The Center was begun by Kim Merker of the Windhover Press and presently serves students and faculty members from a number of different departments on campus. Its goals are three-fold: to develop an interdisciplinary program of courses related to the book, to encourage scientific and humanities-oriented research, and to facilitate the professional practice and teaching of book-related crafts. Individuals presently connected with the Center include Kay Amert, who runs the Typography Laboratory in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications; Barrett, in papermaking; Glen Epstein, who teaches calligraphy through the art department; David Hamilton, a professor in the English department, who edits The Iowa Review; David Schoonover, Curator of Rare Books in the university's Main Library; and Jim Snitzer, who runs the offset workshop in the art department. Merker began organizing the components of the Center in 1978, and it was approved by the Iowa Board of Regents in the summer of 1986. Students and faculty alike feel that The University of Iowa is unique in its approach of uniting the scholarly aspects of the book with the promotion of related crafts. For example, in the art department students can study papermaking, calligraphy, and offset printing, as well as the history of prints and photography. The English department offers a variety of courses that range from Medieval Manuscripts and Handwriting, Issues in Contemporary Critical Theory: Orality and Literature, and Analytical Bibliography and Textual Criticism, to courses such as Hand-Printed Book: Problems in Design and Editing a Literary Journal. There are courses in typography and graphic design in the School of Journalism and classes in bookbinding taught by three of the apprentices in the conservation department, begun by the late William Anthony. The university is a place that is ideal for a student who wants to be exposed to all aspects of the book arts. Yet the program does have its drawbacks. Presently at The University of Iowa there is no degree in book arts or in its individual components, such as papermaking. Students who come to Iowa may enroll in the university in one of several ways. Graduate students can take book-related courses (craft as well as academic) after being accepted to a degree program in art (usually in printmaking or multimedia), English, creative writing (through the Writer's Workshop), journalism, home economics (fiber arts), or library science. These graduate programs allow students varying degrees of flexibility in the number of book-related courses they may take that will apply to their degree. Undergraduates may pursue Bachelor's degrees in General Studies or Liberal Studies that will allow them to write a course plan that includes a number of book-related courses. Alternately, students may enroll in the University as "special non-degree students." In this capacity they are allowed to take classes, but are not candidates for an undergraduate or graduate degree. Many students presently taking the book arts classes while enrolled in degree programs find this a difficult way to pursue their interests. Although there are no limitations on how many courses students can take, there may be limitations on the number of book-related courses they can apply to their degrees. Graduate students, for instance, must find a faculty member in their department willing to work with them in planning their course of study. As one student relates about her experiences, "You have to be very aggressive. Find a professor who likes your work and then finagle your way. It's very difficult to do it this way." But other students like the fact that the program is new enough that there is no established plan of study. Another student sums it up: "You have to be willing to get out and dig to see what's there, but then you can decide which classes fit into your program. It allows you to break away from the traditional." It is a strength of the program that in any given fall semester in Barrett's introductory papermaking class, you can find art students as well as students in English, library science, and fiber arts. As one student states, "It's nice to be in a class in the art department that doesn't include just art students. Having people from other departments allows for new points of view from people who approach the topic from a completely different background." Yet the broad diversity found in the courses associated with the Center for the Book is also, at this point, a weakness. Students from different departments come together in these classes, yet there is not quite a sense of community to the Center. Although it has a central office, the classrooms and workshops are spread all over campus. Since there is no degree program at this point, there are no survey courses which are common to all students interested in this area, as is the case in other departments. Attempts have been made to informally gather students together from the book-related classes, but, as one student explains, "It just doesn't happen often enough. There are professors and students you never get to know." Merker, who is Director of the Center for the Book, hopes that the University administration will approve a proposed certificate program. In this program, students would take two survey courses in various aspects of the history of the book and would then complete a specific number of other courses according to their interests. Upon completion of their coursework, students would receive a certificate showing that they had completed a specific plan of study. The certificate could also be earned in tandem with a degree, allowing the credits to overlap. As soon as the certificate program is in place, Merker hopes that a master's degree program will follow--- once the curriculum and faculty are in place. Bringing Tim Barrett to Iowa has helped fill out that faculty. Barrett spends two days a week at the papermaking facility in the University's School of Art and Art History, where he teaches papermaking. In the fall semester, he offers Introduction to Papermaking---a class that teaches traditional Japanese and Western papermaking techniques as well as aesthetics of handmade paper. Once students have passed this class, they may go on to take Advanced Papermaking from Barrett, or Paperworks from Robert Glasgow, a faculty member in the art department. In the latter course, students explore techniques of using paper pulp as a medium. Beyond these classes, students can take independent studies with either instructor. The teaching facility in the art department offers students access to a Valley beater, a 75-ton press, a vacuum table, and assorted Western and Japanese molds and vats. The other three work days each week Barrett spends at the Oakdale production papermaking facility, which is about seven miles from the main campus of The University of Iowa. It is located in a red brick building that at one time was a laundry when the Oakdale campus was a tuberculosis sanitarium. This prior use made conversion into a papermaking facility ideal, since the building already had concrete floors with drains. Now the facility is equipped with a 15-pound capacity Beloit Jones beater, two 3.5 pound capacity Nobel and Wood cycle beaters, and one Valley beater (all fitted with electrically driven washers), as well as a 200-ton hydraulic press, laboratory paper testing equipment, and a variety of Western and Japanese vats and molds. There is a room for storing fiber, a room for drying, pressing, sorting, and shipping papers, and a wet room, where Barrett and his staff prepare fiber and make Japanese and Western sheets. Presently Barrett is assisted by a half-time apprentice and assistant, Bridget O'Malley, a graduate student in the art department, and two other work-study students. There are a few paid positions available at the Oakdale facility, but students and other interested people typically volunteer at the Oakdale facility, subject to the availability of work. Barrett and his staff produce Japanese kozo, flax, and cotton sheets, ranging from bookweight to artweight, suitable to use for letterpress printing, drawing, watercolor, and printmaking. Most of the papers are sold to book conservation laboratories around the United States and, occasionally, abroad. Besides paper production, an important part of the work done at Oakdale is Barrett's research into papermaking techniques and equipment. Barrett believes that this is one of the advantages of being associated with the Center for the Book. "Because the facility is supported by the university, I'm not under normal business pressures to produce. I have the freedom to develop tools and techniques to further the papermaking craft." He envisions the Oakdale facility as "an institute for handmade paper" that will publish its research as a contribution to the papermaking community. Specifically he is interested in refining traditional Japanese papermaking techniques, as well as continuing his study of early European papermaking techniques. He is presently exploring flax fermentation, ways of washing fiber during beating, and gelatin sizing, and is refining a technique for continuous delivery of pulp to the vat. In spite of the frustrations some students feel, from Barrett's standpoint The University of Iowa Center for the Book is one of the best places to study in the country, and the best in terms of potential. "In combining research and teaching with exceptional facilities, faculty, and staff," he states, "there is nothing comparable in America. And if it works well here, it can inspire the same sorts of things at other schools." Indeed, the emerging Center for the Book seems to be a special combination of people committed to combining the academic and craft aspects of the book in a way that has never been done before. It will be a new crop for Iowa. For more information on the University of Iowa Center for the Book and the courses available, students can contact Claire Cornell, Program Assistant, 305B English-Philosophy Building, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
