It is that time of year again! Falling leaves, billowing snow, and Manuscript Society 2020 Membership Renewal! The mailing is at the Post Office! I hope you will take a moment to renew your membership. Once you open  the mailing please complete the form enclosed, write a check and use the enclosed return envelope.  You can also pay by credit card or go to our  website link and renew.

The Board of Trustees at the October 2019 meeting had two resolutions presented and passed which impact membership and dues. The first resolution increases the membership dues to $85.00 from the current $75.00 It is the view of all that this increase will help place the Society on solid financial ground. The second resolution created a new membership level. $30 Under 30. It is a special membership for new members under 30 years of age. At this membership level of $30.00, publications will be limited to digital/pdfs. The hope is to encourage younger people who are beginning to collect to join the society. Young collectors are a group the society needs very much. It would be a wonderful gift for a child or grandchild.

2019 Membership Directory

Watch your mail for your 2019 Membership Directory. It will be coming in the same envelope as Issue #4, 2019 of the journal, Manuscripts. If you receive your journal as a color pdf, then you will receive your print Directory in its own envelope. A pdf version of the Directory will also be available on the Membership Only Section of the website.  This directory includes all the information you submitted on your renewal forms. You can continue to refine your directory listing by updating your information on the back of your enclosed 2020 renewal.

Choices of Format

We have had available for a year two options for receiving your publications. We can now send you both the Society News and the journal, Manuscripts, as color pdfs, to your e-mail inbox. Please make your notation on the front of this 2020 renewal form. If you want to change your choices from 2019 just make them on this 2020 form.  We’ll take care of the rest. If you are one of our international members and choose an all pdf option, you no longer need to add the additional cost for mailing! If you are an international member and want to continue to get print editions, please continue to add the postage.

2020 Annual Meeting

The annual meeting in Boston this past April brought 67 society members together. We had a wonderful time visiting institutions, covering all periods of our nation’s history – from colonial up through today. It was a fun-filled event and I hope you will consider joining your fellow members in Williamsburg, Virginia (with a side trip to Richmond) in May 2020. Your information packet will arrive at your home after Thanksgiving, but information is already up on the website!  www.manuscript.org/annualmeeting/

All of us from the Board of Trustees to the staff of The Manuscript Society would like to thank you for your support and look forward to hearing from you and receiving your renewal. The organization is only as strong as its membership and you are a valued member.