UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries’ 2026 William D. Minter Lectureship in Conservation on Thursday, April 23, will feature Renate Mesmer, whose craftsmanship, technical expertise and dedication to teaching have earned her broad recognition in the international conservation community. She will speak on the topic, “A Wunderkabinett: Bookbinding and Book and Paper Conservation.”
Mesmer is the Eric Weinmann Head of Conservation and Preservation at the Werner Gundersheimer Conservation Laboratory of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. The Folger Shakespeare Library holds one of the world’s most significant collections of early modern books and manuscripts. After joining the library in 2004, Mesmer was named in 2011 to her current role, where she leads its preservation and conservation efforts and mentors emerging conservators through the library’s active training and internship programs.
“We are very lucky to hear from Renate as this year’s lecturer in what may be one of the last speaking engagements of her career, as she plans to retire at the end of this month,” Bill Minter, senior book conservator in the University Libraries’ Conservation Centre, said. “I’m looking forward to having attendees learn about Renate’s significant, instruction-minded expertise, craftsmanship and leadership in the fields of conservation and preservation, especially in having the responsibility to steward some of the most well-known rare collections in the English language.”
Mesmer trained in Germany through a traditional bookbinding apprenticeship and additional formal training, achieving the status of "Meister im Handwerk," or master bookbinder. She has worked in the field of bookbinding and conservation for more than 40 years and expanded her expertise through hands-on experience in European institutions, including several archives and libraries in Germany and beyond.
Through a one-year stipend granted in 1994 through the Carl-Duisberg-Gesellschaft and awarded to highly qualified, non-academic professionals, Mesmer completed internships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Through this experience, she said, she met several influential mentors who played a significant role in her professional development and helped her deepen her skills in conservation.
Before coming to the United States permanently in 2004, Mesmer spent six years working in Switzerland at the Centro del bel libro in Ascona, where she led the Book and Paper Conservation program and taught a wide variety of workshops.
She continues to teach extensively in book and paper conservation, both nationally and internationally, and is widely recognized for her expertise in the conservation of wax seals. She is particularly dedicated to advancing cast‐pulp paper techniques and to preserving the history and knowledge of rare conservation methods such as leafcasting and paper splitting.
Her professional service includes leadership as president of the GBW (Guild of Book Workers) Potomac Chapter and, since 2011, as president of IADA (International Association of Book and Paper Conservators). In these roles she supports the organization and its board in fostering international knowledge exchange, organizing regular international conferences and contributing to the publication of the Journal of Paper Conservation.
The 2026 Minter Lectureship in Conservation will be held at 4 p.m. Eastern time in Foster Auditorium, first floor Paterno Library, on the University Park campus and online via Zoom. All attendees, virtual and in person, are asked to register at this link. Non-registered guests will be accommodated as space allows.
For more information or for questions about the event, email Jacqueleen Quinn at jjq13@psu.edu.