The University Library has received a 2018 Leab Exhibition Award for the brochure created for the 2016 exhibition “H.G. Wells: Time Traveler” in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. The exhibit, which was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Wells’s birth, was co-curated by Caroline Szylowicz, Associate Professor and Kolb-Proust Librarian, and Dr. Simon J. James, guest curator from Durham University (UK) and leading expert on Wells. According to Szylowicz, Dr. James “shaped the general theme and narrative of the exhibition,” and worked with her to “transpose it into the case structure, not unlike chapters in a book.”

“This is a high-quality takeaway brochure that conveys a lot of information about the exhibit in a small amount of space,” said Alexander C. Johnston, chair of the RBMS Exhibition Awards Committee. “It successfully integrates text and image for an appealing visual display. Additionally, it provides a full checklist of items plus a curatorial outline of the exhibit in case one wants to revisit particular items once they have gone off of display.”

The Leab Exhibition Awards are given annually in recognition of excellence in the publication of catalogues and brochures that accompany exhibitions of library and archival materials, as well as for electronic exhibitions of such materials. They are administered by the Exhibition Awards Committee of the ALA/ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS), whose operating expenses are covered by a generous endowment from Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab, editors of American Book Prices Current.

A digital version of the brochure is available in IDEALS and print copies are still available in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library while supplies last.

Some information in this post adapted from the official ALA press release and the awards section of the ACRL website