Book Loans

Book loans are available only to members. There is no fee for borrowing a book directly from the library. To cover the costs incurred in providing these book loans through the mail, fees are:

• Base fee: $10 per shipment/request includes the first book.
• Additional books in the same request are $5 for each.

Only Members may borrow non-reference books and pamphlets from the Main Library and only for a maximum of 30 days. Material from the Rare Book Collection, Periodicals, Catalogs and Auction Catalogs may not be removed from the Library.

Scanning Services

Scanning services are available to members only. Visitors are encouraged to use their cell phones or the book scanner in the workplace at the rear of the library.

• Library provided scans: 15 pages are included in the base fee of $10 afterwards it is considered as extensive scans.
• Extensive scans: After the initial 15 minutes included in the base fee, a $30 per hour fee is charged, which is billed in half-hour increments. If it is anticipated that a request will require additional time, the requester will be notified by e-mail whenever possible. The library will provide scans of pages selected by the member for personal and non-commercial use.

Research Services

Those wishing to use the library for research are welcome to do so themselves or through and appointed agent.

Access to Rare Book Room

Material in the Rare Book Room may be consulted by members under the supervision of a librarian or volunteer. Items from this room can be taken to the main room of the library but not removed from the library. Only one item from this section may be used at any one time. Please consult the librarian or club volunteer if you need assistance.

Library Treasures

Though we are a “working” library, we hold special collections and rare books. The reason comes through our history. John N. Luff, John Walter Scott and other luminaries living in the New York City area in 1896 created the Collectors Club to be a home for all philatelic interests in the city. The first club house opened October 28, 1896. The club’s first president, William Herrick, organized the club including a library committee which was headed by Hiram Deats. He effectively recruited others, and the development of our library started to grow. During these early days books were donated by club members. In 1913 John Walter Scott became chair of the library which at the time held 1000 books. He was succeeded by Professor J. Brace Chittenden. It was under Chittenden’s tenure from 1921 to 1928 that the Club’s Library was enriched by some of the finest literary collections. These included the personal library of Hofrath Victor Suppantschitsch, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Austria, many unique items from the library of John K. Tiffany, philatelic literature from E. B. Sterling, Theodore E. Steinway, and Señor Busch of Buenos Aires, and the extensive collection of some 1,400 bound volumes from Joseph S. Rich. Following Professor Chittenden’s good work, it fell upon Harry M. Knowiser to organize the now largely expanded Library. The club moved to its former address at 22 East 35th Street giving the library room to expand and did it ever. Books, catalogs, auction books, journals and other philatelic related items filled the club house and by 2016, we knew we needed to move to a more modern space.

Modern Times needs a Modern Library

Our work continues in our new club house. Building on our past resources, we are preparing for the future of philately. Digitization of documents, use of searching features, and more will become available as the library develops. This does not mean we stop having the joy of wandering through library shelves looking for something interesting. It means being able to have more and being able to wander through a digital document for that one piece of information needed.

History

The following is an extract from “The Collectors Club Library” by Miklos Pinther.

The Beginning

In July of 1896, a group of prominent New York philatelists got together to discuss the creation of a club, a meeting that was later described as “inspirational” by John N. Luff, one of the participants. The idea was to bring together and create a home for all philatelic interests in the City. An organization committee was set up under the chairmanship of John Walter Scott, members were recruited, funds were secured, and by October a club house was acquired. The formal opening took place on October 28, 1896, just three months following that brainstorming session. Shortly thereafter officers were elected with William Herrick as the first President, and committees were formed including a Literary Committee headed up by Hiram E. Deats.

Incorporated in the charter of the Club was the “maintenance of a reading room,” the cradle of a library. It was set up on the second floor of the new Club House which was located in an up-scale neighborhood within a block of Madison Square, near the location of the old Madison Square Garden. In short order, Deats and his fellow committee members began to fill up the shelves with books and pamphlets, periodicals and catalogues, and various related standard reference works. Some were donated by publishers and friends; others were purchased or subscribed to. By the time John W. Scott took over the librarianship in 1913, the Club indeed had a useful Library of close to a thousand volumes at the pleasure of its members. Scott also set out to fully classify and catalogue the collection for the first time, an effort that was picked up by Professor J. Brace Chittenden.

It was under Chittenden’s tenure from 1921 to 1928 that the Club’s Library was most enriched by some of the finest literary collections. These included the personal library of Hofrath Victor Suppantschitsch, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Austria, many unique items from the library of John K. Tiffany, philatelic literature from E. B. Sterling, Theodore E. Steinway, and Señor Busch of Buenos Aires, and the extensive collection of some 1,400 bound volumes from Joseph S. Rich. Following Professor Chittenden’s good work, it fell upon Harry M. Knowiser to organize the now largely expanded Library. During the 1930s, he revised and produced an extensive card catalogue that served the readers for decades to come. The collection by this time was generally recognized as not only the richest philatelic library in the United States, but arguably one of the finest in the world.

A Permanent Home

In October 1937, The Collectors Club purchased a five-story building from the estate of Thomas B. Clark, a collector of fine arts. It was specially designed for him by the renowned architect Stanford White, a lovely structure that became a New York City landmark in 1979. Before moving in, internal remodeling was carried out under the direction of Clarence Brazer, an architect who was also a member of the Club. Some of the modifications addressed the Library’s needs that included an enlarged room, extra storage space, and special glass-door shelving units.

The collection was separated into several major divisions, which were shelved at different locations throughout the building. Handbooks and monographs were generally in the main reading room on the second floor, although books on certain subjects such as revenues were located elsewhere. Some serial publications were also on the second floor as well as later in the basement. Auction catalogues and stamp catalogues were filed on the third floor, and later also on the fourth floor. Unique and rare items were housed separately, principally in the main reading room. As the Library grew, and other functions, such as the editorial office of The Collectors Club Philatelist, moved out, these spaces were occupied by books and catalogues

Reference Material

In the ensuing years, volunteer “librarians” strived to maintain an order to the collection, sent out books (primarily periodicals) for binding, catalogued new acquisitions, and generally assisted users. They also struggled with a collection that was uprooted and moved several times during the forty years since its first home near Madison Square. In fact, before the Club finally settled in its permanent home at 22 East 35th Street, it was relocated half dozen times. As might be expected, this shuffling caused loss and damage to the holdings. There was also a constant change in librarians, each of whom made some alterations while seeking improvements. In most cases the librarians were part-time volunteers assisted by a few additional volunteers. Only on rare occasions did the Club actually hire a person on a full-time basis. While some of the volunteers were experts on philatelic literature, and were on the top of their various professions, none were trained, professional librarians. To be sure, committees were formed periodically to study the plight or status of the Library and to make recommendations. But satisfactory solutions to the problems of a finite space and an ever-growing collection were elusive. Cataloguing and filing systems remained an “evolving” process, not necessarily adhering to standard library practices.

During the past decade, Robert L. Mitchell, Jr., a member for over fifty years whose father was also a member, began a major modernization of the holdings. No one in recent years was as familiar with the Library as Bob Mitchell. He made several assessments of the physical allocation of the collection, created lists and filing labels for special groups such as the auction catalogues, prepared cataloguing and filing rules, and migrated the card files into a quasi-data-base software called Tracker, used at one time by the American Philatelic Research Library as well.

In 2001, the Club completed an extensive renovation to the building which included structural strengthening, major improvement to the main meeting room, and relocation of the principal library holdings to the lower floors. During this process over 1000 boxes of library material was removed to storage, then brought back and re-shelved. Needless to say, this was a monumental effort for just a handful of volunteers. While construction was a major disruption, it also provided the Club with an excellent opportunity to take a fresh look and reassess the way the holdings were arranged, catalogued, and filed, to create a more efficient “working” library where members could browse and do research.

The mission of the Library remains the vision of the Club’s founders: it fosters philatelic scholarship by acquiring, organizing, and disseminating philatelic information and knowledge to members of the Club, the philatelic community at large, and the general public.