Friday, July 24, 2015

July 6: St. Paul's Cathedral Library

I left my heart in the library of St. Paul's Cathedral...

...and my camera in Stratford-upon-Avon. So, photos for the next few posts have been kindly donated by classmates or borrowed from the Internet.

Joseph Wisdom, the Librarian, showed us around St. Paul's Cathedral Library. He was lovely. He didn't just talk about the collection, but reminded us (well, me, anyway) of the purpose and philosophy behind library service.

We started in the Cathedral itself, where he pointed out a carving above a large wooden door leading to the library upstairs. The carving is of a book (presumably the Bible) with a heart above it, perhaps conveying the idea that the message of the Gospel needs to be given with love, or there's no point. Mr. Wisdom said that that is true of any type of service. In anything we do, we should do it with love.

Then, he brought us up a long spiral staircase to the upper floor--the BBC was there, setting up to film a memorial service in honor of victims of the July 7, 2005 bombing.

The library/archive of St. Paul's Cathedral collects any materials, artifacts, and even ideas related to the Cathedral, conceptually. The library operates under separate legislation from that governing a museum. It follows the direction of the Church...to a point. For example, if the Church decides to have an exhibit and hires outside contractors to set up the display, Mr. Wisdom must sometimes insert himself into the conversation and place limits or make suggestions to ensure that items from the collection are kept in safe condition. Sometimes they'll have to change the display conditions or create copies of the items instead.

We passed through a large, open area upstairs that is serving, for the moment, as a holding area for certain items. Then we went into a room--the original "library in the north tower"--that houses a huge, working model of a design created by Christopher Wren when he was pitching his ideas for the Cathedral. The design was rejected, because it looked too much like St. Peter's Basilica and they wanted something a bit less...Catholic.
Image from https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/the-collections/the-library. Model of cathedral design in the center.

Then we saw it. The "library in the south tower."

What do you think of when you think "old English library?" That's exactly what it looks like. Shelves and shelves of ancient texts, busts on tabletops, furniture from various periods. And as we walked through the doors, the Cathedral bells began to ring. Seriously.
Image from https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/the-collections/the-library. 

It even smelled important and historical. Actually, Mr. Wisdom pointed out that what we were smelling--"eau de bibliotheque"--was the smell of decaying leather. So, while many of us enjoyed the smell, it's actually not good for the collection. They try to control the environment as much as possible. Food and drink--even plants--are forbidden in the library, as they can bring in or attract bugs that eat starch. Bug traps are set up everywhere, and temperature and light are controlled. They even limit the numbers of people allowed in at a time.

And yet, as fancy as the library is, it is open to anyone. Anyone is welcome to come and use the library, from the most important scholars to the "common folk."

The library has no classification, to speak of. The large books are shelved toward the bottom, and the small ones are shelved toward the top. They are sort of grouped by subject, but they aren't organized any more than that. Mr. Wisdom commented on how we librarians (or librarians-to-be) like to systematize everything to the minutest detail, but that that's not always realistic. The goal is to make the collection accessible. It's a good reminder to me not to forget about the forest when I'm busy trying to rearrange the trees
Image from https://www.stpauls.co.uk/history-collections/the-collections/the-library. 

He also taught us the proper way to remove a book from a shelf. You don't grab from the top of the spine (or you'll eventually pull the spine off). Instead, you're supposed to push the books on either side in, place fingertips on either side of the book, and pull the volume toward you.

So, now you know.

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