My first taste of archival work

The shifting finally done, I began today on an actual archival project of sorts. Apparently the photos from the NC Collection's online exhibit of Civil Rights in Durham was not treated in perhaps the most professional manner and, as such, each photo has upwards of three identifying numbers. The staff are trying to make it such that each photo has only a single identifier, so I have been compiling a spreadsheet of the images and their possible numbers. It's not the most exciting of work, but it's ultimately going to make the collection more streamlined. Plus it's fascinating to look at the images of protesters and demonstrations from the early sixties. Stuff like that keeps me coming back to archives, even when I'm not sure that it's something I want to do professionally.

As archives go, this one seems to be used on a fairly regular basis. While processing photos, a gentleman came in who was performing some genealogical research for an upcoming family reunion. He had done some extensive work already, and was laden down with folders, photographs, etc. containing family information. He wound up striking up a conversation with a woman at the same table who was browsing old yearbooks, and they spent a good hour discussing his research and family history. I eavesdropped as I worked and was captivated both by his stories and by the way archives can bring people together in this way. I look forward to more experiences such as this one in my last few days here.

Fun in the NC Room

On Tuesday I finally got the opportunity to spend some time in the NC Collection. Granted, that time was spent shifting books around to make more room in the collection, but I suspect that they will have some more interesting tasks once that project is completed.

The NC Collection is an interesting one. From what I gather, the NC Collection at UNC consists mostly of books written by North Carolina authors, so I had expected more of the same in this collection. This turned out not to be the case. Actually, the majority of books that I saw were fairly dull: budget reports from years past, census materials, and so on. Mixed in with these rather stodgy, official reports are some items that come as something of a surprise, such as the entire shelf full of material related to paranormal activity. (I suspected, and my guess turned out to be correct, that these items are here courtesy of their association with the Rhine Research Center.)

This was a fairly short post. I expect that I'll have more to report once I'm done moving books around.

In which I have a great idea

Last week I attended a department meeting for the first time since I started here. I picked a good day to do so, because one staff member brought in a feast of produce from her garden: tomatoes, basil, olives. Combined with fresh mozzarella from Chapel Hill Creamery and a fruit salad, it made for a delicious lunch.

It's not really required that interns attend these meetings, but I was glad I did so. More than anything I've done at this field experience, the weekly meetings provide the best insight into the marketing department's goals and what the department really does for the library. Today we discussed, among other things, the open house celebration at the East Regional branch, how to acknowledge donors to the library, and a promotion for a volunteer drive that the library is doing in conjunction with the American Cancer Society.

One issue we addressed was how best to acknowledge donors to the library. Those who donated over a certain amount will have their names engraved on a plaque that will hang at one of the branches, while those who donate under a certain amount will have their names put on a bookplate. The issue was how to show gratitude to the middle-of-the-road donors, and I hit upon a solution which I think is actually going to be put into effect: patron picks. Essentially, these donors would have the opportunity to select five or so books that would go on a recommendation shelf along with their name. It's a simple idea, requires almost no extra resources, and seems as though it would appeal to numerous people.

Fun and Games

Today I was introduced to adult services library John Davis, who is starting up a monthly session of popular tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons for library patrons of all ages. I was interested in speaking to John (and I like to think that he was interested in speaking with me) because I volunteer running a D&D session for the Chatham library's teen game night. Not to mention that we share a fondness for graphic novels and all things geeky.

We had a very enlightening talk today about how we run our respective D&D sessions at our respective libraries. It's interesting to see how much variation exists for a single game: different ages of players, different rule sets, etc. His first session is in about a week and while I can't make that one, I hope to maybe attend the second session so we can bounce more ideas off of one another. We also discussed an upcoming adult programming event centered around game design. I know an inordinate number of friends who are interested in board game design, and I have passed the list of panel members along to them in an attempt to pique their interest. I find myself doing this a good deal these days. DCL's adult and humanities programs touch on such a wide variety of topics that I an always think of at least one person who would find any given discussion of interest. A simple yet effective way to boost library patronage.

Donde esta la biblioteca? The importance of Spanish in a library setting

My buddy Josh, a Spanish instructor at Wake Tech, once told me, in response to my fears about finding a job post-graduation, that as long as I knew basic computer skills and was able to speak Spanish I would have no trouble finding employment. That's of course an over-simplified list of qualifications, but I had never really before considered the importance (the necessity?) of knowing how to speak Spanish in a public library setting. It turns out that it's a skill that might well be essential.

I graduated from Carolina in 2010 with a minor in Spanish. Since graduation, I've not have much occasion to use the language and have consequently forgotten a good deal of it. Should I go into public librarianship, I think it's a skill that I will definitely want to brush up on once again.

DCL has a staff member who serves as the system's Hispanic services librarian. (I can't find her name on the website, so I can't be sure if that's her official title.) The fact that such a position exists demonstrates that there is a real need for this sort of language provider within the library community. You can see the Hispanic influence in some of the events that the library hosts. There are bilingual storytimes for children and, at a workshop on cancer prevention a couple of weeks ago, an interpreter was on hand to provide simultaneous translation while the talk was being held. It's a trend that I have no doubt will continue to develop over the next several years.

The All-Important Book of Clips

On my desk at the library is a binder of considerable size. Within this binder live scanned copies of (just about) every single clip related to the library published in the local papers. Nothing is overlooked, not even the very tiny one-sentence briefs announcing the meeting times of the North Regional chess club. It's my understanding that the binder is brought out at board meetings so that Gina can show to the BoD that marketing is doing a good job of keeping the library in the public eye.

On one hand, I don't know why she bothers. It's not as if newspaper readership is exactly faring well, so why does it matter if articles--much less those tiny little event blurbs--even make it in there in the first place? On the other hand, this makes perfect sense. A rundown of the spreadsheet of Humanities Society members shows that a good many of them (three hundred out of around thirteen hundred) do not have an e-mail address, whether because they do not want one or because they do not have home internet. For these people, many of whom are senior citizens, the newspaper is still a main source for local events. It would then make sense that it's important to keep track of what is being reported upon in the print media so that marketing can then keep tabs on which events are receiving the most coverage and can then compare that amount of coverage to attendance rates at events to see if the two are connected.

The Resident Archivist

Lynn Richardson is the DCL's archivist, or at least the closest thing to an archivist that the library has. She is the head of the North Carolina Collection, and Joanne tells me that she is the only archivist in the world to exclusively collect materials related to Durham. (I have to wonder why the collection is called the "North Carolina Collection" in that case, but some things will remain a mystery, I suppose.)

It seems unusual to me that a public library would have an archivist on staff. I tend to associate the profession with special collections and major universities, but not the local library. Many public libraries will offer rudimentary genealogy instruction, but again it hardly seems worth their while to keep a full-time archivist on staff. Most archival material is kept in university collections or, at a local level, in the city hall or the town records department. Were I trying to consult local primary sources, I would go to these places first, certainly not the library.

Lynn seems to be the exception to the above. A fiercely capable archivist, she fought for her collection when library administration seemed content to cut resources willy-nilly (see previous post). The collection seems to be well-used. Whenever I walk by en route to the copy machine or the break room, there is usually a handful of people, none of whom look particularly "scholarly," studying documents. I wonder if they are conducting family history or if they are searching for something different altogether. I'd be interested to learn how such a unique collection of historical records is used.

I hope to speak with Lynn more about her job later this summer. As I start to lean more toward public librarianship than archives, an archives position that works closely with the public library is probably the sort that I would find the most appealing.