The closet formerly known as the evil sucking vortex of hell

Well, I finished organizing the library closet.  I really did want to do that.  And not just because it scared me.  I can't say I wanted to do it as much as I wanted to create a Max space.  Which I did as well, but it was up there on the master list.  Right under cleaning.  Okay, it was a sub division(cataloger joke) on the cleaning item.
I did promise that resistance was futile.  Was I not right?  It is now a thing of beauty, in a librarian's eyes.
There are labels, organization, clearly marked materials and if there are some treasures still to be found, well it's easier to find them for the next person.

Behold.  It gives me a thrill of pride just to see the photos again. 

I even vacuumed!  The vacuum will never be the same.  But neither will the closet.

I called them unknown because it's true, and I had no idea what to do with them.  Add them to the collection, discard them, leave them?

Someone cared once about the archives.  Not sure exactly when, but they cared. 

Library updates

Well, I finished shifting the downstairs and created an oversize and a folio section in the library.  Now I am doing some cataloging and creating a Max Reinhardt space.  I even wrote a sign explaining the space.  It's really more of a local history space than a Max space.  But because he created the library and helped found the Salzburg Festival, and refurbished the schloss, and his widow offered the schloss("Max's schloss") to the founders of the Seminar it's dedicated to him.

I have to finish it soon though.  The internship is winding down.  It still feels like there is more to do.  And to be truthful there is.  In fact, I think there's more to do now than when I got here in March.  I know I underestimated the cataloging. 
I talked to one of the program guys about how to create patrons in the library and he had some great ideas.  A writer/artist retreat for one.  Which makes sense since this was one during the Reinhardt times as well as in the 18th and 19th century.  What is old is new again?

Library news

I haven't written much about the library and my efforts there.  I got permission last week to hold a book sale.  So far I have made about 25 Euros.  Better than nothing at all. 
And I finished cleaning the downstairs shelves and the shifting.  I'm so proud!  Trust me the shelves are cleaner than they have been in YEARS. 
Now you could eat off those shelves.  But it's not recommended. 
I took before and after photos of the shelves I was cleaning....judge for yourself.
The wood still isn't shiny, but it is clean.

The shifting on the bottom floor is all done as well.  I actually have extra room on the last shelves.  I was almost positive I would have to shift up for some things.  It's great, cause that gives me more room for the oversize section I created as well.
It was a project I really wanted to do and it looks great. 

Shifting

I finally finished shifting the Supreme Court collection from the back hallway to the library balcony.  Yay me!
It's something I can look at and say I did that.  It's the whole end of the day accomplishment thing.  You can point to something tangible.  I get the same thrill of pride when I see the Ministry Resource Collection at Divinity. 
The last few days I've been writing for the library.  This place needs a Mission statement and values really badly.  A collections policy wouldn't hurt either.  You wouldn't believe the number of dupes we have.  I'm trying to stop the flood of duplicate outdated books that come in.
Plus they don't really match what we do anymore.  Not that the historical perspective is bad, but no one uses those books, as far as I can tell, and we only have so much room in the place.
If I learned one thing at Yale it's that the library has to support the mission of the people/institution that use the place.  And that the collection development needs to match that mission and educational needs. 
So far this library doesn't.
It did years ago, but now it's been lost or stuck in the past while the seminar moved ahead.
I hope to help fix it.  I made a start by going over the new publication catalogs we get.  Yesterday I highlighted a bunch of books from Oxford University Press Spring history catalog.  They had some timely and topical materials for the Seminar.
It would be nice to get some of them in for the shelves and sessions.  I have 3 other catalogs that I went through.  Not as much as OUP, but some are things that, if I had the budget and the authority, I would order for the place in a heartbeat.
Since I don't I handed it off to the program directors so they can order things.  I'm putting the other three catalogs in boxes as well.

Cleaning

I've spent a chunk of my day in the library(Thursday) cleaning it up.  Found a vacuum in the staircase, which shouldn't really be there.  The library is used more for storage of non-library materials than actually used.
But since I wanted to clean the rugs and blow some of the dust away I'm not complaining.  After all keep it clean is a tenet of preservation.  Maybe not the first rule or anything, but it helps.  Besides my allergies were bugging me. 
The first floor is done.  The Main library, the Chinese room, and McGowan.  There were lots of gravel pebbles, and other oddities.  Probably it gets tracked in on someone's shoes and is left here. 
Now I need a few buckets of Murphy's Oil Soap for the wood in this place.  That'd make it shine.  Probably help hydrate the wood too.  The place was built in the 1920's.
This isn't exactly my job in the library, but I feel that someone has to care enough to do all the little things as well as the major stuff.  I mean my office is crammed with books to be cataloged, old books no one needs, duplicate materials, mail and session archives.  A lot of major projects that it's almost too much to take in.  I've been making lists everyday and still not doing everything.  Yes, cleaning was on the master list.  So it's good.

Library

I haven't written much about the library my first week here. It's not that I haven't been doing stuff here. I have. It's just there's so much to do in the library, it can be, and is a little overwhelming at times. That's compounded by the fact that they are doing some construction to expand the emergency exit areas in the schloss.

I have to move boxes of stuff out of the office hallway for storage so that the construction guys can take down the shelves and the wall for the exit expansion. Glad I brought the Ipod. Reminds me of the old Div days. Although it's not that bad.

I have some major shifting to do, because of the construction. As well in the library itself. There's just not a lot of room to grow on the first floor. But the library is a bit stagnant in it's collection at the moment. Luckily I can shift up. I just have to figure out what to shift to the second floor.                                                                  
Then I have cataloging to do. Some groups give books to the library for their sessions. Those materials do get used. I have two ranges of shelves in the law area to integrate into the collection this week. More Dewey decimal. Joy. Well, like I said I can cheat on some of the records.

I found a space in my office to put the to be cataloged books, as soon as I move the session materials off the bookshelf and into boxes for storage. It's not enough storage in the office for all of the books, but it's a start. It's better than when I got here.

And it's easier than trekking them in and out of the library to the office to do. I've been hoping to make this more of a working office than a storage spot for stuff. The boss offered me another bookcase for the office, which I may take. I'm just not sure where it would go!

I've also been making a list of the children and young adult books that the library inherited at different points throughout the years. Some are books I had as a kid. Like Ramona the Pest, King of the Wind, Huck Finn, and the Hardy Boys. Some I've never heard of. The Famous Five, for instance (which is a British series). I wish we could have a book sale. The library needs the money. But most, if not all the books are in English, which makes it more challenging. If they were in German it would be easier to get rid of them. I have a few ideas of where to go for sales. It would be so much easier to set up a used book account on some site. But our problem is that the shipping would outstrip the money we'd get in selling them on the Internet. Once I clear up the YA stuff and make some space on the bookshelf, I'm turning my attention to the desks. There are two. It's got lots of extra bits that can be organized a little better for workflow.

Then the archive problem. God help me.

My work space

Here's my library for the next few months. It's an amazing space. The first photo is my office. It used to belong to Max Reinhardt. Following in his footsteps. It's such a great space. And the best part of it is the view out the window. The mountain is called the Untersberg.