Archives and Special Collections
- First Place: Rachel Klein for her collection “Vintage Volumes: My Book Collection”
- Second Place: Kirstyn Montgomery for her collection “My LGBT Collection”
- Honorable Mention: Spencer Bennington for his collection “Books that Write the Author”
- Honorable Mention: Annalea Krukowski for her collection “Once Upon A Time.”
- Details about the 2013 Winesett Book Collecting Contest will be announced at the beginning of the Fall 2013 Semester.
- A list of at least 20 books from your personal collection, following this format:
- Each book must be properly formatted in APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian citation style.
- Each book must have two or three sentences describing why it is an important part of your collection.
- An essay stating the purpose of the collection, how the collection began, how and where the items collected, highlights of the collection and how the contestant envisions the collection will evolve. Read the guidelines below for more information.The essay must be 1000 -1500 words. Creativity is encouraged!
- A list of at least 10 more books that you don't own, but would like to add to your collection, along with a brief explanation of why.
- Fill out the submission form (available here) and follow the directions on the form. Then click "Submit Application" and you've entered! (You will see a "Thank You! The following information has been submitted...." message.)
- Friday, November 2, 2012 - 4:00 PM - Deadline to submit submissions. Submissions should be submitted online using this online submission form.
- Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 4:00 PM - Award ceremony and prize presentations, Third Floor, McConnell Library.
- Submissions will be judged based on the creativity and thoughtfulness exercised in developing the collection, the strength of the essay, and what the collection means to the owner - not on the academic or "literary" quality of the books in the collection.
- The contest is open to all full-time undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at Radford University during the Fall 2012 semester.
- The books must be the owned by the student and be part of his or her personal collection at the time of submission. The collection can contain hardback and/or paperback books, but no library books, textbooks, or electronic books are allowed.
- The essay should address the following:
- What is the purpose of the collection?
- How did you start the collection?
- How did you become interested in this topic or theme?
- How did you go about finding these particular books?
- What are some of your favorite books in the collection, and what makes them special?
- Topics and themes can be diverse, encompassing literature, history, science-fiction, fantasy, natural history, astronomy, memoirs, criminal justice, Virginia history and culture, vampires, economics, the Beatles, travel books, popular novels, mystery novels, eco criticism, short story collections, women novelists, the American Civil War, American poets, Beat writers, books on sports – whatever subject that fuels your passion to read and collect books.
- The theme can be as broad ("My collection of novels") or narrow ("My collection of books about the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson.") as you like.
- Submissions will be judged using this criteria (from the National Book Collecting Contest): " Judges will award prizes based on the intrinsic significance, innovation and interest of book collections as presented in entrants' descriptive essays and bibliographies. As part of the judging process evaluations will be made of the entrants' understanding of their collections' subjects, their use and citation of previously-published bibliographical materials, and their knowledge and appreciation of the items in their collections both for content and as objects of craft. The judges will also consider how collections may help preserve material that could otherwise be lost or forgotten, and the potential of collections to expand and evolve. Age, rarity and uniqueness of items will be assessed independently of monetary value."
- Contest winners will be required to let McConnell Library borrow 10 books from their collections for display. Books will be displayed in a locked case in the library during January and February, 2013. We'll show off your collection!
- A panel of five judges will review the submissions. The judges include library faculty and staff and teaching faculty.
McConnell Library Archives and Special Collections presents the
Winesett Book Collecting Contest
Previous Winners of the Winesett Book Collecting Contest
The personal book collection of Neil Gaiman, author |
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The winners of the 2012 Winesett Book Collecting Contest were announced at an Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, November 13, in McConnell Library. The winners are:
This year featured two cash prizes plus honorable mentions. The First Prize was $600 and a $100 gift certificate from bookseller Bookworm & Silverfish, and Second Prize was $400 and a $100 gift certificate from Bookworm & Silverfish All winners received a certificate and an engraved bookmark.
Winesett Book Collecting Contest encourages and celebrates reading and book collecting by Radford University students by providing them with an opportunity to discuss and showcase their personal book collections.
The winner of the Winesett Book Collecting Contest will also be eligible to enroll in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest. The National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest is open to winners of college and university book collecting contests - such as the Winesett Book Collecting Contest - and includes a first prize of $2,500, a second prize of $1,000, and a third prize of $500. An award ceremony for the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest will be held at the Library of Congress. More details about the National contest are available here.
2012 Winesett Book Collecting Contest Submission Guidelines:
Each submission must include the following:
Timetable for 2012 Winesett Book Collecting Contest:
2012 Contest rules and regulations:
For questions, comments, or information, please contact Gene Hyde at wehyde@radford.edu or 540-831-5692.
Gift certificate prizes are provided by Bookworm & Silverfish bookseller. Prize money is provided by Lorne Bair Rare Books and the Winesett Endowment. To learn more about the Hazel Winesett please refer to "Hazel Grove Winesett: The Best Friend," a biographical essay by retired University Librarian David Hayes.
Some of the books in Neil Gaiman's personal collection.
The photographs of Neil Gaiman's library are used with the kind permission of Kyle Cassidy.
Visiting the Archives and Special Collections
We welcome visitors and scholars, but we request that you make an appointment. For information or to arrange an appointment, please contact Gene Hyde, Archivist and Appalachian Collection Librarian, at wehyde@radford.edu or 540-831-5692.
All photos are from the Radford University Archives