Virtual Memories Show 453:
Nadine Sergejeff
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“What you see when you enter the Philip Roth Personal Library are about three-thousand, seven hundred and twenty books* that have marginalia, are presentation copies, or are otherwise special.” [* Librarians are very exact]
It’s part 2 of a 2-part show about the new Philip Roth Personal Library at the Newark Public Library! This week, Supervising Librarian Nadine Sergejeff joins the show to talk about the process of going through 300+ boxes of Philip Roth’s books to figure out what should go on display in the PRPL. We talk about the challenges of documenting and organizing Roth’s notes and other ephemera, the discovery of his mother’s scrapbooks of his career in a box marked “PRINTER”, the edits and commentary Roth made in his own novels, and how she managed to organize the library without marking up any of the volumes. We also get into what it was like to assemble and open the PRPL during the pandemic, how Roth’s tweed jacket made it into the collection, Nadine’s path to becoming a librarian and how she wound up taking on this project, how archive researchers have changed over the years (and the problem with not being able to read cursive), what makes a good library, what NJ means to her and what Newark meant to Roth, and more! Give it a listen! And go visit the Philip Roth Personal Library!
(And check out part 1, feat. library trustee and Roth pal Rosemary Steinbaum!)
“I’d read a few of Roth’s books before this project began. I’ve read quite a few more since.”
“We have so many obscure items in the library that you’ll never find online.”
Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!
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About our Guest
Nadine Sergejeff is the Supervising Librarian of the Philip Roth Personal Library and Special Collections at Newark Public Library. She has worked at NPL since 2007. She has a background in fine art and art history and, prior to pursuing her MLIS, she was employed as a historical researcher.
Follow the Philip Roth Personal Library on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded at the Newark Public Library on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 Microphones
