Cambridge University Library is offering students the chance to win £500 by building their own book collections.

The new Rose Book-Collecting Prize is believed to be the first of its kind offered by any European University. As well as the £500 prize money, the winner will be offered 10 years’ free membership of the Friends of Cambridge University Library. He or she will also be entered into the prestigious US-based Fine Books and Collections Magazine Book-Collecting Championship, which has a first prize of $2,500 presented at a prize-giving ceremony in the USA.

The contest is open to all current students of the University including graduate students. To enter, students should submit a list of their collection together with a short essay, explaining the theme and significance of the collection, by the first day of the Lent full term. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to talk about their collection to the judges.

The judges will make their decision based on the intelligence and originality of the collection, its coherence as a collection, as well as the thought, creativity and persistence demonstrated by the collector and the condition of the books.

The prize will be awarded in the Easter Term. It has been funded by Professor James Marrow and Dr Emily Rose in honour of Dr Rose’s parents, Daniel and Joanna Rose. Both are great library supporters and want to encourage students to become more involved with the library.

Professor Marrow said: “By establishing a prize through the UL, we want to stress and call attention to the importance of a great central library, which is the focus of the research activities of the university, and which serves a much wider range of purposes than the college libraries.

“Book collecting brings people together and we hope that a prize administered through the UL will help collectors from different colleges in Cambridge to meet one another and enjoy the company of an enlarged group of similarly-minded individuals.”

Book collecting prizes are fairly common in North American universities. Started by Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, in the 1920’s, these contests have encouraged generations of young collectors to become booksellers, librarians, and accomplished bibliophiles.

Full details of the Rose Book-Collecting Prize and how to enter are given on the UL website and can be found using the link at the side of this page

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.