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Editor's Note: Howie Schecter's Silver Bookmarks collection has been acknowledged before receiving the Collection Award on World Bookmark Day. Be sure to read a lengthy and entertaining interview in Collectors Weekly from 2009. Howie also has some of this information and more on his web site About page. From there, you can explore the wonder of his extensive and beautifully documented collection. Also note that he is selling part of his collection. Here, we ask him a few additional questions about his collection and collecting strategy.
- Are there any bookmarks you have identified (e.g., from a catalog) but haven't yet acquired? There are a few from the 1888 Gorham catalog that I would still like to acquire but they are very rare and don’t come up for purchase very often. I am always on the lookout for them. - Since you specialize in those made by Gorham, have you ever tried to contact the company for information or just to let them know about your collection? I have never contacted Gorham. I didn’t think they were still in business, but they are. They are now owned by the Lenox Corp.  - Your website and the CW interview show that you have done a lot of research about silver bookmarks in general and specifically for each one. How did you learn where to research, and what do you usually do when you acquire a new bookmark? Most of the information I get from a bookmark comes from the hallmark. I have several books on silver hallmarks and when I get a new one, I immediately look up the hallmark (if one exists). If there is no hallmark, or it is only marked sterling, I try to estimate its date and origin. I’ve seen so many I have a good feel for its age and origin. - What reference source do you wish you had that doesn't yet exist? I wish there was a source of all the old silversmith catalogs online in one place. I have reproduction copies of some old catalogs but if there were more of them it would make identifying them easier.
- The wooden cabinet you use to store your bookmarks is fantastic! How are the bookmarks organized within it? Since you have so many, how can you find an individual bookmark? I recently rearranged all of them (it took 3 days) to put them in numbered order. Each drawer now has a label of the range in number of the bookmarks and those are in that drawer. They may not be in exact order within the drawer, but it is close and if I need one I can go to the drawer that it is in and find it quickly.  - Do you have any advice for those beginning to collect silver bookmarks? Acquire what you like and if you can, haggle! 
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Editor's Note: Gintautas has a unique approach to showcasing and sharing his bookmarks. He started an IFOB Gallery, Bookmarks Speak, to show bookmarks in complementary settings, and he has contributed to the Owls and Countries galleries. He is also tireless in exhibiting and making presentations about bookmarks. Search for him under Member News to see more than what is highlighted here. Congratulations! 1. Tell us about yourself – where you are from, your occupation, etc.
2. How did you start collecting bookmarks? Do you remember your first bookmark? When actively reading scientific and fiction literature, I need a book accessory - a marker to mark the reading place. Having worked in the field of protocol for many years, I realized that a bookmark can also serve well as a souvenir. So I started to organize their production. Here is one of the first bookmarks:  Personal book "Let's get up..." together with book tabs (author G. Deksnys)
3. Do you have any favorite types or special emphasis in your collection? How do you select the ones used in your exhibitions and presentations? While evaluating bookmarks of various nature and material structure, I focus more on those made of paper (and packaged). For exhibitions and presentations the most important principle is that I appreciate the bookmark. Some bookmarks leave room for their holistic development, development or perspective of the content provided, while others say nothing but coded information. I try to work with publishers who tend to print bookmarks that have a value base. I am still searching for reserves of perspective within myself. I really love life, unrequited but balanced, which I see in the bookmarks I select. 4. What is the most unusual bookmark in your collection? I include the gifts of nature in this category, an example in the photo below:  Gift of the Baltic Sea - the bookmark is different 5. How do you acquire your bookmarks?
6. How many bookmarks do you have (an estimate)? Lately, I've been focusing my collections on quality along three parameters: bookmarks with regular value, bookmarks with special value, and bookmarks with personal value. According to this, the individual topics combine close to 3 thousand. bookmarks. I don't place a particular priority on the amount of bookmarks. I appreciate the holistic uniqueness of bookmarks.  7. How do you organize, display and store your collection? The personal bookmark basket stores bookmarks with normal value (institutions, advertising, organizations, etc.). Thematic bookmark collections are stored in binders (originals), but all bookmarks are digitized. It's a great gift to the audience. 8. What has been your experience in using the IFOB Swap List? I haven't accumulated enough bookmarks for the day yet to exchange. But this type of activity should be encouraged. 9. What do you enjoy about IFOB? Anything you would like to see IFOB do in the future? Several years of activity in the IFOB have highlighted community spirit. This, I think, is the strong and main form of club activity, chosen for sincere communication, uniting into one family on the principle of volunteerism, responding to everyone's strong and versatile activities and experiences. That is precious.  10. What did you do to celebrate World Bookmark Day this year?
11. Do you collect anything else? In addition to bookmarks, I collect historical postcards, but not as actively. But together with the bookmarks, they also serve during creative meetings.  In memory of the first Lithuanian photographer and postcard maker Paulina Mongirdaitė (2023, Palanga, Lithuania) 12. Do you have any advice for those who are just beginning to collect bookmarks? First, it is necessary to realize that direct accumulation of bookmarks is not a prerequisite for collections, and secondly, it is necessary to love them.  13. Anything else you would like to share? In order to spread the creative process and share the result (Process Art), I would be happy to share my paintings by sending them to your exhibition in various countries around the world. My original works are presented in two formats: in frames and 3 mm panels (plastic). Recently, I have been writing for many different creative meetings of audiences of various ranks, not only as a lecturer, but to a greater extent as a collector of bookmarks or the author of exhibitions about them. This is the collective result of all of us, including IFOB. I'm currently on a creative sabbatical, during which I've committed to finishing an authored book about bookmarks. I am truly grateful.
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