Seminar History

The Antiquarian Book Market Seminar began in 1978 as the result of a collaboration between Dean Margaret Goggin of the Graduate School of Librarianship and Information Management at the University of Denver and Jacob L. Chernofsky, editor and publisher of AB Bookmans’ Weekly.

Goggin, who had a keen interest in both the worlds of librarianship and antiquarian bookselling, had been dismayed at how little librarians and book dealers knew of each other’s methods, procedures and problems. She conceived of the seminar as a meeting ground and education tool for both.

A low-key, trial first session was held in 1978 at the Denver school to float some of the ideas that Goggin and Chernofsky had. The first full-fledged seminar was held in August of 1979 and was announced in its brochure as, “An intense program of study designed to provide the opportunity for acquisitions librarians, collection developers, and beginning rare book librarians to study the out-of-print and rare materials market with the leading specialists in the field.

Demand for the seminar proved to be great. Because of space limitations and the desire to maintain a high faculty to student ratio, enrollment was limited to 100 persons and there was usually a waiting list. The seminar continued to be held at the University of Denver and was universally known as “the Denver Seminar”. The seminar was such a success in both the library and book dealer worlds that for a short time two seminars a year were held, with the additional seminar held at the University of Florida in Gainsville.

When the University of Denver discontinued its Graduate Library School, the seminar found a temporary home in nearby Golden, CO and then at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, where it has been located since 1999.

Given the enormous changes in the antiquarian book world since 1978, the curriculum has also changed, with increasing emphasis on the realities of bookselling in the electronic age.

Today the Antiquarian Book Seminar is a nonprofit organization, offering nearly a dozen scholarships annually. Nearly 3000 students have graduated from the seminar since its inception, many of whom have gone on to become prominent members of the bookselling community.