Students at the Portland State University Library figured out a building-safe way to study by the fire. As librarian Joan Petit puts it: “The most adorable thing I’ve ever seen at work: students using the large-screen monitor for studying ambiance.” Thanks, Joan!
How did I not know about the Weird Book Room at abebooks.com until now? I definitely need a copy of Acrobat Hamster. I do NOT need a copy of Electricity in Gynecology, though.
Thanks, JoAnn Jacoby!
CC History Professor Bryant T. “Tip” Ragan donated this amazing book to Special Collections in December of 2017:
The title is something like Manuscript Atlas of Korea, China, and Japan or Tae Choson Chido (Great Korean Map). It has wood covers, thirteen hand-drawn, hand-colored maps each covering two pages, and twelve additional pages of manuscript text, all on thick rice paper. It was probably made ca. 1800.
Tip writes: When I was little, my family lived in Seoul. My father purchased this atlas at that time, in about 1970. He was intrigued because of the myths incorporated into the manuscript, as well as the beauty of the book. I wanted to give the book to an institution in which it would be used, rather than have it sit at home and gather dust. At first, I thought that it would make most sense to give it to a major research library. But I realized that I wanted, instead, to give it to CC, the institution that is dearest to my heart. I knew that it would be cared for by our great team in Special Collections, and I also liked the idea that generations of our students, especially those in Korean history and history of the book courses, would be able to study it.
Similar atlases are at the Library of Congress (see lower left) and for sale at the Paulus Swaen Auction and Gallery and Arader Galleries.
We look forward to finding out more about this book in the weeks to come. Thank you, Tip, for the gift!!
Several libraries are doing this sort of thing in response to Trump’s idiotic and disturbing comment about U.S. immigrants, but I’m especially proud of the Winton Road Library in Rochester, NY, because I’m a Rochester girl through and through (just ayask my ayaccent).
Thanks, Jinny Spencer and Joan Petit!
Garbage collectors in Ankara, Turkey set aside discarded books and started up a small library for their own use. With donations, it grew, and the library now has a full-time government-paid staff position.
Thanks, Dina Wood!
Erin Blakemore on women’s reading rooms and the problem of “library loafers.” Thanks, Dina Wood!
Sometimes it’s the littlest shenanigans, even unintended ones, that can brighten up your day. A whiteboard was recently installed in the area outside Colorado College Special Collections, and now, when I look up from my desk, I see the reflection of the books on bookshelves behind me in the glass in front of that whiteboard, making it appear as if you could reach into the whiteboard and pull out a book made of pale fog.
In case you need a little palate cleanser after that last post, here’s a picture of Quilliam, the hedgehog of the Cleveland Heights – University Heights Public Library.
Quilliam makes his home in the teen area of the Lee Road branch.
Thanks, Simona Mkrtschjan!
(Original grid, before my modification, from CNN; portrait of Dewey from the Library of Congress)
Goddammit. According to this article by Erin Blakemore, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System benefited from a system he didn’t invent, the system of patriarchy, in the exact same way that Harvey Weinstein does. That is, he was a serial sexual harasser of women, taking advantage of his professional position to, well, take advantage of the women he met through that profession. “Shenanigans” isn’t a strong enough word to describe this behavior.
Thanks (or more like the opposite of thanks), David Weinstock.
Turn to the ancient libraries for your holiday baking this year and try Farrell Monaco’s gingerbread cuneiform tablets.
Thanks, Andrea Krupp!