“Libraries and places like that inspire you to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.”— John Coltrane
As we honor in this issue one of the truly extraordinary examples of the generosity shown by our members and patrons, that of becoming a Vooys Fellow, we are reminded of the many ways in which our members and library patrons support and sustain the library.
One of the truly unique experiences that I’ve had in the 10 or so years I’ve been privileged to work at the American Philatelic Research Library is that of witnessing the generosity of our members and library supporters through their volunteering. This past summer the library hosted 15 volunteers during Volunteer Work Week 2022. These folks gave of their time at their own expense to come and assist us with various library tasks. Many of those present during the week have done so on an annual basis.
In addition, we are also fortunate to have our regular local volunteers that work for us on a weekly basis as well as a dedicated group of remote volunteers that help us with tasks that they can do at their leisure from home. But volunteerism is but one example of the generosity witnessed here at the APRL.
On a daily basis we receive other examples of support for the library in the form of literature donations. With the goal of growing the scope and size of the library’s holdings, members, non-members, authors, publishers, clubs and societies, as well as individuals, all reach out to us with materials for the collection. The donations arrive in the form of new journal issues from clubs and societies, the latest publications from authors and publishers as well as items given to us as a result of downsizing by a library or individual. These donations are vital in sustaining and growing the APRL’s holdings.
Another example of the generosity shown the APRL is that of monetary donations in the form of patronage, subscriptions and membership. From library patrons rounding up their library service invoice payments to include a donation; to members contributing funds for a particular cause, such as digitization; to those renewing or newly subscribing to the PLR or choosing to become Sustaining, Contributing or Life library members, each of these donations contribute in a meaningful way to maintaining the resources and services of the library.
Finally, our Vooys Fellows go above and beyond with their commitment to the APRL by providing the funds necessary to continue the mission of “a research library for the society” begun by Daniel Vooys when he was first appointed to lead the Library Founders’ Committee in 1967. Back in 2018 when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the library’s incorporation as the APRL, I had the distinct honor of meeting many of the current Vooys Fellows. Each Fellow is a unique example of the passion, commitment and generosity of our membership in providing the library with the continued support needed to serve the research needs of our members and the worldwide philatelic community.
Digitization update
In this third quarter of the Phase I Digitization Project growing the resources of the Robert A. Mason Digital Library, work continues to go very well with currently no significant setbacks. In this third quarter of the project, 1,101 journal issues were uploaded, bringing the current total of journal issues in the database to 5,132.
Of note this quarter a significant number of issue uploads have been made for the Airpost Journal, Tell, El Quetzal, Bulletin of the Polonus Philatelic Society and Menelik’s Journal. Currently, through the dedicated work of digital assistants Betsy Gamble and Geoff Hobart we are still averaging slightly more than 60 journal issues uploaded per week.
As we continue to make our way through the backlog of journals for which we have publication permissions and are already in digital form, on the horizon for the project is the scanning of those permissible journals that are still only in paper form. Options being explored for this phase of the digitization effort, to be begun later this year or early next year, include either doing the scanning in-house with the existing equipment and staff or outsourcing the scanning to a vendor and thereby keeping the current staff focused on uploading digital issues.
We will keep readers informed of our progress and our decision for the next phase of the project.
Postal History Symposium
Organizing the Winton M. Blount Postal History Symposium to be hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum December 8-9 in Washington, D.C. is well underway. Sixteen speakers have been selected to present. As of this writing, specific presentations are being organized into themed blocks in order to facilitate discussions from presentations on similar topics.
This year’s overall theme of “Political Systems, Postal Administrations, and the Mail” examines the missions, practices, and regulations of postal administrations around the world and how these serve as reflections and agents of state goals and ideals.
Among the papers to be presented are those exploring the postal systems and administrations of 19th century Brazil, modern day Russia, the Soviet Union, Italy, Finland, Vietnam and the United States. Some of the diverse topics to be discussed include iconography, postal unions, Sunday mail, privatized mail service, postal cards and transoceanic mail delivery.
As we get closer to the symposium we will have more information about the presenters, the abstracts for their papers as well as the schedule for the event. Check the Postal History Symposium page of the APS website for all the latest updates. and click here for part one of the introduction to this years speakers.