Library collecting competition 2024
In January 2025, we’ll be celebrating 10 years of the James David Forbes collecting prize. There’s more information at the bottom of this post, but before that happens, it’s time for the 2nd annual Library collecting competition!
The Library collecting competition is open to all current University of St Andrews students and staff, and entry is easy. Just send us a few photographs of your collection, along with 1 or 2 paragraphs about what it is and why you love it. There’s no minimum word count, and the formality level is set to ‘minimal’.
Your collection can be anything – a fat stack of 80’s new wave vinyl records, a post bag full of vintage Christmas cards, haunted shoes… If you can convince us it’s a collection, we’ll consider it!
Winners will be chosen by a small panel of Library staff, based purely on what speaks to us, so have fun some with it. Our three favourite collections will each win a gift card, and we’ll also share as many of the entries as we can on the library Instagram. You can see last year’s winning entries here, including Benjamin Parris’ collection of Penguin Crime Classics, which went on to win the J.D. Forbes top prize of £500.
Email your entries to [email protected] Competition closes midnight Wednesday 11 December 2024.
In January, we’ll begin taking submissions for the 10th James David Forbes collecting prize. The prize, named in honour of James David Forbes (1809-1868), eminent scientist and Principal of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard at St Andrews, is open to all current University of St Andrews students, and comes with a top prize of £500. For full information about the J.D. Forbes collecting prize, visit the University Collections webpage.