Libraries, Archives, and all things Bookish...

[mamselle]

Since we don't have a thread here (I checked), but did on CHE, I'm starting one now.

I am a fan of all things library--have been since my mom used to wheel us up in the baby buggy when I was 4, my sister 2, to the little branch library in the tiny shopping center near our first family home (we moved when I was finished with kindergarten, so I know it was that early).

My sister is now a retired town librarian, and I'm a well-worn traveler/visitor of probably 40 libraries and archives in the US, UK, CA, and Europe....so far.

I'm also very grateful for digitized sources at present.

To my mind, librarians make the world go 'round.

And we have some on these threads, so maybe this can be a space for things library-related overall.

M.

[sinenomine]

I'm a big library fan, too, and remember my excitement when I was a child and my mother would tell me we were going there. I'm always bemused by the prevalence of ghost stories (something I study) told about libraries. Apparently many people find them creepy; I find them welcoming and soothing.

[mamselle]

Yes, who knows what all those characters get up to at night when no-one's around to read them into being?

M.

[traductio]

Last week my seven-year-old son got his very own library card! He was so proud. He checked out a stack of books about dragons and heroes of all stripes.

(I'm an avid reader, but my family puts me to shame -- in 2006 or so, my spouse picked up a handful of pamphlets listing cool books on different themes, and she has systematically read every single one. She has a spreadsheet. My daughter, who's 11, was complaining the other day because she had read every book in her room twice, or three times, or four. She has 100+ books in there.)

[mamselle]

Reminds me of the book sale stall at a conference once.

The janitor had come in with his 9-year-old son, who was shadowing him that weekend, and the son started looking at the books.

Suddenly, he got really still and started looking intently at one, slowing down, turning the pages, nodding his head.

We all snuck out to leave him to it.

"Shh--a reader," the bookstall owner said. "They're getting to be a rare breed these days. Don't want to scare one of the young ones away."

M. 

[Anselm]

I live walking distance from a Carnegie library.   I just visited the Iowa State Capitol building which has an impressive looking law library.  I have about 3000 books in my one bedroom apartment.  If I had a house then it would be over 10,000 books.

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."

Erasmus.

[hmaria1609]

Mamselle, merci for starting this!  :)

The campus library where I did my internship (for academic credit) during my last semester of library/school supposedly had the ghost of a previous librarian.  Library staff thought it was nonsensical!

For those of who've been to Baltimore, there are branch libraries with Carnegie-like features but they're not. A historical marker by Enoch Pratt Central Library in downtown Baltimore explains the connection between Enoch Pratt, a prominent Baltimore businessman and philanthropist, and Andrew Carnegie.

[mamselle]

I've visited the Enoch Pratt library (stayed at a youth hostel across the street from it and the Baltimore Cathedral).

They had some cool dance history materials I copied and still work from.

And of course the Walters Gallery's archives have several MSs that tie to one of my research areas, so I HAD to go there for a couple days, as well.

Such an inconvenience, it was all of three blocks away...

;--}

To say nothing of the elixers of life to be found in the Library of Congress....down the road a bit.

M.

[apl68]

I've never worked in an allegedly haunted library.  I wouldn't care to spend the night in one with the lights out.  They do tend to be spooky places.  A ghost at the library would be as good of an explanation as any I've ever heard for the many times I've had to meet the police here in response to a middle-of-the-night security alarm.

We did once have a boy who kept appearing and disappearing mysteriously during the day.  But he eventually turned out to be a flesh-and-blood child whose mother had allowed him freedom to come and go from their nearby home.  That's sadly unusual here, because our library was built in an area that's not very walkable at all.  You CAN walk here--I do it myself all the time--but most potential patrons would have to cross a moderately busy highway and/or sometimes muddy lots, so mothers letting their children walk here is nearly unheard of.

[mamselle]

Did someone mention there is a writer whose mysteries all take place in libraries?

I recall Margaret Truman's work; all of hers occurred in National Park sites, I think.

But....libraries?

I'm sure I've bumped into Voltaire at the BnF....

;--}

M.

[Vkw10]

Did someone mention there is a writer whose mysteries all take place in libraries?

I recall Margaret Truman's work; all of hers occurred in National Park sites, I think.

But....libraries?

I'm sure I've bumped into Voltaire at the BnF....

;--}

M.

I use https://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com/category/Librarian/%2A to find cozy mysteries set in libraries for my aunt.

[mamselle]

Ooh, cool!

Did she have any favorites?

M.

[onehappyunicorn]

One of the joys I had as a child was going to the library. We had no money as a family so we never went to the movies or amusement parks or anything, the library was a great resource.
In the summer my mother would take us to the library, we didn't have ac in the house so I'm sure that was part of why we visited so much, and then we take our books over to the local park. I checked out as many books as I could, I was a voracious reader.
Someday when I retire I would really love to live close enough to a library to be able to walk over and just sit and read. There's something about the smell and touch of books, I have a hard time reading digitally.

[apl68]

One of the joys I had as a child was going to the library. We had no money as a family so we never went to the movies or amusement parks or anything, the library was a great resource.
In the summer my mother would take us to the library, we didn't have ac in the house so I'm sure that was part of why we visited so much, and then we take our books over to the local park. I checked out as many books as I could, I was a voracious reader.
Someday when I retire I would really love to live close enough to a library to be able to walk over and just sit and read. There's something about the smell and touch of books, I have a hard time reading digitally.

I remember the AC at our town's public library.  It was a converted two-bedroom house.  The children's room was one of the old bedrooms.  It had an AC unit mounted low in a window.  I remember sitting right in front of the bracingly-cold AC reading comic books while waiting for Mom to come pick us up.  We went for stretches where we had no AC at home.  I can still do a mental tour of the whole layout of that room and its shelves, even though the building no longer exists.

Since I work for (and supervise) the only library in town, I can't ever really enjoy just being a patron.  Once in a while when I visit another city I go by a local library and just browse around for a while.

[mamselle]

One of the best ways to get to know a city is to visit its library(ies).

M.