Chela Metzger: Rare Skills for Rare Books: Book conservation education

The Brodsky Endowment for the Advancement of Library Conservation presents: Consuela "Chela" Metzger: "Rare Skills for Rare Books: Book conservation education". “European hand bookbinding practice does not form the best foundation on which to build or even graft the principles of book conservation.” Christopher Clarkson 1978 Even in our screen-driven age, the book still carries monetary, artistic and symbolic value, in addition to its intellectual content. What skills must a book conservator have to treat damaged rare books properly? Is the restoration/conservation of books a craft related to bookbinding? And if so, what is the best way to teach that craft? I have been teaching book conservation at the graduate level since 2001, but to me these questions remain unsettled and unsettling. I hope to bring together observations from my life as a librarian, bookbinder, book conservator, and educator to explore the skills needed for book conservation in the 21st century.