Photo: Book available in the Rare Book Room by Allegra Simpkins
By Allegra Simpkins
Just across the top of the stairs, on the third floor of the library lives a calm and quiet room that oozes a welcoming ambiance. Framed poetry and artwork reside on the walls, the natural wooden shelves and warm lighting makes it almost impossible not to be coaxed in for a browsing session before settling down at the large center table. The Rare Books Room in the Evergreen Library is filled, floor to ceiling, with unique and inspiring one-offs, limited editions, and local works. About the size of a typical study room, it holds many hidden treasures just waiting to be revealed.
The Rare Books Room is currently curated by faculty Librarian and talented storyteller, Stokley Towels, and thanks to his expertise the room really offers something for everyone.
The Evergreen State College’s website describes this space as a place to “explore the art of the book” and can be an incredible resource for anybody looking to do so. Annika, a staff member who works in the Rare Books Room explained that “if somebody wanted to put together a book and get information on non-traditional bindings” this would be the place to go for resources.
One of those resources is a beautiful and uniquely bound Atlas by Lucia Harrison, a local historian, whose work stands out among the crowd of other bindings. Titled Notes for a Natural History of Encyclopedia of Cooper Point Volume III, it includes handwritten pages filled with descriptions of the Cooper Point area, definitions and histories of names of places, and indigenous language translations. It also holds maps of the area, which are personalized by Harrison, that act as a time machine showing its reader a new perspective of the land they occupy.
Another book that is also somehow in a league of its own amongst others of the same fate is: The Life and Letters of John Muir. One can easily get lost in his words as he describes his mountaineering adventures to acquaintances and loved ones around the world.
Other books worth mentioning are Women’s Life and Work in the Southern Colonies, Evening Entertainments for Young People, Paper Making Through the Eighteen Centuries, and Harrod’s 1895 Catalogue of Victorian Shopping that spans over 1500 pages. There is also a collection of miniature books that are just too adorable to pass up looking through and a stunning book by Kirby Stanton titled Our Fragile World in Pictures that is entirely made of etched glass with a wooden binding.
Everything in the Rare Books Room is cataloged in the library system, from books to wall hangings to the friendly rooster who is perched in the front window; and new items arrive on a fairly regular basis so there is always something new to discover.
Students are “encouraged to come in, have a look around, or even hang out and read,” Annika expressed. The rare books room is a resource that is unmatched with all it has to offer and deserves to be admired as such. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Inspiration awaits.
