If you go to the left-hand column of this blog and look under Bookish Organizations, you will find links for 141 organizations. From the Aberystwyth (Wales) Bibliographical Group to the Zamorano Club, each has, theoretically at least, something to offer folks who are interested in the book as a physical artifact:
Some of these organizations are quite active and quite democratic. They welcome book collectors of all sizes, shapes and colors, irrespective of the corner of the globe from which they hail. Such organizations utilize social networks like FaceBook and Twitter to help recruit and retain new members, and offer a wide variety of publications, services and activities designed with the same purpose in mind. Almost all are very welcoming to new book collectors:
Other organizations also offer much of the above, but for a variety of reasons are much more selective about their membership. Yet other organizations are moribund, or quickly becoming so.
The Private Library hereby extends an invitation to each and every organization in our list: tell our readers something about yourself.
Share with us your organization's history, its aims, its plans for the future. If you welcome new book collectors, tell us what that means in terms of publications, services, activities and the like. What does membership cost? Are student memberships available? Are discounted memberships available for the less-well-off among the book collecting community? Are you interested only in members from a particular geographic locale, or members who collect only at a certain level, or is anyone welcome?
This is one of the reasons why this blog welcomes Guest Editorials. Drop us a line ([email protected]) and perhaps we can help your organization "get the word out." Or at least give it our best effort....
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