Barbara Shailor, deputy provost for the arts at Yale University, will speak about "The Illuminated Manuscript in Medieval Spain" at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 in Pullium Auditorium at Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 N. Central Ave. The free program, sponsored by the Phoenix Public Library Foundation, is open to the public.

Illuminated manuscripts are codices or scrolls decorated with illustrations or designs in gold, silver and bright colors. The special program by Shailor, a leading scholar in monastic book production, will include images of Spain's great illuminated masterpiece of 1095 A.D., the "Silos Beatas."

Shailor is the author of the three-volume “Catalogue of Medieval and Renaissance MSS in the Beinecke Rare Book & MSS Library, Yale University (1984-1993)” and of the frequently reprinted “The Medieval Book: Catalogue of an Exhibition at the Beinecke Rare Book and MS Library.” She has published extensively on Visigothic paleography and monastic book production in medieval Spain.

Phoenix Public Library is a system of 14 branch libraries and the Burton Barr Central Library. For more information, call 602-262-4636 or visit phoenixpubliclibrary.org.