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\You may have noticed that there has been hardly any activity on the IFOB-website or you are maybe wondering why you got no reaction from Asim. There is a simple but very sad reason for all this: on the third of June, Asim's daughter Jenny informed us that Asim had passed away quite unexpectedly and suddenly during their holiday at Sardinia.
Asim and Evi, his wife, were at the beginning of a new period of their life after the retiring of Evi from her teaching job. The trip to Sardinia should have been only the beginning! They did enjoy their stay at Sardinia--the sea all around, brilliant weather, nice villages and unspoiled nature. They might have crossed even the footsteps of Napoleon at this isle. Too sad and cruel that the sudden death of Asim ended all expectations. Our sincere condolences have gone to Evi and her two daughters, wishing them much strength and courage for the hard times to come. They have lost a remarkable husband and father who was also very important for the community of bookmark collectors all over the world, full of energy and creativity, with a million ideas for the future. The kind thoughts of many IFOB-members will be with Asim. Laine Farley is looking for possibilities to continue the IFOB-website, at least some parts of it, and I will try to assist her. Please follow the news on the website. Sorry for the bad news, Regards, Georg Hartong IFOB community, I would like to add to Georg’s message my own condolences to Asim’s family. This web site and the idea of an online forum for international bookmark collectors was his vision, and he fulfilled it not only with enthusiasm but also with much generosity to me as a co-editor and to the entire community. Asim was also very creative in the work his company did to create beautiful bookmarks. Only recently, he completed a series of six bookmarks based on the works of Claude Monet in conjunction with an exhibition at the Foundation Beyeler. I wanted to mention them in the last newsletter, but Asim did not want to mix his business with the web site. He always demonstrated integrity in all matters concerning IFOB. He was full of plans and ideas, even as he was anticipating the changes resulting from his wife’s retirement. All of that makes it even more difficult to comprehend his sudden death. Although we have lost our leader, a fellow collector, and a friend, Georg and I hope to honor Asim’s dream to encourage bookmark collectors worldwide to communicate, share, exchange and learn about bookmarks. We will be posting soon about changes and plans that are in the works. It may take us a little while to sort out the various components and activities of the web site, so we ask for your patience. As some of you know, Asim had begun to sell some of his collection. He daughter, Jenny, would like to sell the entire collection, and we will post more information about that shortly. Laine Farley Co-editor
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by Laine Farley There are many reasons why someone may consider retiring a bookmark collection, even one that has been lovingly developed over a long period of time. As people change their circumstances, it may no longer be possible to sustain and store a collection, or perhaps the urge to collect simply wanes over time. Another common reason is that the collection is inherited from a relative and the person who becomes responsible for it does not wish to continue the collection. Here are some initial considerations for what to do with a collection. We would like to hear your thoughts and experiences as well, and eventually we will turn this into an article.  First, the decision to sell or donate it must be addressed. This course is not an all or nothing one, however. It may be reasonable to keep some parts of the collection, sell especially valuable or noteworthy items, and donate the rest. Each collection is unique as are owners’ motivations. If you want to sell it: - Whole collection: depending on the size, you might want to offer it to an auction site if it is large and significant enough to warrant their attention. Auction houses that deal in paper ephemera might be good candidates. Ephemera dealers are another possible source. - Batches: Sometimes collections are broken up and sold in batches on sites like eBay or Etsy. These batches can be grouped thematically (e.g., similar material, subject matter, age). There are agents or “valets” who will handle sales for you and they take a percentage of the sales price. Again, looking for someone who knows or deals in ephemera would be a starting point. - Individual bookmarks: If you have pieces that are especially rare or valuable, it could be worth it to offer them separately. Similarly, an agent could handle it but you might have a better sense of relative value or what you would consider the minimum acceptable price which should be made clear to an agent. - Whatever method you choose, it is probably a good idea to have some kind of intermediary rather than trying to sell it directly. This arrangement protects both you and the buyer. The International Friends of Bookmarks (IFOB) members are an audience that would probably like to know about the collection, but IFOB is not really set up to be a site for selling. If you want to donate it: Some libraries specialize in collecting ephemera, and there are even a few that have bookmark collections such as the University of Iowa. If your collection has many items from a particular area (businesses, bookstores, museums, etc.), it may be possible that a local library or historical museum would be interested. People often assume that the largest libraries like New York Public or even Library of Congress (or national libraries in other countries) are the best choices, but they get so many donations that they may not be. It could be better to find a library with an interest in the type of collection, a local interest, or some other tie. If it is important to you that your collection be exhibited, a smaller library or museum is more likely to do so.  In preparing to contact institutions who might take the collection, consider the following steps: 1. How much: Count the collection or at least have an estimated number of items. The next best approach is to have a description of the extent, e.g., the number of boxes, binders or whatever they are stored in. 2. Context: Make a list of any publications or descriptions or even your own notes about the collection. Have you ever exhibited it, have articles been written about it by you or others, have you ever made a presentation about it? Anything that showcases the collection, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will be of interest to the institution. 3. About the collector: Compile a biography of the collector. Libraries and museums want to provide context for the collection and provenance or history of its development. Anything you can say about how you started the collection, how you went about adding to it, any special interests, would be good additions. If you write this up, also consider sending it to IFOB since we like to publish short articles about collectors and their collections. 4. Photos: provide a set of any images you have on a storage device (e.g., USB drive, CD, etc.) that you can give to the institution. You might also take a few photos of groups or types as another way to give a sense of the size and scope. If you have posted photos to any sort of social media site, provide access to that if possible. 5. References: Other collectors could probably look at photos or other materials and be able to say more about the quality of the collection in a letter of reference. If you have ever talked about or exhibited the collection, whoever sponsored it would be a good reference. 6. Agreement: Libraries and museums will have their own agreements for accepting donations, but you can think about the terms you want as well. Is there anything related to the collections for which you want to claim copyright (e.g., articles, images)? Do you want to impose any conditions on use of the collection in publications by others? Do you want to require that it be exhibited in a certain way or frequency? What kind of credit or recognition do you wish to receive? To what extent are you willing to negotiate any of these requests if they are not part of the standard agreement?  Libraries and museums will be more willing to consider collections that complement those they already have, but also if the collections are organized, stored in reasonably good condition, and documented. The cost to them is in the processing. Usually they will create a "finding aid" which is a high level description of the collection and the collector. Here is an example for the collection of Don Baldwin at the University of Iowa. For important collections, they will go into more detail and describe the contents of each container. Here is an example of the collection of Frank X. Roberts whose collection includes his poetry and other writings, plus some materials from his wife. They must also put the collection into acid free boxes, sleeves, or binders, another expense. It's not required but they very much appreciate donations to cover at least some of these costs. Finally, there is the issue of transporting the collection, whether you choose to sell or donate it. Of course, the best option is to transport it in person to ensure that it reaches its destination without damage. If this method is not practical, at a minimum the transport should be tracked through postal or delivery services, and possibly insured. The packaging will depend on the nature of the collection, and it may be advisable to break it up into several packages. There are many other considerations for transporting it that will be specific to the situation. Whatever you choose to do with your collection, the most important thing is meeting your own goals for how you would like to retire the collection or its components. Whether you wish to preserve it as a collection to be studied and exhibited, make it available to other collectors, benefit from the sale, or simply get rid of it in the most expeditious way possible, there is no single or “right” way to bring your collection to a close. Please do share your experiences and thoughts about this stage of collecting. by Keti Gabaitze Introduction Keti is a 15 year old student and nascent artist from Georgia who loves to draw as a hobby and also likes to read books a lot. Recently, as she had to create a project at school she came up with the idea to connect her hobby with her reading passion and to produce illustrated bookmarks matching popular books. Let's hear what Keti has to tell about her project and it's outgrowths after she has finished it. Mark the Book What do you think about bookmarks? Personally for me and for the readers generally, bookmarks are important accessories. They are interesting, functional and beautiful. My hobbies are drawing and designing, therefore, I decided to make a project about bookmarks called “Mark the Book”. The aim of the project was to create bookmarks from different popular books among my generation such as: Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Great Gatsby, The Devil Wears Prada, The Mortal Instruments, Sherlock Holmes, The Little Prince, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Pride and Prejudice. The bookmarks were created with my own illustrations and on the back side they had quotes from these specific books.   After I had the bookmarks ready, it was time to show it to society and prove that even nowadays bookmarks can be fun, interesting, beautiful and trendy. At that stage, I came across the website of International Friends of Bookmarks (IFOB) and saw that some artists and several people had submitted free downloadable bookmarks to promote the very first World Bookmark Day (Woboda). It was easy for me to contribute some bookmarks for this event, I just had to replace the title of the book on the bottom of my bookmarks with the wording and date of Woboda.
Bookmarks I have submitted to IFOB for the promotion of the World Bookmark Day Later, I decided to distribute some of my new bookmarks in the local city library, mostly to teenagers and younger generation people, because the books I created bookmarks about are popular among them. I also left some copies in a local bookshop, so people could buy them and I sold them at school as well. I got positive feedback, people liked bookmarks and they were sold really fast. With collected money at school, I bought some books and took part in a project in which the city library was collecting books and delivering them to small libraries within the country.  In conclusion, with this project I didn’t just create the bookmarks but I also took part in popularizing them among society, I showed them the importance and the role of bookmarks and that they have to pay attention to bookmarks, and I also helped society and delivered some books to the library. Editor's Note We from International Friends of Bookmarks (IFOB) wish to congratulate Keti for her wonderful project and to thank Keti for her contribution to our project World Bookmark Day. Keti's project shows how bookmarks can be a employed in a creative way to spark enthusiasm and can be messengers of messages over the borders of countries. 19 March 2017 Asim Maner, webmaster by Ana Matos Hi, I’m Ana from Portugal and currently producing custom and handmade bookmarks under the name CraftsforYou. Before talking about the work that I do and the types of bookmarks that I create, I want to share a little bit about my experience with books. Last Christmas I had a flashback about those times when buying a book was rare and receiving one was amazing. I had a lot of books in my school backpack but few, for leisure times, on my shelf. Back then having a book was so precious that I used to read the same book more than once during summer vacations. Later, in university, I had a lot of technical books to study asap and still no money (as a typical broke student) to buy and add books to my library, or should I say shelf. Fortunately, between friends, we would trade books which was a good solution and a way of increasing the sense of responsibility for shared things. I treated the books with care and tried to read them fast to give them back. But with my own (few) books I didn’t use such exemplary treatment. I used to underline the text and bend the corners of the pages – no bookmarks in my vocabulary! I feel so ashamed! Last week I was picking some books to give away for charity and again revisited my horrible crimes. Underlining was a bad habit I got from school, to facilitate studying and concentration. Things are different now. I have books all around me, use bookmarks (paper and my own handmade) and have never bought so many books as before. They are still expensive in Portugal, at least for us, but now there’s more competition and so more good deals. Despite all you can see that books are special to me but the start of creating bookmarks didn’t arise from that - it was not at all premeditated. In the end of 2015, before Christmas, I decided to reproduce some simple bracelets I saw on Etsy, so I bought materials but encountered so many cute charms that I ended up buying more than needed. The bracelets didn’t attract much attention, although now and then people still order. One day my other half was thinking about a present for a cousin and asked if I could do something with my materials. The person in question liked books, so why not a bookmark? Later I searched on Google to see if there was something that seemed like our ideas and there it was: bookmarks in cord, leather, etc.. So I made one and a few days later selected charms, and other stuff I had, and made a bunch of bookmarks. I posted on Facebook with friends and they bought as Christmas gifts. I really enjoyed the results and people buying more than one item to give. Like I usually say, money shouldn’t be a reason for not giving a present to someone. That was not the case because they were affordable, and still are (LOL), and above all I was spreading my handmade items, and so my dedication/energy. That is a lovely feeling, believe me. Am I forgiven for my crimes now that I do cosy bookmarks?  After Christmas time I started to have requests to make custom bookmarks. A client showed me book covers and asked me to do specific pieces. So that’s how it all continued. In the last year I have been producing three types of bookmarks: custom with faux suede cord, zen and cork bookmarks. Along with these materials I use charms, pendants, stones and crystals, things I pick from mother nature, and sometimes things customers send me to re-use or because it has a special value to them. Custom bookmarks usually are made in faux suede cord so it can match the colours of the book cover.  Zen bookmarks are the ones where I incorporate crystals, stones and charms related to zen, spiritual and healing vibes. For this type of book marker there’s also a partnership with an online store that sells stones and crystals – Prenda Natural. They choose these last parts and the rest is pretty much up to me. We have created a unique style and for now they are selling these pieces exclusively.  The last type I'm assembling are the bookmarks made in cork. Portugal is a leading country in exporting cork, so how come I did not have this idea before? These [bookmarks] don’t need to match the book cover colours. People just have to choose the combination of charms they prefer or ask for a specific one. I hope cork bookmarks one day become a vintage item, like some old and exclusive bookmarks IFOB members have been sharing.  There’s a world out there of people like me creating bookmarks or even doing for themselves, because there’s no limits when it comes to imagination and materials to use. And who ever likes books likes to accessorize them to enrich the entire experience of reading. Because picking a book, contemplating the cover, smelling the paper and diving in the story is a sensory experience I don’t intend to switch entirely to ebooks. Besides, how could I use my bookmarks in this case?! Bookmarkly yours ;) Ana My website: http://crafts-for-you.site123.me
Our new member Gaby Dondlinger from Luxembourg is not only an avid bookmark collector, but she is also the inventor of a new type of bookmark exhibition, the so called "coffee table exhibition". She has sent us some pictures to let us see her idea of displaying her most precious bookmarks which were given her as gifts by friends and family or she brought home from foreign countries. "I keep them under the glass of my coffee table, so I can look at them every day," as she puts it.  I must say I was totally surprised by her pictures because I had never seen such a storage and display method yet though some of the collector colleagues has written various articles about how to store and display bookmarks. It will be interesting to know about the history of this table later. "Since I was young I have been attracted by bookmarks, not as an expert collector, but rather as a random buyer and keeper of bookmarks," says Gaby about her collecting passion. "I like bookmarks from different countries which show the speciality or the character of a country, be it by the material, the symbols, or the way it is made."  Bookmarks from different countries on display in the coffee table exhibition of Gaby: Folded paper bookmarks from Japan, and an Edelweiss bookmark from Austria.  Black lace bookmark from Malta, bookmark handwoven and stitched in blue and white from Wisconsin, USA, purple felt bookmark from Lapland.  Other bookmarks from foreign countries, top and below.  by Asim Maner, January 2017 by Matt Gilbert (reposted from richlyevocative.net) During a recent spot of tidying at home, I came across a box containing my childhood collection of bookmarks. When I was growing up my parents were second-hand booksellers in Bristol. One exciting perk, or by-product of this for me as a kid, was finding all kinds of bookmarks that previous readers had left behind in many of the books Mum and Dad bought, which I was allowed to keep. Very occasionally you’d also find paper money hidden within the pages of books too, but this I wasn’t allowed to keep. Sifting through some of the bookmarks, it was interesting to note a few themes or threads.  Judging by the numbers produced (many more than shown here) Insurance companies appear to have been big on bookmarks. The likes of Scottish Widows, Royal Exchange and Northern Assurance once appeared to commission a lot of commercial artists to illustrate their own branded bookmarks. I suppose it makes sense for an industry that spends much of its time reminding people to renew or change policies to print these reminders on objects devoted to the very purpose of remembering.  I particularly like the Northern Assurance series of city and townscape panoramas – including London and Aldeburgh in Suffolk.  Animals and scenes and subjects from nature also feature on many of the bookmarks – I seem to have had a thing for birds – the box contained quite a few bookmarks with illustrations of real birds along with various others – including Puffin of course – used to promote books and reading.   Some of the most interesting and funny bookmarks I’d collected are old public service messages and adverts, with their now almost comically stilted sounding phrasing and matter of fact declarations of quality, or finger wagging warnings and informative notices. Amongst the ads, pens, cigars and cigarettes figure prominently – I’d guess that this is because their shape is perfect for reproduction on a bookmark. My favourite is a bookmark extolling the virtues of bus travel: TAKE IT EASY. TAKE A BUS. Clearly produced in an age before Mrs. Thatcher made her infamous (albeit possibly apocryphal) declaration that: “A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.” – although the illustration on the bus bookmark shows a rather self-satisfied looking woman, (looking not unlike Margaret Thatcher funnily enough), who’s delighted to have nabbed herself one of the cool seats upstairs at the back.    There are also a few here with an esoteric theme – this was my Dad’s specialist area so there are some bookmarks featuring the likes of Madame Blavatsky, promoting Occult bookshops or histories of The Rosicrucians.  Naturally many bookmarks feature writers and poets, alongside the bookshops that sold their work. I was sad to note that all of the Bristol based ones I found now no longer exist. I can remember what an incredible, eye-widening treasure house George’s Children’s department used to be. This is described on their bookmark as having “the largest stock of books in the West for children of all ages”. Take that Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and South Wales.
I hope you enjoy taking a look at some of these as much as I once enjoyed collecting them. by Melia Miller Unlike regular bookmarks, book weights (also called weighted bookmarks) keep your place while you are reading. They are particularly helpful when you are consulting a book but need your hands free. For instance, book weights are used by knitters and crocheters to keep pattern books open while creating, by students to hold textbooks open while doing homework, by professors to keep reference materials accessible when they prepare a lecture or an article, and by casual readers who like to enjoy a book while having a bite to eat. Book weights can also be used by people who find that holding a book open is physically difficult.  A book weight with fabric cover from my production. There are several types of book weights available on the market. The conventional mass-produced book weight is leather with some type of metal weights in the interior. There are also rubber and metal book weights in various solid colors. Handmade book weights typically consist of a sewn tube of fabric, which is then filled with sand, beans, rice, or some other loose material. 
Other book weights made by me.. Having been a literature major in a former life, I know the awkwardness of trying to keep multiple books open at once, even resorting to layering them to hold pages open. I needed book weights, ones that were slim and portable but also ethical and functional without clinging to the pages, which could result in tearing. After a few years of researching, calculating, testing, and even a batch of book weights weighted with glass tiles; I finally came up with my current design, which consists of two pieces of steel encased in two layers of fabric. As far as I know, I’m the only one who makes book weights out of solid metal weights and fabric. The beauty of fabric is that, with so many options, it can reflect the personality of the reader. I love textiles and books, so it’s a joy to work with so many wonderful fabrics and to pair them up with an assortment of books for photos. I run a business with the title Dragon in Knots (dragoninknots.com), which is a one human, one hamster micro business based in New Mexico (southwestern United States). Everything we sell is made by me (I've tried putting the hamster to work, but it's hard to crochet without opposable thumbs). We (and by we, I mean me - the hamster wasn't born yet) have been in business for over 10 years. Our product range includes citrus coasters, market bags, scarves, gloves (both fingered and fingerless), wrist cuffs, and fabric & steel book weights. If you wish to learn more about the inspiration behind Dragon in Knots, you can read my article Textiles Tell Tales. Book lovers among you may wish to have a look at my blog to read book reviews and poetry in translation.
by Regina Mačiulytė INTRODUCTION We are glad to hear Regina Mačiulytė’s story about her bookmark collection. Regina wrote to me not long ago and asked to exchange bookmarks. She sent some from her country but also some made from her photographs which were very beautiful and interesting. Making photographs into bookmarks is a good way to exchange with others and show interesting sites from your location that would not be available otherwise. Regina has a good eye for photography! Let’s hear more about how she got started. - Laine Farley, August 2016 THE STORY OF MY BOOKMARK COLLECTION I want to share the story of my bookmark collection with my collector colleagues from the IFOB and elsewhere. I started collecting bookmarks 3-4 years ago. I thought that I could collect them and it could be like my hobby and passion. Though I am collecting bookmarks for a few years only, there are some older bookmarks in my bookmarks box. My oldest bookmarks date from 2004 and they are handmade by a colleague of my mother who produced them as a paper collage. At that time, this lady was sick and wanted to do something that made her feel good. She thought that those bookmarks would make nice gifts for herself and for other people she knew.  My oldest bookmarks from 2004, handmade by a colleague of my mother. At that time, as I received those bookmarks from the colleague of my mother I was very happy and I had the first time the idea of collecting bookmarks. However, it took several years before I really started to collect bookmarks. My father helped me very much with my hobby as he was traveling a lot. He would always come back home from another country with some bookmarks for me. I also collect postcards from other places by sending and receiving postcards to other collectors. Some of these postcard collectors who I even don't know personally don't use or collect bookmarks, and as they heard that I collect also bookmarks they helped me by giving or sending me bookmarks as a gift. Also family members, friends and other people who knew that I collect bookmarks kept giving me bookmarks which they collected for me from different places. At the beginning I thought that I am the only person who collects bookmarks. Later, I found out that I was not alone as a bookmark collector, moreover that there were many other people who also like to collect bookmarks as I do. That gave me the opportunity to swap bookmarks with collectors from other countries and to enlarge my collection. I also like to make bookmarks by myself. I love photography and my father suggested that I could make possibly nice bookmarks with my photos. So I started producing bookmarks in cooperation with a publisher in 2015. Now, if I am about to take a picture I always think if this would make a nice bookmark.  Bookmarks produced with pictures made by me. Getting more and more a serious bookmark collector and producer, I started to visit book fairs. In Vilnius, the capital of my country Lithuania, every February there is a very good book fair where I can collect bookmarks for free, and some publishers even allow to take not one or two bookmarks only, but many. Thus I come back home from the book fair often with 60-80 new bookmarks for my collection. Many of them are doubles to be used for swapping with my bookmark friends in many different countries. This year, I visited also the book fair in Riga, Latvia our neighbour country, in February and could collect bookmarks there as well. In my collection, the biggest number of bookmarks are from Lithuania. Second country is Poland, where my father goes visiting every year. I have about 2800 bookmarks from 51 countries at the moment. It's amazing how fast my collection grows. Almost every day, I can add new bookmarks to my collection with a little help of my collector and swap colleagues. It's a very pleasant and fulfilling experience to make friends over the country borders with people who I even do not know in person.  I store my bookmarks in plastic pockets in a document file. In November 2015 I made a very first exhibition of my bookmark collection in Panevezys, Lithuania. This year I had two exhibitions in my city Siauliai, Lithuania. Maybe next week there will be a third exhibition in the botanical gardens of the Siauliai University. A fourth exhibition is planned in the school I have attended earlier. My exhibitions awoke the interest of some local newspapers and they wrote about me and my passion – collecting bookmarks. The IFOB First Year Commemorative Bookmark 2016 will be printed by and by and only to the extend of orders from our gift shop. Each bookmark carries an individual number in the order of the production and the date of printing. The bookmarks are produced by fine art print on premium textured card and are of exquisite quality (size: 205 x 80 mm). The aim of this procedure is to create a rare and highly collectible bookmark for our members and for other collectors. This years bookmark represents the first in a series of bookmarks. Each year a new bookmark with a new design created by a new illustrator will be produced. The bookmark for 2016 has been illustrated by Asim Maner. I hope you like the idea and many bookmark friends will consider to collect these bookmarks. The revenue from the sale of the bookmarks are thought to cover IFOB's expenses like all other items in our gift shop. The image of the bookmark below is not bad, however, it gives only an approximate impression of the real bookmark, which I think is more beautiful in reality as on the picture. As per today, 14 bookmarks have been printed. At the end of the year we'll know how many bookmarks there will be in total. A truly exciting affair for the collectors. - Asim Maner  We launch the World Bookmark Day (WOBODA): 25th February 2017 will be the first celebration day25/4/2016 Dear friends of bookmarks, dear IFOB members! First of all, thank you very much for your comments and emails about the idea of launching a World Bookmark Day. After due and long consideration of the pros and the cons stated in your comments, I came to the conclusion that we should attempt this adventure. I’ll explain the reasons why tackling it seems to be more reasonable for us than just forgetting it. The main pro for the idea is that a WOBODA is not only consistent with our mission - that is increasing the public awareness of bookmarks - but it is also an excellent means to support this goal. Actually, there is no doubt that a WOBODA would be a wonderful and valuable concept for us, if it would not entail any substantial disadvantages. The cons in your comments concentrated on one major problem: Is a WOBODA not a too big project for our young and small community? Are we able to afford the necessary time and work for such an enterprise without neglecting our current operations? These are serious concerns expressed by several members, indicating that there is a potential risk in this subject, and I am thankful for this feedback. On a closer look, it was obvious that the cons were associated in most cases with similar world commemorative days, particularly with The World Book Day (WBD). The WBD is indeed a huge project, designated by UNESCO and marked in over 100 countries all over the world. It goes without saying that we cannot handle such a giant project, not even approximately. Therefore, I can fully understand all the objections resulting from this scenario. With the distance of a few weeks, I was able to realise that on the other hand nobody forces us to start a gigantic project. We can start with a small project, small enough not to overstrain our resources. A further question is if such a small project which we could afford momentarily will have any effect at all. I would say no, not immediately. But it can grow if we are patient. It will grow in step with us, and possibly with a little help from our friends, i.e. groups from outside which might fancy the project and support us. I don’t see any obstacles in starting the WOBODA as a small campaign, just as big as we are ready to invest in it. Of course, as with all new creations we bring into the world we cannot overlook the complete development of this child to the end. It will go its own way and possibly surprise us now and then. Let us get it going. Let's say a few words about the abbreviation WOBODA which might sound unusual or even funny in your ears. The shortest word for the World Bookmark Day would be WBKD, however it is too similar to WBD with the risk of mixing them up. WBKMD looks a tiny bit more different, however, it is not a catchy one easy to memorise. After some discussion with my editor colleague Laine Farley, we agreed on WOBODA and hope you'll like it. I have been thinking a while about an appropriate date for the WOBODA. It should be placed in a part of the year where people are not under stress like around Christmas in many countries, and also not on the move as they are in holiday seasons. This would allow everyone to concentrate better on reading and activities associated with the day. The period between the new year and the start of spring seems to be a quiet and suitable season, at least here in Europe where the days are still short and dark and bad weather is around the next corner: ideal conditions to deal with books and bookmarks. Consulting the List of Commemorative Days on Wikipedia showed that a few days in the last week of February were not occupied with other celebration events. Finally, the selection fell on the 25th of February, which is a Saturday in 2017, the date of the very first celebration of the WOBODA. What do we need for the start? It is of course not enough just to declare a certain day to be World Bookmark Day, it must also be brought to the attention of other people to have an effect. The best way to do that is certainly, if people would talk about it. Sure, I can go and ask other websites and blogs to report about it; however, they are likely to do it if we also offer a nice story and pictures. Obviously, it is our task to create a story about the World Bookmark Day, and that story should better be a compelling one in order to motivate others to adopt and talk about it. I had not to ponder long about a nice story to promote the WOBODA. We know since the appearance of the IFOB publication No. 1, that bookmarks are as old as the codex form of books we use today, around 2000 years. This new and astonishing fact which the IFOB has brought to light very recently is still unknown for the majority of the public. It should not be difficult to knit an interesting story around this information. The story could look like as follows: 25 February 2017 - WORLD BOOKMARK DAY (WOBODA) We celebrate the readers' little helper and the ever faithful companion of the books for 2000 years Bookmarks might have not received much attention yet. They even might have been ignored widely so far. But we believe that there is a different story in which this quiet companion will no longer wait passively to be noticed. The bookmarks will receive attention and approval they deserve with a little help from their friends. Friends who love to use bookmarks while reading, friends who love to collect bookmarks, illustrate and produce bookmarks, who write blogs, articles, and books on bookmarks, friends who take care of them in libraries and museums, and some other unknown friends. Join us in our activities if you think you are a friend of bookmarks. The WOBODA is an excellent occasion to help bookmarks get the recognition they deserve. We will offer some activities for people to join us in association with the day and in the run-up phase. Do you have ideas about activities for the WOBODA? Please do write your comments, they are welcome!
Please check out also our new page WOBODA where all informations and activities associated with the World Bookmark Day can be seen. Asim Maner |
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INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS OF BOOKMARKS (IFOB)
www.ifobookmarks.org I facebook.com/bookmarksfriends | ifobeditor@gmail.com
www.ifobookmarks.org I facebook.com/bookmarksfriends | ifobeditor@gmail.com