Librarian Wanted
When the papal conclave began last Monday, I decided to re-read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, the only novel I have read that is about a papal conclave.
Angels and Demons describes in detail the Vatican Archives, which main character Robert Langdon must visit to find an obscure book by Galileo and records of artwork that the Vatican has commissioned.
The United Methodist Publishing House library could learn a great deal from the Vatican Archives.
Over the past few months, I have become one of the UMPH library's few regular visitors. As I have searched for books relevant to my work, I have stumbled upon a handful of books from the early nineteenth century. At the Vatican Archives, two-centuries-old books might be kept in rooms where the oxygen levels were controlled and where the books would not be exposed to white light. Those who are granted access to these works might be required to wear gloves and to use special tools to avoid tearing or leaving skin oil on pages. At the UMPH library such works just sit on shelves in open air, under flourescent light.
Granted, the official archives of The United Methodist Church are not kept at the Publishing House but at Drew University in New Jersey. The official archives are tended to by a staff of professionals. And, granted, I have yet to stumble upon an original work by John Wesley, Francis Asbury, Philip William Otterbein, or any of the denomination's other founders.
Still, today I was searching for The Way of Holiness by Phoebe Palmer, an important work in the history of Methodism. According to our card catalog (and it is an actual card catalog), we have two copies: one from 1846 and one from 1850. I was unable to find either copy on the shelves. Maybe they were given over to the archives; maybe they are among the pile of books that have been returned and not checked in (a pile that includes every book I have checked out in the past five months); maybe they are lost. At any rate, these are very important books, and someone needs to know where they are.
I don't know who is in charge of the Publishing House library. As far as I can tell, no one is. I can only hope that we can find a way to take care of these historial treasures that are hidden in our building.
Angels and Demons describes in detail the Vatican Archives, which main character Robert Langdon must visit to find an obscure book by Galileo and records of artwork that the Vatican has commissioned.
The United Methodist Publishing House library could learn a great deal from the Vatican Archives.
Over the past few months, I have become one of the UMPH library's few regular visitors. As I have searched for books relevant to my work, I have stumbled upon a handful of books from the early nineteenth century. At the Vatican Archives, two-centuries-old books might be kept in rooms where the oxygen levels were controlled and where the books would not be exposed to white light. Those who are granted access to these works might be required to wear gloves and to use special tools to avoid tearing or leaving skin oil on pages. At the UMPH library such works just sit on shelves in open air, under flourescent light.
Granted, the official archives of The United Methodist Church are not kept at the Publishing House but at Drew University in New Jersey. The official archives are tended to by a staff of professionals. And, granted, I have yet to stumble upon an original work by John Wesley, Francis Asbury, Philip William Otterbein, or any of the denomination's other founders.
Still, today I was searching for The Way of Holiness by Phoebe Palmer, an important work in the history of Methodism. According to our card catalog (and it is an actual card catalog), we have two copies: one from 1846 and one from 1850. I was unable to find either copy on the shelves. Maybe they were given over to the archives; maybe they are among the pile of books that have been returned and not checked in (a pile that includes every book I have checked out in the past five months); maybe they are lost. At any rate, these are very important books, and someone needs to know where they are.
I don't know who is in charge of the Publishing House library. As far as I can tell, no one is. I can only hope that we can find a way to take care of these historial treasures that are hidden in our building.
posted by Tinley | 10:07 AM
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