Librarians are among our most valued collaborators. At Marginalia, we work closely with them whether they are in need of specific, individual titles or would like assistance in the long-term project of filling significant gaps in the representation of femme, queer, disabilities, and BIPOC histories.

Our online inventory provides a sampling of the books available through our shop. But it is via direct offers and quotes that we place the majority of our materials.  This model is possible because we commit to forming strong relationships with individual librarians and their teams to understand their priorities and budgets; we learn about their existing collections, collection development policies, upcoming courses and exhibits, and the communities they serve; and we extensively research and begin hunting for material with these details in mind, reaching out with possibilities as we locate them.

We are available by email as well for phone and Zoom consultations by appointment; we invite librarians to reach out. In some circumstances, we are also available to travel to libraries for in-person dialogue, project planning, and onsite material sharing.

Marginalia Rare Books is excited to meet and work with any collectors who share an interest in promoting the histories of women, people with disabilities, and queer and BIPOC peoples. Whether seeking individual books, committing to building collections with a thematic focus, or curious about donating to institutions to support their work, we are available to assist you.

We welcome collectors and donors to reach out for consultations via email, phone, and Zoom, or to set meetings in person so that we can understand your goals and share resources. Ongoing dialogue will ensure that we can offer guidance and share relevant material before placing it online or offering it elsewhere.

While we strive to maintain a diverse inventory, there will be times that librarians and collectors are seeking specific titles not currently in our shop.  In these cases, we are happy to discuss your needs and budget and to seek out a copy that sits within these parameters. Once we locate an option, we will have it shipped to us for collation and authentication, and will facilitate the final purchase at no additional charge to you.

In line with our mission to be a resource to the community, Marginalia Rare Books is committed to fostering public engagement with cultural heritage materials through lectures, workshops, podcasts, and publications that connect the past to the present. Events are always designed and topics selected in collaboration with a specific institution based on its needs. Examples include reparative cataloguing, cataloguing to improve lay reader access, the use of personal diaries, cookbooks and other primary source materials in research, research methods, locating marginalized peoples within early literary and historical works, focus on specific historical figures or genres, and the use of advanced academic degrees in non-traditional career spaces.

We welcome inquiries and invitations from educational and research institutions and from community groups. A schedule of honoraria is available by request, and we are very happy to discuss and accommodate institution’s specific budgetary needs.

A sampling of past speaking and lectures can be found here. Examples of past publications are included here.

Marginalia Rare Books values young and diverse collectors and book-lovers. Committed to supporting them as they contemplate how to begin or how to grow a collection, we invite them to peruse our FAQs for resources on the trade; we also ask them to reach out with questions about our inventory, about the rare book trade, and about collecting.  We do appreciate patience in our response times, and we promise that you will be answered with seriousness and care. In the event that you will be in a city where we are attending a book fair, we invite you to reach out for a meetup.