About the Rutgers Book Initiative (RBI)

The Book Initiative invites undergraduate and graduate students to explore media history through bookmaking.  We offer talks, workshops, field trips and studio sessions; a collection of books to handle, remake or dissect; and tuition fellowships for extramural training as well as internships at libraries and presses.

Our makerspace, the Scarlet Letterpress, welcomes students, faculty, staff and any New Jersey resident to use our collection of type on a Showcard cylinder press, several hand presses, and a Provisional Press, to play with typewriters, and to try out binding books and making paper. We offer one-off class sessions (even, or especially, for courses that aren’t about book history or media theory) as well as extracurricular popups and open studio hours.

We also organize field trips to area libraries, letterpresses, and tanneries.

Interested in hearing from us?

❦ Email us to subscribe to our newsletter: book@cca.rutgers.edu.

❦ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruscarletletterpress/.

❦ Want to sign up to use the makerspace? https://go.rutgers.edu/zgir0x95.

Upcoming Events

Past Events