​Bookmark Swap Meetings In The Netherlands

By Georg Hartong
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[Editor's note: See more examples of bookmarks from this series of swap meets in our Gallery of Bookmarks on Bookmarks]
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There is no long history of bookmark swap meetings in The Netherlands. On 17th September 2005 Margreet du Pui, from Gent, Belgium, librarian at Sluiskil in the Dutch province Zeeland near the Belgium border and of course collector of bookmarks, organised the first swap meeting for collectors from The Netherlands, Belgium and France. Her library was a very suitable place and about 30 collectors were present, hoping a tradition was born. The swap meeting was continued in 2006 and 2007, when even a British collector, Joe Stephenson chairman of The Bookmark Society and editor of the TBS Newsletter, was present. But Sluiskil is situated very inconveniently  in The Netherlands and the library didn't facilitate the meeting any longer, so nothing happened in 2008.

Library at Sluiskil where bookmark swaps were held, 2005-2007.

Then a couple from Eindhoven, Dick and Dineke Kolsté, both avid collectors, took over the organisation and arranged in 2009 the next swap meeting at Leusden near Amersfoort, in the centre of The Netherlands. Dineke's brother was librarian at Leusden, so again a nice location was found for collectors from The Netherlands, Belgium, France and even Germany. But just like at Sluiskil, in 2013 the Leusden-library stopped facilitating, so a new location was to be found. Dick and Dineke succeeded in finding a nice, new location at Nuenen near Eindhoven. Nuenen is a small town, but famous as birthplace of the painter Vincent van Gogh. Over the years the number of visiting collectors has been very stable, always about 30.

In 2017 Dineke died very suddenly, but Dick did continue to organise the swap meetings until now. He is not quite sure whether to continue because of his age and the reduction of the number of collectors in The Netherlands, many of whom are elderly. So 2020, the 15th swap meeting, is still an open question.

Bookmark in honor of Dineke Kolsté

Boomarks for swap meets at Leusden and Eindhoven