This summer, I had the extraordinary privilege of interning with Emory University’s Woodruff Library Resource Description team. As an undergraduate entering my final year and planning to pursue an MLIS, this experience offered me hands-on insight into the world of cataloging. Now, it could be assumed that I’d be working on standard materials like course reserves or textbooks. In actuality, I found myself cataloging rare, limited-edition, and signed photography books donated by none other than Sir Elton John. I had the opportunity to continue the work of a previous summer intern, Mia McCown from Agnes Scott College, who began the project the year before.
Emory’s Randy Gue and Jordan K. Putt, assistant director to the Sir Elton John Photography Collection, at Elton John’s home reviewing his book collection.
While it may not be widely known, Sir Elton maintained a home in Atlanta from the 1990s until 2023, when he decided to sell his penthouse. As part of that move, he chose to donate his personal photography book collection and Emory University was given first rights. According to an email received by the library from John’s staff, “Elton suggested the idea of donating to the Emory library so that his books could have an impact after leaving his collection.” Art history librarian Kim Collins and Randy Gue, Rose Library’s assistant director of collection development, were invited to visit Sir Elton’s home and selected roughly 2,000 titles for Emory’s collections.
Emory’s effort to catalog, house, and preserve this collection and make it accessible to Emory community was profiled by Rough Draft Atlanta. So far, 1,065 of those books have been cataloged. While my contribution represents only a small piece of this larger project, it has been deeply meaningful. This internship not only sharpened my cataloging skills but also gave me a unique window into the world Sir Elton John curated through photography.
One of the most memorable aspects of working with the collection was how intimate many of the books felt. Some held printed emails between Elton’s private art buyer and gallery curators. Others featured sticky notes marking specific images he may have intended to purchase. Many of the books were signed by the photographers or authors themselves including a copy of “Blackface” by David Levinthal, who uses toy-sized props and lighting to depict scenes on war, voyeurism, race, and pop culture. In one book, I even came across a handwritten note from his husband, David Furnish. The books themselves span much of Sir Elton’s life. The earliest titles in the collection date back to 1972, and the most recent were published as late as 2022. The books were published in more than 25 countries and in over 15 languages. One standout is “Marilyn in New York,” a German-language title featuring photography by Ed Feingersh from the Michael Ochs Archives.
Students and faculty took part in a collage and zine-making exercise on Oct. 6, 2024, using the dust jackets of books donated by Sir Elton John.
Given the scale of the collection, Emory has approached the cataloging with both thoroughness and creativity. In the process of cataloging, dust jackets are typically removed and discarded. But in an effort to reduce waste, Emory hosted a zine-making and collage workshop called “HANDS ON: An art making study break with Sir Elton John’s photography books” using the jackets as art material. Students and faculty gathered to create pieces inspired by and made from the removed book covers. It was a beautiful way to celebrate the collection while upholding the sustainability practices so important in modern librarianship.
Of course, because of the size and fragility of many volumes, the collection is being stored at the Library Service Center (LSC), a climate-controlled, high-density facility jointly operated by Emory and Georgia Tech. While patrons can’t browse its 32-foot-high stacks in person, all materials are fully accessible upon request.
In my work, I also explored how these books are classified. Looking at Library of Congress subject headings, two categories emerged most frequently: TR647 (focused on artistic photography exhibitions) and TR681 (portraits of specific groups or individuals). Other common classifications focused on the periods the photographs were taken, especially works from 1952–2000 and 2001 to the present. Some books were uniquely classified, like one under NK7398, dealing with jewelry by special artists, and another under DS485, a historical work on a lesser-known region in India.
As of now, the books that have been cataloged are searchable on Emory Libraries’ website using the phrase “gift of Sir Elton John” and can also be found on WorldCat, making them discoverable to researchers and photography enthusiasts worldwide. Emory is still in the process of cataloging the remaining titles.
This internship taught me not only how to describe and preserve books, but how libraries preserve stories. Sir Elton John’s photography book collection is more than a set of beautiful objects. It is an interesting perspective into his passions, his aesthetic, and his belief in art as something worth sharing. Being part of that process, even in a small way, was an experience worth remembering.
—by Lily Brickmeier, 2025 summer intern, Robert W. Woodruff Library