ILAB at the RBMS Conference in New Haven

On 24 and 25 June, ILAB joined the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) in participating in the ABAA Bookseller Showcase, held as part of the RBMS 2025 Conference in New Haven, Connecticut.
Organized by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), this annual event is one of the most important gatherings for rare books and special collections professionals in North America.

The showcase brought together a group of ABAA booksellers and was attended by hundreds of librarians, curators, and archivists from across the United States and beyond. It offered a unique opportunity to present a curated range of materials, highlight the depth and expertise of the trade, and engage directly with the institutional community.

New Haven provided an ideal backdrop for this event, being home to Yale University and the world-renowned Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, one of the most important centres for book history and special collections scholarship.

ILAB was honoured to take part in this event and to support the ABAA’s efforts in promoting the highest standards of the antiquarian book trade. The RBMS Conference was a valuable platform to deepen dialogue with the library world and to reaffirm ILAB’s ongoing commitment to building stronger relationships with rare book and special collection professionals.

This engagement forms part of a wider strategic focus for ILAB: to collaborate more closely with rare books and special collections librarians around the world. Closer cooperation is essential to address shared concerns, particularly in areas such as provenance research and requirements, book security or ethical acquisition and cataloguing practices.

This dialogue will continue at the upcoming ILAB Symposium 2025, this year taking place on 30 July at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. A large number of library professionals have already signed up to attend, and the event promises to be another important opportunity to exchange perspectives between the trade and the institutional sector on key issues facing both communities.

ILAB thanks the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America for the opportunity to represent its work at RBMS 2025 and looks forward to building on this momentum at the upcoming ILAB Symposium in Melbourne, as well as at several major library conferences scheduled for September in Dublin and October in Barcelona. ILAB will report back from each of these events.

To sign up for the ILAB Symposium 2025 in Melbourne this July, please use >> THIS LINK

Images: Angelika Elstner