Senate House Library, University of London: an insight into our treasures volume

The CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group holds regular training events on various matters pertaining to rare books and special collections. Yesterday Senate House Library hosted a Group event devoted to an element of advocacy – always a popular topic – namely, an account of editing treasures volumes. This was a behind-the-scenes description of editing Senate House Library, University of London: how items were selected and contributors approached, an exposition of the working relationship between author/editor and publisher, the aims and limitations of writing a library’s history for such a purpose … in short, an outline of the whole process. It was a great way to talk about our treasures and our treasures volume, to raise the profile of the book, and hopefully to help others who are considering producing a treasures volume about their collections.