductions on a level field, with mutual respect, was significant, and set the tone for the whole week - we were colleagues, albeit in a sort of guild relationship of masters, journeymen and apprentices.
Marty Manley, CEO of Alibris, gave a provocative Keynote Address. His audience being mostly working online booksellers,
there was a certain amount of eye-rolling at some of his pronouncements. I
blogged about his talk at the time.
The evening concluded with wine, cheese, and dessert, and we were all cautioned to be in our seats at 8:30 promptly the next morning.
This is one of the best things about the seminar: They are very, very serious about and committed to the schedule. If you have
attended less well run conferences, you know how welcome this is. Still, there was something very ironic about a group of
booksellers actually responding en masse to
Michael Ginsberg ringing a cowbell! I had always thought that organizing booksellers
would be like herding cats, but Mike has the bookselling gravitas to carry it off.
So - Monday morning, there I was, at my desk and ready to learn. We had been given thick binders full of supporting materials for the sessions to come, and daily replenished with even more printed resources. Flipping through mine, I knew that this would become a personal reference that I would be consulting again and again.
At the front of the room, at two long tables facing us, sat the faculty, looking just as engaged and interested in what was to come as we were, even though many of them have been attending for decades. Although I outline below what we covered in this day's sessions, I cannot convey what really seems to make the seminar special: It is the atmosphere of passion, of high standards, of generous sharing. There is a constant give-and-take as other faculty members chime in with their own observations, experiences, and opinions. There is also ample question time, and since the world of bookselling (at least in some ways) changes so rapidly today, seminarians as well as faulty had knowledge to share. It is a dynamic and demanding atmosphere, asking the best of every participant, and that challenge is met.
One end of the seminar room was devoted to portable bookcases which shelved a generous assortment of Rob Rulon-Miller's inventory for us to practice on - the seminar is wonderfully hands-on. Additionally, there were scores of reference books available.
But first, we needed to learn how to properly handle books. Since they were Rob's books at stake, he led the discussion.
Now that we knew how to touch the books, we could move on to selling them. Rob gave an overview of mail order/online bookselling,
including ethics and the traditions of the trade, as well as nuts and bolts like acquiring stock, wrapping and shipping, etc.
Lois Harvey of West Side Books in Denver discussed the used and out-of-print bookstore, and the joys and frustrations of owning
one. Dan Gregory of
Between the Covers Rare Books presented a session on technology for booksellers, covering a lot, but focusing on best practices in database creation and management.
Dan DeSimone, Curator of the
Rosenwald Collection of The Library of Congress and
Terry Belanger, director of the
Rare Book School at the University of Virginia introduced us to the reference works, both on- and offline, that we would need to consult as antiquarian book professionals.
Dan Gregory discussed marketing a book business, including creating catalogs. (And why do you want to market your books? Because, to quote Dan, "The aim of the game is to die with no books left!" Isn't that a sobering thought!) Since Dan believes that bookselling is storytelling, he was very entertaining.
Meanwhile, Angela Scott of Fine Binding & Custom Design in Washington, DC, and the conservation expert on the faculty and Dan DeSimone filled two rooms with examples of the materials and tools used by the bookbinder and the various types of illustrations that we might encounter. Again - hands on learning at its best, seeing and touching the real thing with the guidance of masters.
All of this is a bare bones account of what happened in just ONE DAY - and I haven't even mentioned the morning and afternoon breaks, lunch, or the evening picnic. None of these are downtime, by the way; seminarians use them to network with one another and to talk to faculty, who make themselves extraordinarily available. ("Face-Time with Great Book Experts" might be a less intimidating and more accurate title for the seminar.) It is very important to realize that this is the CABS experience - you will be focused on antiquarian books from sunup to sundown.
