Adopt-a-Book: Help Us Restore and Preserve 150 Rare Books

UCSF’s Rare Book Collection contains more than 15,000 volumes, including items from the 15th century, collected over the past 150 years through donations and gifts from faculty, alumni, and friends of the Library. Over time, many books have deteriorated so that additional use would add further damage to their condition. As a busy research library, it is important that we keep these materials accessible to present and future researchers.

A conservator at the UC Berkeley Library conservation lab.

A conservator at the UC Berkeley Library conservation lab.

In honor of UCSF’s 150th Anniversary, UCSF Archives & Special Collections has launched the Adopt-a-Book program, which aims to fund the restoration of 150 books that were published before 1864, the year that UCSF was founded. Your generous donations will support the work of conservators that will stabilize the books and prevent future damage, in addition to paper restoration, cleaning, and some cosmetic treatment.

Bartolomeo Eustachi; Bernardi Siegfried Albini, Explicatio tabularum anatomicarum, 1744

Bartolomeo Eustachi; Bernardi Siegfried Albini, Explicatio tabularum anatomicarum, 1744. One of the books that is featured on the Adopt-a-Book website.

The Library is very grateful to the members of the Bay Area History of Medicine Society, who have already donated money to restore a copy of De Humani Corporis Fabrica, 2nd edition (1555), written by Andreas Vesalius.

Interested in adopting a book from this exceptional collection? Learn more about the Adopt-a-Book program. We sincerely appreciate your generosity and continued support!