Bryn Mawr's library contains an extraordinary number of treasures that one rarely finds in the libraries of liberal arts colleges. The College has one of the country's largest collections of fifteenth century printed books, and extensive holdings on the history of women, European exploration and colonization, illustrated books, and many other topics. Unfortunately, the ravages of time have had their effect. Many of our most important books are at risk every time they are handled for classes or research projects because of broken bindings and loose or torn pages.
To address this problem, the Friends of the Library launched its "Book
Preservation Fund" three years ago to raise money for the restoration of
critical books. Several generous donors have sponsored books, which allowed
the library to send the books to the Conservation Center for Art and Historic
Artifacts in Philadelphia for restoration. The number of books needing repairs
is great, so we encourage others to follow these donors' example. We have highlighted
below some books in need of repair, but if you have particular interests, please
do not hesitate to contact us about the program.