(gentle music) - The Business of Books is a new exhibit at the University of Utah's Marriott Library, exploring books as cultural treasures and commercial goods.

Theodora Soter shares what visitors will find.

Hi Theodora, thanks for being here.

- Thanks for having me.

- A friend across campus.

So tell us about the exhibit.

- Yeah, so the exhibit really highlights the history of books and business and the intersection of the two.

So we highlight different printers, paper makers, publishers, booksellers, and then of course the readers who really make the business of books possible.

- That's right, the most important element.

- Yeah, exactly, yeah.

- So talk about how books have been shaped by changing markets and business.

- Yeah, so over time we really see these, this evolution of book selling.

Today.

We think of, you know, Amazon, you can click a button and your book will show up at your door.

But historically it's really been something that took a lot of time and money and effort from a lot of different markets all coming together to produce your book.

- Alright, alright.

And you've got a great panel coming up in conjunction with the exhibit.

- Yes.

- And two very good local panels.

- Yeah, we're very excited.

We have some remarkable speakers who are gonna help us celebrate the, the exhibit and look at how the history of books and book selling still exists today.

So we have nine panelists.

Chelsea Rutke is gonna lead with a, what's that called?

A keynote speech.

And she is a postdoc at the University of Utah in British Studies.

So she studies the history of the book.

And then we have Glenda Cotter from the University of Utah Press.

Kent Schantz, Ken Sanders from Ken Sanders Rare Books, Weller Book Works.

So we have Tony Weller and Anne Holman, who is from the King's English, along with a few others.

- Oh wow.

And they all know a lot about books.

And thank you for being here and thanks for the exhibit.

- Yeah, thank you.

- And if you'd like to know more about that upcoming exhibition at the Marriott Library, Special Collections and Rare Books, Business of Books, Commerce and Culture.

It's November 21st from six to eight at the Marriott Library.

Go to lib.utah.edu/collections/rarebo.

I'm Mary Dixon, thanks for watching Contact.

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