What Makes a Book Rare? By Michael Lear, Rare Collections Librarian State Library of Pennsylvania Libraries with rare or special collections may be asked: what makes a book “rare” or valuable? Probably the most often thought of factor by is that a book is old. This is sometimes...

Michael Lear joined the State Library of Pennsylvania on September 16th as the new Rare Collections Librarian. Previous to joining the State Library, Michael worked as Research and Collections Management Specialist at Franklin and Marshall College Library’s Archives and Special...