We are all familiar with the old saying "Don't judge a book by its cover." The Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library staff politely disagree. In fact, we encourage ANA members to judge away!

That is what we did last October, when Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS) board member Marc Ricard sent an e-mail announcing that the Society had donated $1,000 to the Library. The NBS asked only that the money be used to fund a special Library project or resource.

The NBS is a nonprofit, educational organization founded in 1979 with a mission to support and pro-mote the use and collecting of numismatic literature. "We contribute to the ANA Library because, being the book lovers that we are, we cherish an organization that both cares for the books under its stewardship and generously shares them with others," author and NBS board member John W. Adams said. Keeping all this in mind, Library staff came up with the perfect project�restoring publications in the Frank J. Katen Rare Book Room that are in poor condition.

During the past two years, the ANA has worked hard to improve the overall care and quality of material in the Frank J. Katen Rare Book Room. The staff and Library committee created a policy delineating what items should be stored there and what should be returned to the general collection for circulation.

We have made efforts to purchase historically significant numismatic literature, such as a vintage copy of the 19th-century journal Numisma and the first book dedicated to American coins, An Historical Account of American Coinage. We also recently finished packaging all 19th-century auction catalogs in acid-free envelopes to organize and better preserve them. In an effort to address overcrowding, we created a separate room for signed books and other items (more on that in coming months).

Restoration is an ongoing project in the Rare Book Room. As funding becomes available, we review the condition of books in the collection and flag them for restoration, a process that can range from a simple fix to more extensive measures.

Library staff worked with Rahm Bookbinding in Colorado Springs to assess needs. In business for more than 100 years, three generations of the Rahm family have practiced the art of custom bookbinding. The company's services include antique restorations, leather binding, and page-by-page restoration. The NBS donation funded the repair or restoration of more than 30 books, including a 17th-century, four-volume set on ancient coinage and E.J. Atinelli's 1876 work Numisgraphics. The NBS donation ensures that these books will be in good condition for future generations and will be candidates for digitization in the coming years.

This year, the NBS also donated to the American Numismatic Society's Rare Book Room and provided a scholarship for a young numismatist to attend the ANA's annual Summer Seminar. "It appears that the ANA, the American Numismatic Society and the NBS are �keepers of the flame,' so to speak, and we have the privilege and the responsibility of preserving and promoting the numismatic literature hobby," NBS President Dan Hamelberg said. "As finances permit, we would certainly like to make this donation an annual event."

If you are interested in donating to the Library's book restoration project, please contact Library staff at 719-482-9821 or e-mail library@money.org.