Several years ago, I was talking with a scholar. We were discussing book collectors, and he had little tolerance for them. His comment was that books were a tool for him to use in research. He could not understand book collectors who amassed books for the sake of owning the book and not for reading it. The idea of a book collector who does not read all the books cover to cover in his collection was anathema to him. I also knew a book collector who did not grasp the scholars perspective. He acquired for the sake of acquisition but never read any of them. It was a matter of filling out series in order to have sets. My daughter was teasing me the other day that if I were to have my portrait painted that I would have to do it in front of my library. I guess I stand with a foot in each of the camps listed above. I have books that I use in my work and are what the trade would call beater copies that probably have little value. These books I have bought and sold many times over the years. Moving lots of books is expensive, and, sadly, the secondhand market is so soft that I have often sold chunks of my library to then repurchase the needed titles after we have moved. However, I also have several shelves of books that I have not read. I own them as collector items and for the sake of having them. Those books have moved across the country several times with me. I treasure my western histories, Pennsylvania German imprints, and American regionalist writers. Those books are treasured parts of my collection that I do not read but love to own. Books are an interesting part of our collecting world. I would argue that most of us, regardless of what we collect, have a library of books. Prior to the internet, books were the tool that all of us used to research our collections, not just price guides or picture books but the research books that we use in our subject. And those research books can expand into the gray area of being part of our collection. A collection of toys can prompt a collector to buy original toy catalogs. A collector of fraktur can start to purchase early Pennsylvania German imprints to discover design sources. The line gets very blurred between books to read and books to own. The scholar who only wants books to read, in my opinion, misses the pleasure of owning a book for a books sake. The collector who only wants books for their artifactual value probably should start reading a bit more. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.