Books End-Processing: Bookplates

Owned by Michael Pasternak
Last updated: Jan 22, 2021
2 min read

Bookplates are placed in the front of books to identify their donor or fund information. Books End-Processing houses a large collection of pre-printed plates in the bookplates cabinet. Extra plates are kept alphabetically in boxes on the shelves in the Supply Closet. 

  1. All items should get a book plate, unless an item is already plated with a Harvard College Library plate (doesn’t matter which library within the system, still in existence or defunct) or otherwise indicated on the routing slip.

  2. Generic Harvard College Library bookplates are used when no other source  information is available.  However, these are the bookplates of last resort; it is always best to create a custom bookplate (see below) when information about the donor allows. 

  3. The book plate should always be centered on the inside front cover. If text on the page, illustrations on the page, or plates reflecting previous owners makes this placement difficult, paste the plate as nearly to the preferred location as possible.

  4. If no plate exists for a donor or fund, create a Houghton custom bookplate using the Houghton bookplate template. Type in the name of the donor or appropriate fund(s) used for the acquisition of an item exactly as written on the routing slip by overtyping in the space where the text Gift of is located. The information should be centered in the space, kept at the same font (Garamond) and point size (16). Longer fund names may take more than two lines, so take time to make sure the plate is attractive and doesn’t look like someone just typed the names in without thinking of how the finished product would look. Individuals who have provided funds or given books once deserve as nice a book plate in honor of their gift as do those whose gift results in multiple purchases each year (and for which we have invested effort in the creation of pre-printed bookplates).

  5. If two donors and/or funds were used to acquire a book and there is room in the book to paste in two plates, do so.

  6. Some bookplates come in two sizes. Use the larger size for larger items and the reduced size bookplate for smaller items. Always use the standard size unless the size of the volume precludes this.