Library of Congress rare books chief to return to KU for Snyder Book Collecting Contest

LAWRENCE — Stephanie Stillo’s journey has stretched coast to coast, but it was in Kansas where an extraordinary path began to reveal itself. More than a decade ago, as a graduate student at the University of Kansas, Stillo spent time researching rare materials at KU’s Kenneth Spencer Research Library, sparking a sense of purpose that has carried her to become chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress.  

Stillo, who graduated from KU in 2014 with a doctorate in modern European history, returns to campus April 16 as the keynote speaker for KU Libraries’ Snyder Book Collecting Contest. 

The contest is now accepting student entries through March 24, celebrating 68 years of encouraging student book collections. Student collections do not need to be rare or expensive to enter, only indicative of the student’s curiosity, learning or personal path.  

From her own time at KU, Stillo said she appreciates the value of student opportunities to engage and connect with the libraries as well as the ways new or unexpected experiences can help shape the future.

“Really it all started in Spencer Library. I walked into that space, and you have those windows that look into the collection and that wild red carpet,” Stillo said, describing the library’s North Gallery. “You are in such an arresting space, and I was like, I have to know more about this. I wanted to just reach out and touch those books, and much to my surprise, the librarians there let me. They brought me in and sat me down in front of collections. They said it's OK for you to be here, and we're excited about what questions you may have.” 

Surrounded by centuries-old pages and librarians who welcomed her curiosity, something clicked, she said. 

“At the time, I had been starting to think about applying to different research grants in libraries, starting to think about libraries. And I found so much encouragement from the Spencer staff that it truly changed my life,” Stillo said. 

In her role at the Library of Congress, Stillo leads the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, which includes nearly a million items as North America’s largest rare book collection and is home to some of the United States’ rarest collections, including Thomas Jefferson’s library.   

With the mandate of collecting for the nation, Stillo directs the growth, care, interpretation and promotion of the collections, overseeing acquisitions and public outreach.  

“Trying to make sure that everyone knows these collections are for them no matter where they are is really beautiful to me,” Stillo said. 

Some of the most defining and meaningful moments of her work are also the most human.  

“One of my absolute favorite parts of my job is that I am constantly showing people something they have never seen before, that sometimes they've never even thought of before,” Stillo said. “And being with someone in that moment of discovery is one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced in my life. I think when you can sit with someone and you are walking them through something that is unique and new to them, that is a singular human experience, both for the viewer and for me, who's holding the book.” 

Moments of discovery and connection echo through Stillo’s career path and bring her back to KU to judge the Snyder Book Collecting Contest, a KU Libraries tradition engineered to encourage students to pursue their own curiosity.  

Entries for the 2026 Snyder Book Collecting Contest can be submitted via webform through March 24. Finalists’ collections will be displayed and winners announced at a celebratory reception from 4 to 6 p.m. April 16 on the third floor of Watson Library, where Stillo will give the keynote address. The event is free and open to the public, with RSVPs encouraged but not required. 

About the contest

Elizabeth Morrison Snyder established the Snyder Book Collecting Contest in 1957, endowing the prizes for the future to provide permanent funding for the competition. Though she said she was “really not much of a collector,” she built many remarkable collections, including one on A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, and an H.L. Mencken collection that includes inscribed first editions and letters written by Mencken. Snyder donated both collections to KU Libraries as part of multiple donations made over the years. 

Until her death in 2004, Snyder attended the awards ceremony to share her enthusiasm for book collecting.   

This year, winners in the undergraduate and graduate divisions will receive a cash prize of $500 and a gift card from co-sponsor Jayhawk Ink, with additional prizes for second place and honorable mention. First-place winners in each division are eligible to compete in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, which awards a top prize of $2,500.  

A celebration of the national contest winners traditionally takes place at the Library of Congress each year, allowing Stillo to experience the power of book collecting in the lives of participants and the ways that exploring personal passions, learning and related experiences can open up new possibilities and pathways.  

“You never know where those pathways are going to take you,” Stillo said.