FARMINGTON – Reid Byers, president of the Shiretown Bookers, will speak on “Booking at Brideshead: the Design of the English Country House Library,” on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 2:30 p.m. in the North Dining Hall at University of Maine at Farmington. The talk is free and open to the public.
The English country house library has been the model private library for hundreds of years. When asked to describe an ideal reading room, most Americans will describe something recognizable as the bookroom of a traditional English country house. An odd set of historic forces shaped the strange architectural development of these rooms, but they still inspire library design all over the world.
Mr. Byers has been a U.S. Navy journalist, a Presbyterian minister, a C programmer, and a Master IT Architect for IBM. He is currently completing an unforgivably exhaustive history of the architecture of the private library.
This talk will be the second of the 2016-17 series hosted by the Shiretown Bookers (the community friends of Mantor Library). This group of collectors and book lovers provides exhibitions and lectures throughout the year toward the goal of fostering the relationship between the university and the community.
North Dining Hall is located in the Olsen Student Center, at 111 South Street in Farmington.
