The Bodleian Bans Stepladders...

From the "I really hope this is a joke" file: Due to safety concerns, Oxford has banned stepladders at the Bodleian Library. This, while relatively silly on its face, is made truly bizarre with the apparent decision "refusing to move the books from their 'original historic location'". 

As a result, much of what is out of reach is...well...out of reach. Students are, according to the article, being forced to go elsewhere to secure working copies.

Stepladders have been in use at the Bodleian for the last 400 years or so...any statistics on injuries and, dare I say it, deaths???

Fun in DC....or, my day at at the LoC

Suzanne and I spent Tuesday having fun about DC. We went to Union Station for lunch (very good Greek food) and picking up some silly things for friends and family. 

We arrived at the Library of Congress in early afternoon. When we visited last year, they were in the midst of some major renovations, technological and otherwise. The results are quite spectacular. 

One of the biggest/most interesting changes is the evolution/integration of "myLOC.com". When  you go in you can get a "passport"...placing it in one of the many kiosks, you enter your contact info, etc. and create an account (tied to the bar code on the passport). As you tour the LoC, there are many kiosks into which you can stick your passport, logging the exhibit, getting additional information and playing library games. 

myLOC allows you to "take the library home" with you. You can engage in virtual tours, create your own collections, etc. It is really quite the biblio-geek playground. I will dig about with it more deeply after Road Trip 2009 and post a more cogent review of it.

The interactive displays are exceptionally well done. I've included an image of the one for the Gutenberg Bible. The virtual tour (link) is pretty good...but the kiosk is extremely cool...the closest you can come to playing with a GB...no gloves necessary. 

The new(ish...it opened April of last year) exhibit of Jefferson's Library is amazing. it is an open circle...you can stand in the center and be surrounded by his library...the core of what became the LoC. There are placeholders for lost books that have yet to be replaced (Suz has a new life goal of donating at least one book to this collection). [Hypothetically, I kissed Suz surrounded by TJ's library...too fun.] The interactive kiosks in TJ's library allow you to explore the books by shelf, organized as TJ had them (Memory, Imagination, Reason). It was really wonderful. 

We are planning to include an extra day or two next time...as we didn't really get anywhere *but* the LoC. DC is a remarkable place to visit. If you have not been in a while, go...bring comfortable shoes. If you live in and around...step back and revel is what a remarkable place it is...most I know who live there have ended up very blasé about the wonder and scope that surrounds them (admittedly, because most are working way too hard, all the time). 

Pillars of Knowledge - Type on Trees Before Pulping

The new Crawley library opened in West Sussex relatively recently. It contains some striking architectural/artistic elements...notably remarkable textual trees.

The striking, cracked trees, 14 in all, are situated throughout the library building and are installed vertically, flush to the floor and ceiling to resemble supporting, structural pillars. Each tree is, in fact, a real oak trunk and displays carved passages of text from literature within the library, the typeface of each passage chosen carefully to suit the nature of the text – which is where Why Not Associates comes in.

“We worked with the selected passages of text, choosing typefaces and designing the layout,” says Why Not’s Andy Altmann of the studio’s role in the making of the Crawley Trees. “Because there were 14 trees to do, all of us in the studio got to do one.”
...
The text to adorn the trees was chosen by the users of Crawley library, thanks to research done by Anna Sandberg. “She was another key collaborator and did all the workshops with the people [of Crawley] to point us in the right direction in terms of sourcing textual content,” says Young. “She also put hundreds of questionnaire postcards in books all over the library and we got hundreds of replies naming favourite books and passages and thoughts about what was good literature”

Thanks to boingboing for the headsup.

A remarkable private collection (and a geek to boot)

I do not have the time to properly blog this as I am still packing for Seattle. Far too briefly, *this* is what collecting is about: passion and interest and creativity. Simply brilliant. I hope to post more on this later. Enjoy the article. Thanks to Don for the heads up.

3am, long day, good day, great evening... SALT 1

Today was good...fairly strong traffic...many good conversations...several strong leads and follow-up opportunities and the like. Tonight was outstanding. John Wronoski of Lame Duck Books fame came to town and invited us to join us him (and two others) for dinner at SALT. As he had picked the restaurant on my suggestion (see, eg, this), I could not very well say no ("please, don't throw me into the brier patch").

We arrived at about 845 or so. The five of us sat down, reviewed the menu, could not make rational choice, so we ordered nearly everything. I was just going to list what I had...but as we shared basically every item...I thought I should just list it all:

appetizers

House Salad
Fresh mixed greens, marinated tomatoes, kalamata olives, red wine vinaigrette, shaved Parmesan Reggiano

Fried Oyster Salad
Arugula, bacon croutons, tomatoes, buttermilk dressing

Eastern Shore Corn Salad
Spicy crab and avocado ball, sweet onion vinaigrette

Trio of Gazpacho [x 2]
Amish tomato, watermelon chili and mango jicama

Gulf Shrimp Ceviche
Orange, lime, cilantro, cusco corn, red onion, aji amarillo

Foie Gras & Kobe Beef Slider
With truffle aioli and red onion marmalade

Duck Fat French Fries
With a trio of aioli

entrees

Seared Day Boat Scallops
Spicy crab topping, summer succotash of corn, peas and peppers

Coriander and Pepper Crusted Tuna
Served over seaweed salad with spicy tuna pot stickers and ginger soy glace

Grilled Petite Lamb Chops
Warm Moroccan chicpea salad, orange, onions, fresh herbs

Atlantic Wahoo Loin
Marinated in sweet chili-soy, quinoa salad, mango,chimichurri

Duck Confit Ravioli
Truffled forest mushroom broth, green onions, Parmesan Reggiano

Yes, that is right...5 people ordered 7 appitizers...and then 5 entrees...and dessert: A) a trio of ice creams (three small cones of home made ice cream (Mocha, Carmel and something I no longer remember)); their iteration of a banana sunday (bananas fried in cannoli rolls, peach ice cream, home-made camel sauce) and a lemon and wild blueberry creme brule.

It was exceptional...the standouts were probably the mango jicama gazpacho and my crusted tuna was absolutely wonderful. We ate too much, drank just about the correct amount and failed in fighting John over the bill and I am going to have to figure out a way to thank him for the wonderful meal...and for what followed. We retired to the home of John's friend, a Baltimoron (his term) and a collector on a level few could believe. I have been in a lot of homes of a lot of book lovers...many of whom own [too] many books. The bar has been completely reset. Quite literally, every room is lined with books...several floor to ceiling...several more than one layer deep. The library has 15 foot(ish) ceilings, shelves lining all the walls (13 shelves)...most stacked *three* deep. Wonderful things. Serious things. Frivolous things. It was truly unbelievable.

If possible, better than the books was sitting (for hours) in the library...drinking single malt/port/aquavit/etc...and talking with our host (or just listening to his stories). I have not had an evening this enjoyable in a very long time...and I will never forget it.

Libraries of the world (Set Two)

Here is your next installment of overly lovely libraries (many more to follow).

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra - Coimbra, Portugal


Biblioteca Di Bella Arti - Milan, Italy


Biblioteca do Palacio e Convento de Mafra I - Lisbon Coast, Portugal



Biblioteca do Palacio Nacional da Ajuda Lisboa III - Lisbon, Portugal


Bernadotte Library - Stockholm, Sweden


Beatus Rhenanus Library - Basel Switzerland


Biblioteca Palafoxiana - Puebla, Mexico


Biblioteca Angelica - Rome, Italy

Aesthetically pleasing libraries (Part 1)

Courtesy of my mother (a medical librarian) and from her friend, Juan Maria de la Camara de las Heras, of the Hospital-Ribera in Valencia, Spain, I offer the following series of images of libraries. I will post about five each day until I run out. It is unclear whether Juan took the pictures himself...regardless, they are exceptional. Enjoy.

The images are:

Strahov Monestary Library, Prague

Strahov Theolog. Hall (orig. Baroque cabinets)

Strahov Theolog. Hall (stat. of John the Evangelist holding a book)

August Herzog Library, Wolfenbuttel, Germany

Angelica Library, Rome Italy

Abby Library, Gallen Switzerland