Rare Book School Receives $3.1m Donation, Largest In Its History
Glen (left) and Cathy Miranker (right) view the teaching collections with RBS Miranker Family Director of Collections, Exhibitions & Scholarly Initiatives Barbara Heritage (center)
Rare Book School (RBS) at the University of Virginia has received a $3.1m donation to endow a full-time curatorial chair for the School’s teaching collection and exhibitions program. It represents the largest single gift in Rare Book School’s 41-year history.
The contribution secures the continued educational use, growth, conservation, and exhibition of the RBS teaching collection of more than 100,000 items and validates its approach to instruction through hands-on student use of materials ranging from a 3rd century BCE Egyptian papyrus fragment to 21st century digital material.
The donation comes from longtime RBS supporters Cathy and Glen Miranker, bibliophiles and collectors with a passion for book history.
“Endowing this key position gives Rare Book School greater financial sustainability over the long term," said RBS executive director Michael F. Suarez, S.J. "and so may be understood as a perpetual gift to our current and future students. My hope is that others will be inspired by Cathy’s and Glen’s leadership to further safeguard the future of RBS and its mission into the 21st century.”
The Mirankers have long been engaged with Rare Book School’s instructional programs, its financial support, and its governance. Glen is both a board member and frequent RBS student, and the family’s support extends from the School’s online offerings to annual match contributions for RBS operating expenses.
“We have high hopes of our gift setting off a chain reaction of support from other donors,” said the couple. “We value the power of touch as a way of learning and to us the up-close-and-personal exploration of a book can bring unparalleled insights into its life and times, and to the community of authors, illustrators, designers, papermakers, bookbinders, printers, publishers, booksellers, and collectors that had a hand in its production.”
The new curatorial position will be known as the Miranker Family Director of Collections, Exhibitions & Scholarly Initiatives, a post currently held by Barbara Heritage, who has worked at RBS since 2002.
The gift coincides with the School’s move back into UVA’s renovated Edgar Shannon Library. Rare Book School’s new second-floor suite includes three state-of-the-art seminar rooms, a dedicated printing office, adjacent staff offices, space for exhibitions and storage for the teaching collection. RBS welcomed 530 students to 42 courses over the summer, which took place in Charlottesville, at nine partner institutions, and online.
