The Caxton Club/Newberry Library 2008 Symposium on the History of the Book examines the role of rare books and special collections libraries in a digital age.

The term “rare” suggests costly and inaccessible, but symposium participants assert that research materials in specialized libraries are important to the preservation and development of our common intellectual heritage, and, as such, are of enduring public value and use. What will collectors and collections look like and where will rare books stand in a hierarchy of public priorities for the still-new twenty-first century?

In a panel discussion moderated by Alice Schreyer of the University of Chicago Library, Mark Dimunation, Library of Congress, the Caxton Club/Newberry Library 2008 Symposium on the History of the Book concludes with Richard Kuhta, from the Folger Shakespeare Library, and Joel Silver, from Indiana University’s Lilly Library, offering brief responses to the morning talks, and then joining the day’s speakers to discuss rare book collecting today.

Recorded Saturday, April 12, 2008 at Alliance Française de Chicago.