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Op-Ed: Mills College Library is pleased to be in spotlight at book fair (Includes interview)

Book fair coordinator Michael Hackenberg explained, “at each book fair we like to highlight the special collections of a Bay Area research library. This year’s exhibit of rare books and manuscripts will come from the F. W. Olin Library at Mills College in Oakland,” he said. “The Olin Library will display rare items from its dance and music collections, fine press books and artistic bindings, early books printed by women, and important material out of the Albert M. Bender Papers documenting the lively art and literary scene of the Bay Area during the 1920s and 1930s.”

Initially founded in the town of Benicia in 1852, as a young ladies’ seminary, Mills College Mills is an independent liberal arts and sciences institution of learning for the San Francisco Bay Area. Mills became the first women’s college west of the Rockies. While adapting to the changing times with graduate degree programs and expanding career-fields of study, Mill has continued to be an outstanding and well-respected school of higher learning for over 150 years.

Ha! Ha! Houdini by Patti Smith (Gotham Book Mart & Gallery  1977). Limited edition with padlock; sig...

Ha! Ha! Houdini by Patti Smith (Gotham Book Mart & Gallery, 1977). Limited edition with padlock; signed by Patti Smith. From the Patti Smith Collection.
Courtesy of the F. W. Olin Library, Mills College


As an outstanding college institution, over the years, Mills has maintained a strong library and resource center. The Center for the Book at Mills College was established in 1989 to promote the cultural, literary, and aesthetic heritage of the book. Programs and projects encompass contemporary and historical concerns, and include the book arts, literacy, and local history. The Center for the Book involves both Mills College and the local communities, acknowledging the extraordinarily rich resources of the Bay Area. This one of the reasons why Mills was considered for the book fair.

“I was pleased and excited when the Special Collections at the F. W. Olin Library of Mills College was invited to exhibit books and archives from our collection at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair,” said Janice Braun. She is Associate Library Director and Special Collections Curator.

“The fact that this is the first year that the book fair will be in Oakland and that Mills College has been an Oakland institution since 1871 seems like a perfect match,” said Braun. “It is a wonderful opportunity to make our collections more visible to the public who may not realize that the Mills College library has such extraordinary resources.”

Theâtre Femina: Spectacles de La Chauve Souris. Program of a 1923 cabaret-ballet produced by Nikita...

Theâtre Femina: Spectacles de La Chauve Souris. Program of a 1923 cabaret-ballet produced by Nikita Balieff. From the Jane Bourne Parton Collection of books on dance.
Courtesy of the F. W. Olin Library, Mills College


Braun went on to say that, “The Mills exhibition will feature approximately 40 items highlighting several of the special collections such as the Darius Milhaud Collection, the Early Printed Books Collection (including books printed by women printers), the Jane Bourne Parton Collection of Books on Dance, and the Fine Press and Artists’ Books Collection.”

“The exhibition will feature books from renowned book artist, Mills College faculty and alumna Julie Chen, said Braun (courtesy of Flying Fish Press) such as her colossal work on climate change, entitled ‘Panorama’. There will also be a letter from artist Frida Kahlo to Albert Bender; Fabritio Caroso’s early work on ballet, Nobilita di dame (1600); and rare books and ephemera from the library’s Patti Smith Collection.”
For more information about the 48th California International Antiquarian Book Fair visit its web site.

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