#LIBRARY30 1: My Library
My library is a bit of an unusual creature, as far as I can tell. It's based in a museum within a university, which I often say is the triple whammy of public service - all three are underfunded!
It's mainly a reference library, since the museum's archives are entirely separate, as are the museum's outstanding manuscripts and rare printed books collections. We have several main foci: exhibition catalogues, particularly of exhibitions we've lent objects to, general art texts and periodicals for research, and dealers' and auction catalogues, which I think is our USP. Mind you, no one group seems to demand more enquiries than another, which makes me think that we get the balance about right.
Here is the library as it looks now. When I started, it was about three times the size, but we lost the bit at the front to a locker area, and the open shelves where people could browse the books became a closed off space, so it's somewhat of a corridor now. It can get a bit crowded when we have a lot of visitors! It's open to all: university members, researchers, members of the public, and although most of our visitors are students of history or history of art, sometimes it's surprising who does come to visit.
Of course, that's not happening right now - it's not surprising, but we're currently seeing very few research enquiries or requests to visit while we're all on lockdown!
My library is a bit of an unusual creature, as far as I can tell. It's based in a museum within a university, which I often say is the triple whammy of public service - all three are underfunded!
It's mainly a reference library, since the museum's archives are entirely separate, as are the museum's outstanding manuscripts and rare printed books collections. We have several main foci: exhibition catalogues, particularly of exhibitions we've lent objects to, general art texts and periodicals for research, and dealers' and auction catalogues, which I think is our USP. Mind you, no one group seems to demand more enquiries than another, which makes me think that we get the balance about right.
Here is the library as it looks now. When I started, it was about three times the size, but we lost the bit at the front to a locker area, and the open shelves where people could browse the books became a closed off space, so it's somewhat of a corridor now. It can get a bit crowded when we have a lot of visitors! It's open to all: university members, researchers, members of the public, and although most of our visitors are students of history or history of art, sometimes it's surprising who does come to visit.
Of course, that's not happening right now - it's not surprising, but we're currently seeing very few research enquiries or requests to visit while we're all on lockdown!
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