The philatelic library in Sunnyvale is as unique as say, a stamp from Nepal.
Just ask the volunteers who run the Western Philatelic Library, one of just 12 such libraries in the U.S.--and one of only four that are open to the public.
Roger Skinner, who has been with the collection since its inception in 1968, works among the more than 12,000 books, catalogs and pamphlets that serve as reference guides to the art of stamp collecting.
Finding the story behind the stamp is not as easy as one might think, Skinner said.
The history of the stamp from any given country is a reflection of the history of the country, Skinner said. From the craftsmanship displayed to the quality of paper used, one can trace a country's artistic and economic growth.
"Often, someone will bring in a stamp and they have something that nobody knows anything about it," he said. "It's challenging to learn something where nobody has written a book on it. Even among all these books, there are several gaps."
Last month, the Western Philatelic Library--which survives on donations and its 12 volunteers--received a $1,000 grant from the Exxon Corporation. The money was used to buy not books, but instead, a copy machine.
Now, users of the library, which Skinner admits to be a slim number most days, can at least copy the information they find to be of interest.
Considering the nearest philatelic library is located in San Diego, users have come from as far as Santa Rosa, Skinner said. Most libraries are owned by passionate collectors' societies, and see little use in opening their doors to a curious public.
Those who visit the philatelic library in Sunnyvale often want to know how much their stamp is worth, and some simply want to learn how to start collecting, Skinner said.
Last week a mother and her 9-year-old son dropped by to feed the boy's growing fascination with stamps. Skinner provided a starter's manual and a pocketbook guide to collecting.
"That ought to get him going," Skinner said.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Clever sits on the board of directors of Sunnyvale's Western Philatelic
Library--one of 12 such libraries in the country.
Based on the breadth of literature at the library, musing on stamps has been going on for quite some time.
The library's core collection stems from the Pacific Philatelic Society, which was founded in San Francisco in 1884. Through more than a century of ups and downs, the collection has persevered and remained in the Bay Area. In 1968, Skinner and friends helped start the South Bay Philatelic Library, and found a space in the Sunnyvale Public Library. Since then, the collection has moved out of the library but remained in Sunnyvale. It is now housed in the Raynor Activity Center.
The library has titles on everything from the broad and simple (mass produced stamps made in the U.S.) to specific and eclectic (a man named Adolph Schwartz, an oral surgeon who lived in Bakersfield, wrote 17 books on stamps that were inspired by health and medicine).
Then there is the Czechoslovakian-born engraver Czeslaw Slania. Slania professed that he would design and engrave 1,000 stamps in his lifetime. Judging from the meticulous detail of his work--which is contained in one of the library's books, of course--Slania's goal was hardly an empty gesture.
Now in his 80s, Slania is cutting it close, Skinner said. "He's up somewhere in the 900s."
Also inside the library's collection is 20 years worth of the periodical, E.F.O., which stands for "errors, freaks, and oddities."
Contrary to popular belief, a sheet of Elvis stamps is not the most desired commodity by true collectors, Skinner said. Instead, the rare stamps that come with mistakes, such as wacky perforation lines or random folds are more revered.
"All that kind of stuff drives prices up," Skinner said.
It's hard to find a valuable stamp in this country, Skinner added, noting that the government simply makes too many stamps. With a laugh, Skinner said the government figured out an ingenious way to get people to buy sheets of paper, but never use them.
"It's hard to get a unique thing when you've got 15 million of them," he said.
As for himself, Skinner collects what certainly could be considered a rarity in the field: stamps from Nepal.
In 1854, the prime minister of Nepal visited England and brought back reams of paper to be used for the first run of government-issued stamps. Up until 1950 though, the tiny country's literacy rate topped out at 3 percent, Skinner said.
"Not a whole lot of people were reading and writing, much less sending letters."
Most of the stamps Skinner has collected come from soldiers in training who write back to their homes.
All of which makes collecting stamps from Nepal a sometimes difficult but worthwhile passion, Skinner said. Plus, as the times change, so do the stamps.
"As the literacy rate increases in Nepal, more letters become available," he said.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
