News Release

Six prizes have been awarded in the 2006 Student Book Collecting Contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Johns Hopkins University Libraries. Begun in 1993, the contest recognizes the love of books and the delight in shaping a thoughtful and focused book collection. The competition includes a graduate and undergraduate division.

Open to all undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in a degree program at Johns Hopkins, this year's contest attracted a record 49 entries from seven academic divisions. Participants wrote essays describing how and why their collections were assembled and each submitted a bibliography of up to 50 titles. Cash awards of $1,000 and $500 were awarded to the first- and second-place winners at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The quality of this year's entries was so impressive, the judges said, that they created a $250 honorable mention award.

Senior Kevin Clark won first place in the undergraduate category for his collection, "A Composer's Library: Volumes of Inspiration." Clark, of Philadelphia, is pursuing a double degree in philosophy from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and in composition at the Peabody Institute. First place in the graduate student category went to J. Michael Collaco for his collection, "Indian Railways." Collaco is a post-doctoral fellow at the School of Medicine and is enrolled in the medical management MBA program in the School of Professional Studies and Business Education.

James Harlow, a rising senior majoring in history and political science, won second place in the undergraduate category for his collection on colonial/revolutionary America titled, "Independence." Second place in the graduate division went to Catherine Turner, who is pursuing a master's degree in international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies. Turner's entry was titled "Understanding War and Warriors."

Honorable mention in the undergraduate division went to graduating senior Karen Starr, of Melrose, Mass., who earned her bachelor's degree in international relations on May 25, for her collection, "Russian History and Literature." Jennifer Culbertson, a Ph.D. candidate in cognitive science, was awarded honorable mention in the graduate division for her collection titled, "Antique Grammars of Antique Language for Students and Linguists."

Selected titles from the winning collections were displayed in Special Collections in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at 3400 North Charles St. In addition to the cash awards, winners were given a one-year honorary membership in the Friends of the Johns Hopkins Libraries and an honorary student membership in the Baltimore Bibliophiles. Top-prize winners of the Johns Hopkins contest are also eligible to enter the 2006 Collegiate Book Collecting Championship, sponsored by the publisher and editor of Fine Books & Collections Magazine. The three top winners of the championship will receive cash prizes and a donation to their library will be made in their name.