One ArtLibrarian's Travels

Back in the saddle

2011-05-21T15:18:00.000+01:00

Checking back on this blog, whilst subscribing to another, I realised it is exactly a year since I last posted anything. Apart from having to hide whenever I see anyone from ARLIS (who generously helped to fund the travels I made in Winter 2010, about which I have not yet written my report), I'm sad I didn't keep up with recording of what was a truly wonderful experience (I refuse to say once-in-a-lifetime, I'm not averse to cliches if appropriate, but because I am so very determined to do it again ... often)
I'm also about to travel a bit to Stratford and to York (if I can't get to the New one the old one is a lovely substitute!) and I will look out for libraries and bookshops to revive the blogging instinct.
and you never know, maybe the US trip will one day be recorded in the ether!
ps I should also add that my friend Jackie's blog of her year-out to visit World Heritage sites and make lego models of the places she sees has also inspired me. Now to work out how I can make a link to that .... yes: Read it here!

Library architecture: Review of The L!brary Book

2010-05-13T10:44:00.000+01:00

A review of a new book on library architecture from the blog A Daily Dose of Architecture
Although this is a review of an architectural initiative involving school libraries in New York City, it is always interesting to read how another professional - and indeed a "reader" - understands what a library is, and what they think it should be in the future.
I was reminded on this occasion that readers' perception of our libraries is affected just as much by the space, as by the collections and the people who assist their access to them.
Welcoming, uncluttered and tidy rooms, counters and even stacks are important. Not just for aesthetics or out of habit, but because the reader's experience is fundamentally shaped by what they see and how comfortable they feel in our spaces.
There are photographs of the libraries and more about the initiative on the Robin Hood Initiatives website

Back to the beginning

2010-02-08T06:17:00.005Z

Its a Snow Day, not here in New York, but since I'm supposed to be in Washington right now, and I'm not, simply because of the snow, its a Snow Day. So I'm finally going to begin ...

The LuEsther T Mertz Library sits in creamy splendour on a low rise in the New York Botanical Gardens, in Queens.

An avenue of trees (and, yes, even though I was visiting one of the world's most important Botanical Gardens, I neglected to note what type of tree!)

leads to splendid stairs attended by mer-people frolicking in a fountain (frozen on this particular day).

The library building was recently renovated and extended and this review by Alan Burdick, in the May 2002 issue of Discover describes the history, collections and renovation far more eloquently than I can - well worth a few minutes reading. Anyone may use the library: its careful welcome to visitors will be familiar to my colleagues.

And why is it interesting to art and museum librarians? Well, botanical literature and prints, an art form in their own right, are extensively used by artists and designers, not just as source material for landscape and garden design, for example, but also as inspiration for patterns, fashion and furniture. The LuEsther Mertz Library holdings include oil paintings and sculpture as well as prints, drawings and watercolours; the collections are properly curated: their conservators received a National Institute for Conservation Heritage Award in 2003 for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections (read this, oh friends, and weep) and ARLIS/NY saw fit to include it in their annual programme of visits and events, as reported on page 5 of their Fall 2003 Newsletter.

But to be honest that's not the only reason I'm posting this - the most exciting part was the unexpected extra: we tentatively approached the front doors and, despite the imposing facade, were welcomed in by a guard who directed us to the displays that explained some of the research undertaken at the NYBG. We held the lift for a man struggling a little bit with a large box, who commented that my accent indicated a familiarity probably with Kew Gardens, before he went off behind staff-only doors, only to reappear. Were we interested in hearing about his research? Of course, we were! He took us to a section on Brazil nuts, succinctly describing decades of research in tropical forests, then he went off again while we continued admiring the exhibition.

[Note: most of the "exhibited books" displayed were in fact blanks, with reproduced pages laid on top - understandable for preservation, but it did reduce some of the enjoyment and awe]

Ten minutes later Scott A. Mori was back: would we like to see the Herbarium? Usually only accessible by appointment to bone fide researchers, since he was re-shelving a few specimens he'd be happy to briefly show us the facility. How could a librarian responsible for storage and preservation resist such an offer? It was fascinating, although there wasn't time to ask the myriad of questions that came to mind - such as how were the specimens - preserved parts of plants at different stages of its life-cycle attached to standard size pages - housed, how was the storage organised ... especially when we finally admitted that we weren't actually botanists, just very impressed, grateful visitors.

A final pleasing serendipity: when he was Director of the Institute of Systematic Botany at the NYBG, Dr Mori added to the art collections.

[Acknowledgements: except for the first, crooked one, my cousin Cate took the photos]

Updates, plans and ... a new blog

2010-01-27T01:40:00.001Z

Today I attended a free class in "Getting started in blogging" held in the Celeste Bartos Education Center at South Court in the main NYPL building on 5th Avenue: a state-of-the-art classroom, complete with terminals, comfortable chairs and lesson notes on a hand-out. The class was lead by an archivist/special formats cataloguer, ie not a librarian specifically responsible for "education and outreach" but simply a member of staff with a particular set of interest and skills. There was a diverse group of students, with enormously varying degrees of ability, and the teacher patiently explained the very basics, whilst trying to encourage those who were wanting to move ahead.   The most important thing I learned:

Anybody Can Read Your Blog

I hadn't seriously thought about this, but it did make me re-consider (and even edit) some of the thoughts I have already posted. And for the same reason, I have decided to simultaneously run two blogs: this one will concentrate on more professional stuff such as visits to collections, meetings with other art librarian's etc, and the other will be a more personal record of three months in the United States.

I'm hoping this blog will give a glimpse into the kinds of issues that some art librarians deal with or are interested in, which is why I have linked to the Just an Art Librarian blog, and why ARLIS/UK & Ireland have put it on their website.  Since arriving in New York and being placed in the position of consumer, rather than provider, I have also begun to think about public libraries and how they serve their communities. (The library I work in, although not a public library, is open to the public, but also has other user comunities).  So I have also added another library blog:
The Library of Digress   http://libraryofdigress.wordpress.com/
which I admire not only because I have worked with the author, but also because it gives a British perspective.

I'm off to New Haven, Connecticut tomorrow morning, but will add a couple more posts this evening.

And if you are interested, my other blog is called Deborah in America and is at:
http://drsnyc.wordpress.com/

At last - news from America

2010-01-21T04:02:00.004Z

My sister has finally returned from a conference in Argentina, and I have access to the internet, so all the news I've been bursting to tell can start trickling onto the screen. I have loads of photos, too, but they will have to wait until after I've attended the New York Public Library free lecture on Tuesday 26th: "Getting started with blogging".

I am bowled over by how rooted in its community this library seems to be. There are masses of events and opportunities to learn, most of which are free: http://www.nypl.org/events. Yesterday I went to see an exhibition of prints by Michael Dal Cerro on the 3rd floor of the Mid-Manhattan Library (across the street from the amazing beaux-arts NYPL building guarded by the famous lions).

Its a different place entirely from the "main branch" - scuffed and tatty, with some clientele familiar to anyone who's ever used a public library (that disturbing not-washed recently smell) but it was so busy and buzzy: there was a line about 5 metres long of people who'd seemingly popped in after work to check out books and dvds, and 3 librarians busy at the terminals to assist them. I went in, stood behind a man prepared for a good long sleep (I guess) with his pillows and blanket, had my bag checked, but otherwise unchallenged. On the art floor a reference librarian was constantly answering a range of questions - not just "where are the toilets", but "how do I find information about Arthur Miller" or "a video about Louis Kahn". The exhibition proved to be 6 vibrant woodcuts on a wall - on the theme of the city, and, in particular, exploring how the car has become so central to our/American lives (a favourite soapbox of mine) The influence of comic book art was clear, as well as, I thought, the influence of the science fiction aesthetic of mass-production (The Matrix, Alien II etc). I thought I'd see if they had a copy of John Berger's "Ways of seeing" as I was hoping to attend classes at the Brooklyn Brainery on how to look at art (http://brooklynbrainery.com/), and when I checked the catalogue 4 of the 5 copies were out, but the last - very battered - copy was on the shelf where it should be, so I sat down and spent a happy half hour studying. All unhassled and for free.

The Brooklyn Brainery was booked up so I returned to Mid-Manhattan Library this evening to listen to Sharon Zukin, author of "Naked City" talk about how the gentrification of neighbourhoods in New York City's 5 boroughs has reduced the very "authenticity" that people seek by moving there. In an audience of probably 200 people, about 20 appeared to be regulars to the lecture programme, and all enjoyed a thorough, if occasionally somewhat nostalgic, debate about change in the city and the homogenisation of communities and consumer choices (yet another of my soapboxes - I'm starting to feel right at home here!)

Thanks to sightseeing with family and a bit of solo exploring I even recognised and had visited some of those neighbourhoods, more of which later.

Early winter morning

2010-01-05T08:34:00.001Z

An unexpected early morning, and no obligations meant a comfortable commute and nearly two hours of a quiet office to mess around and catch up with stuff.
I'm very excited to have my first follower - thanks Maggie! And I've added "Just an Art Librarian" to my blog reading list. Struck by the fact that the three librarian blogs I've come across so far (including this one) have a somewhat self-deprecatory tone to their user names. When will we ever give ourselves some credit???
Looking forward, today, to getting the Liberty catalogues photographed for the website, organising the re-pressmarking and handing over 20th century Gallery responsibilities to Ruth. The endless list of people who have happily taken on more work so that I can take this break is amazing. Thanks very much Anne, Bryony, Dawn, Ella, Frances, Jen, Juliet, Kirsten, Marc, Natasha, Patrick, Ruth, Sally, and Shona (and Keith!)

Brilliant news!

2010-01-04T13:09:00.003Z

The best news so far this year is that ARLIS/UK & Ireland have kindly agreed to support these travels with funding from the Travel & Study Fund.
I am really grateful and have already started to contact libraries I hope to visit, as well as ARLIS North America, since their annual conference is in April, in Boston (only 3 hours from NYC by train, I think) and this funding means I'll be able to attend:
http://www.arlisna.org/boston2010/

The first working Monday of the year

2010-01-04T09:14:00.003Z

and here I am still sitting at my desk with a pile of things to do - although officially I'm not working today, or for the next 77 days. Hoping that no one will notice me and I can enjoy finally clearing away some of this clutter ...
I'm going to have to learn to type properly is one thing for sure