糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student discovers passion for bookbinding
Mitch GundrumIn 2018, Mitchel Gundrum, a former executive information technology support specialist living in San Francisco, was ready for a career change.听鈥淚 did some research and realized 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock had the best professional and technical writing program online,鈥� said Gundrum, a Wisconsin native. 鈥淚 was working full-time, so I wanted to get my bachelor鈥檚 degree but needed the flexibility of an online program.鈥�听One of Gundrum鈥檚 spring 2019 classes included grant writing with Dr. Barbara L’eplattenier, professor of rhetoric and writing. Through this class, Gundrum wrote and earned a $19,500 grant from the Windgate Foundation for his favorite nonprofit, the San Francisco Center for the Book.听The nearly $20,000 grant will help extend the center鈥檚 visiting instructors program, which provides workshops and lectures on the arts of letterpress printing and bookbinding. The funds will cover travel, housing, and lecture fees for six additional instructors for the center鈥檚 2020 lecture series. Additionally, the grant will help students in need attend the workshops by covering class material fees and a student stipend.听鈥淭he grant writing class was an amazing opportunity to get support for their organization,鈥� Gundrum said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to get such a high level of instruction in such a niche market like bookbinding. To be able to get classically trained instructors in San Francisco is a great opportunity. I am beyond words at how well the project turned out. I鈥檓 trying hard not to get a big head over my first grant being successful, but it does make me want to try my hands at more grant writing.鈥�听After his success in the grant writing class, L’eplattenier recommended Gundrum apply for the. He spent the summer working as an archivist intern for the Lincoln Archives Digital Project, which is dedicated to digitizing all federal records housed within the National Archives created during President Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 administration.听鈥淚 applied with Dr. Barb鈥檚 blessing. She gave me some assistance during the application since I tend to be a very lengthy, verbose writer,鈥� Gundrum said. 鈥淚 worked to digitally archive and translate more than 500 documents from 1861-1865, the years of Lincoln鈥檚 presidency.鈥�The internship gave Gundrum a chance to get his foot in the door and gain some professional experience.
These are a selection of some of the Gundrum’s bookbinding work.
鈥淚 jumped at the opportunity,鈥� Gundrum said. 鈥淔or me, it was beneficial to work at the archives, to learn new technology, and to work with older documents that need to be preserved for the future.鈥�L’eplattenier said Gundram is a great example of how 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students can use their classes to pursue meaningful interests.鈥淢itch is passionate about bookbinding and used the grant-writing class to develop a deeper relationship with an organization that focuses on bookbinding,鈥� L鈥檈plattenier said. 鈥淭hen he used the requirements of his internship through The Washington Center to interview and network with prominent people in the book restoration world like Elmer Eusman, head of the Conservation Division at the Library of Congress, and Katie Wagner, senior paper conservator at the Smithsonian Institute Libraries. It’s really exciting and a wonderful example of how students can build on what they’ve learned in their classes with other experiences that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock offers鈥�Gundrum, who graduated with his bachelor鈥檚 degree this month, has already embarked on the next step in his professional career. He has enrolled in the two-year bookbinding program at North Bennet Street School in Boston, one of a handful of programs in the country that offers hands-on book arts education taught by traditionally trained instructors. The two-year, comprehensive bookbinding program teaches students how to make, restore, and preserve books and other printed treasures.听鈥淩estoring old books and bringing them back to life is something that really clicked for me. I am out here in Boston to learn to professionally repair and restore old bindings,鈥� Gundrum said. 鈥淚 never thought I would go to school again after my bachelor鈥檚 degree, but here I am.鈥�
