Thursday, May 16, 1996
The annual Robert B. and Blanche Campbell Student Book
Collection Competition lets Bruins display their interests, ranging
from childhood fantasy lands to Japanese animation. The winning
entries can be viewed until the end of the month.By Toni
Dimayuga
Daily Bruin Contributor
On the night that her name was announced as a winner in the
Student Book Collection Competition, Mara Grossman was more focused
on making sure her baby did not make any noise at inappropriate
moments.
"Just as they (the audience) stopped, he would start clapping,"
recalled the third-year psychology graduate student.
Grossman is one of four winners at the 48th Annual Robert B. and
Blanche Campbell Student Book Collection Competition, held last
month in the University Research Library’s Special Collections
department.
Debuting in 1948, the competition was created by the late
Campbells as a means of encouraging students to develop interests
in books.
"They wanted to instill the love of books and book collecting to
the students," said Janet Carter, a librarian at the Biomedical
Library and chair of the competition’s organizing committee.
The competition was sponsored by a gift of the Campbells and a
number of organizations, including the Friends of the UCLA Library,
the Southern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers
Association of America and the Library Staff Association.
Winning collections from previous years reflect the
multi-faceted interests of the students entering the competition.
Past winners include collections with titles such as The Culture of
Wine, Food as a Social Indicator and Robots in Science Fiction.
Of this year’s 12 finalists, two graduate and two undergraduate
students emerged as the winners. First place winners received a
prize of $300 and second place holders received $150.
Starting a book collection is not as difficult as it seems,
Carter said. She explained that people can have the beginnings of a
collection without even being aware of it.
"A lot of students buy books because they love the topic and
don’t realize they’re developing a collection," Carter said.
Sometimes, the collecting process can be traced to favorite
childhood themes. Grossman, who won first place for her entry
titled "Magical Worlds and Journeys," explained that this
collection began during the mid-80s as a result of her fondness for
a particular author.
"I had always been enamored with Edith Nesbit. She was probably
my favorite as a child," Grossman recalled. Her collection’s theme
is about children traveling to magical realms, and it includes
titles such as "Alice in Wonderland", "The Phantom Toll Booth" and
"A Wrinkle in Time." Grossman explained that she liked the idea of
children having power, control and fantastic adventures.
Matthew Chin, who won first place for his entry "Japanese Anime
and Manga" recalled that his interest in Japanese animation and
comic books began in the fifth grade when he saw the Japanese
animated series "Robotech." He explained that he never set out to
start a collection.
"It wasn’t like a conscious decision or anything," said the
fourth-year biology student.
Other winners explained that their collections began out of a
desire to know more about their particular favorite subject. Antone
Minard, a second-year graduate student majoring in folklore, won
second prize for his entry, titled "Breton Language and
Folklore."
Minard explained that to him, books are even more important than
money.
"My friend Kari Freeman once asked me, ‘If society as we know it
collapses tomorrow, what would you rather have, books or little
green pieces of paper?’ Books, of course," Minard said.
Although books are readily available at commercial bookstores,
true collectors said they search for rare books, sometimes in the
most unusual places and circumstances. Grossman recalled that
because many of the titles she wanted were out of print, she made
many purchases at secondhand book stores. Minard said that he
special ordered many of his unusual books from France and from
catalogs.
But not all the items in the students’ collections consisted of
bound paper with text. Carter said that media such as laser disks,
CD-ROMs, posters and cereal boxes were also present in the entries.
For example, Chin’s entry included posters and a CD soundtrack of a
Japanese animated movie.
Winners of the competition emphasized their beliefs on the
merits of book collecting and books in general.
"It’s nice to collect books that have a personal meaning to
you," Grossman said.
Students’ reasons for entering the contest ranged from getting
to know their collections to a desire to share them with
others.
Grossman explained that writing about her collection as a part
of her entry process gave her a clearer view of what it meant to
her.
"I thought it seemed like a fun thing to do. I thought it would
add an extra dimension to really think about it consciously and
write it down," she said.
Minard simply thought it would be fun, and explained that he
wanted to show his collection of unusual books to the public.
"I thought I’d give it a try," said Chin, who saw the contest
advertised on a flyer at the Arts Library.
Despite the event’s success, Minard was surprised that more
students didn’t take the opportunity to showcase their
collections.
"I was surprised that so few people entered," Minard said. "I
guess it’s easy to overlook the deadline."
Carter explained that simple time constraints and not seeing the
advertisements can account for the low number of entries, but at
the same time she countered that there were more entries this year
than there were last year.
Chin believes that students with any interest in book collecting
should enter the contest.
"I strongly encourage anybody to join. My roommate has about 10
to 12 books on clipper ships, and it would have been great if he
entered," Chin said.
As for Chin, winning the contest was just the icing on the
cake.
"Oh man, I was so happy. That night I called my mom and dad
right away, and I called all my friends," Chin said.
The winners’ collections will be on display in the University
Research Library lobby through the end of May.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Houng-Thi Pham, a second-year business economics student,
peruses the winning entries in the Campbell Student Book Collection
competition at the University Research Library.