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« July 2008 | Main | September 2008 »
The Youth Services Department at the Main Library is currently exhibiting the original art of children's author/illustrator, Patricia Polacco. My Ol' Man is the story of her father, who according to Polacco, "was a traveling salesman, a flimflam man, a dream saver, a wish keeper."
Polacco's preparatory drawings and watercolors will be on display on the second floor at the Main Library through September 29.
When I first arrived at Prints and Photographs, I received a processing plan and several Hollinger boxes filled with unsorted postcards. With the help of three other interns, I sorted and organized over 56,000 postcards dating from the 1890’s through the 1950’s. We sorted the postcards into a series for U. S. geographical, foreign geographical, and topical. Each series were further sorted into states, countries, cities, topics, genres, etc. It was a great experience getting to see our history through postcards. It was almost a kind of vicarious traveling. Throughout the project I had to do a lot of research. Many of the postcards lacked geographical identities, so part of my task was finding out where these places were or what these postcards were about.
Sometimes this required going up to the Copyright Office and using their record books and card catalog (the Copyright Office has the largest card catalog in the world, it really is something to see). Also, while working on the collection, we pulled postcards that we thought were interesting or unique and set those aside to use for an exhibit. Part of the Junior Fellow program includes a one-day exhibit of the treasures that we discovered in our divisions. One of the postcards I included in the exhibit was of an early Zeppelin airship (the LZ3) and written on the back was the following, “Vienna, Austria. Sept 7, 1908. Dear Uncle, Here is the way we may visit Europe in 2008 […].”
I also got to create catalog records for the items that I chose for the exhibit (I have to say, I have a lot more respect for catalogers now). By the end of the ten weeks, I had helped turn an unorganized collection (useless to librarians and researchers) into over 70 organized boxes, including a container list, allowing anyone interested in either the history of postcards or in specific localities the ability to find and use this collection for their research.
Besides the actual work I did, I also got to see a lot of great things that others don’t get the opportunity to see. The program included many tours of different divisions and facilities. I got to see the Conservation division and watch conservators work on one of Thomas Jefferson’s papers. I got to see the bible that Lincoln was sworn in on, Thoreau’s personal copy of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, two books from George Washington’s collection, the Bay Psalm Book (the first book printed in North America), and much more. It was a biblioholic’s dream come true. We took a tour of the Fort Meade facility, which is their newest off-site storage facility that uses a maximum space-efficiency approach to storing items (the building is brand new, it houses millions of items, and already they need to expand it!). Also, we toured the new state-of-the-art Audio-Visual Conservation Center where all of the motion pictures and sound recordings are kept. The Library of Congress is enormous, obviously.
Overall, I had a wonderful time and I learned a lot about the Library of Congress and how something so large and daunting is managed, cared for, and used. I learned a lot about the management of collections, in general, and the approaches and techniques that the Library of Congress uses. Hopefully, I can say that I’ve acquired a new skill set; I’ve definitely received top-notch professional training. Although I had a great time, I am glad to be back. One of the things I’ve learned is that like any library, the collections are only as good as the people who care for them and share their knowledge and passion with others. The Library of Congress truly is our nation’s library and there are many wonderful people there who make it what it is.
So, all we Harry Potter fans were so excited for November to roll around. I mean, if the cold weather is going to blow in, a good movie might as well come in with it. But then the movie studio goes and drops the bombshell announcement that it's postponing the release date until JULY! AND it's not even because it's still in production. No, they're in post production. The reason is so it can be released for the "big summer movie season." Do they not realize holiday releases and movie seasons are pretty large, too? I suppose the "good news" for some fans is that the Twilight movie, based on the book of the same name, is being released in December (and rumors have it being released on the original HP date). But, really, I'm not sure if they compare. (Link)
I’ve just spent the past ten weeks working at the Library of Congress as a Junior Fellow Summer Intern. Now that I’m back, I thought I’d share a little about my experience.
The Junior Fellow program brought 50 interns to the library and set us up in one of the many divisions which make up the Library of Congress. My assignment was with the Prints and Photographs Division. My task for the ten weeks -- to sort, organize, and index the unprocessed postcard collection.
First of all, if you haven’t been to the Library of Congress, be sure to make it your first stop if you’re ever in the District of Columbia. The LC has three buildings at the top of Capitol Hill, the Jefferson, Adams, and Madison—you can’t miss them. The Jefferson building is absolutely stunning, filled with marble, frescoes, and an awe-inspiring reading room. I, however, worked in the Madison building, the least sexy of the LC buildings.
Although the Madison building isn’t much to look at, there are tons and tons of really interesting items stored away in boxes throughout miles of shelving -- like postcards, for example. I'll tell you all about that in my next entry.
The American Library Association recently received a $1 million grant to study how games improve literacy and enhance problem solving skills. The funds will allow library gaming experts across the country to monitor how people use games. The results will help to develop a tool kit libraries can use to design special programs.
GRPL offers gaming events for teens. Check our calendar for the next Wii gaming event location.
To get an idea about how libraries use games, watch this video:
Wondering what your neighbors are reading? Here are the top ten titles on hold for GRPL patrons as of August 1st:
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