FARMINGTON– The Shiretown Bookers (The Community Friends of Mantor Library) in affiliation with the University of Maine at Farmington, will be presenting a summer exhibit titled:  “The Joy of Booking: Highlights from Members’ Collections,” running from June 22 through Sept. 30  in the bookers’ display area in Mantor Library at 116 South St., Farmington.

Some remarkable books will be on display, many of them illustrating subjects that are the focus of individual collections. On show for example will be a facsimile of “The Book of Kells,” the astonishingly beautiful illuminated manuscript gospel, as well as the delightful children’s book, “Pigs is Pigs,” in a first edition that was the author’s own copy. Also on display will be a little 18th century guide book from  Versailles that once belonged to the head chef of Louis XVI. Its oddly curved spine, likely caused by being habitually stuck in the chef’s hip pocket.

This exhibition will illustrate the bookers’  premise that a proper collection focuses closely on particular subjects important to the collector. A collection only incidentally involves rare or expensive books, and even then only when they are necessary to support a full understanding of the subject.

The Shiretown Bookers are a group of book lovers and collectors who support the university library by fostering its relationship with the community. The group provides exhibits and lectures on literary and library subjects as a way to promote community understanding of UMF Mantor Library and its services.