Dates

• Existence: August 1, 1931-

Biographical Note

From Joan Knoertzer. As a musician, pianist and singer, I collected music—lots of it, but I wished to share it, so I donated 500,000 sheets to Eastern Michigan University’s Music Department. I continue collecting and donating music, but now my interests have grown to include book collecting. I joined the Book Club of Detroit (BCD) in 1985 and my interests became eclectic...poetry (signed), book bindings (old and new), prayer books and Bibles and finally miniature books from around the world. I also served as BCD president and board member. I currently lecture on my collection of miniatures and have written many articles. I maintain a membership and am past board member in the Miniature Book Society (MBS). I have received their highest honors, the Glasgow Cup and the Norman Forgue Award. I also belong to the Florida Bibliophile Society (FBS). I am a past member of the University of Michigan Library Board and am currently on the board of the Clements Library of Americana at the University of Michigan. I also represent the BCD and the MBS on the international board of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies (FABS), who represent the world’s largest book clubs. I have also hosted Book Tours of special collections in Detroit and Ann Arbor for BCD, MBS and FABS. My love of books has grown into a business in Ann Arbor called the Library Bed and Breakfast. For 20 years guests have stayed in the Poetry, Mystery/Fiction, Miniature and Pop-Up, Culinary Arts, and 19th Century Library rooms. Now it is a Fellowship House for the Clements Library scholars. My collections have appeared at the Hatcher Graduate Library Special Collections, the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library and the Clements Library of Americana, University of Michigan.