Library quirks

I spent part of Thursday, which happened to be my thirty-sixth birthday, at the Huntington Library.  (Thereby proving that I'm an academic, although I think I figured that out last week when I had a nightmare about camera-ready copy. Because only an academic would have nightmares about CRC.  In any event...)  The Huntington has a vast collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century biographical histories of women, and I did a good chunk of the research for my dissertation/Book One there; for the Reformation in nineteenth-century popular culture, though, its holdings are only moderately useful.  The library shows signs of its origins in Henry Huntington's private collection, in the sense that the holdings swing from the very strong (British art, medieval & early modern, William Blake, Jack London) to the virtually non-existent.  Still, it's a fun place to work, and the practice of assigning permanent desks to long-time users adds a touch of individuality to the place: desks practically overflow with teetering stacks of books and papers; there are full-scale desktop computers in permanent residence, not just laptops; the carrels tucked away in odd corners of the stacks (a rabbit's warren of basements) are sometimes decorated.  (Unfortunately, eating at the Huntington remains a glum affair.  Bring back the original caterers! Where are our English high tea plates?!)

All libraries have their own funny, sometimes inexplicable, quirks.  The Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago has all of these extremely rare eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century editions sitting out in the open stacks, much to the bemusement (albeit gratitude) of academics everywhere.  The Newberry Library's patrons divide evenly between academics and genealogists.  The British Library has its regulars who show up Every Single Day.  Even my campus' own tiny library has its nineteenth-century novelists who come out of nowhere (we have the works of William Black? Seriously?).   Discovering a library's personality is part of the fun of doing research. 

Comments

[perilla]

Happy belated birthday!

You don't look anywhere near 36 in your picture.

[Rod]

My usual library is Robarts Library at the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto library burnt in 1896. As a consequence, much of the 19th century collection consists of donations from other libraries. It is interesting to see what these libraries were willing to part with.

[Julie]

Just happened upon your site...I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley...love the Huntington. Have spent much more time at the South Pasadena Public Library as well as the Pasadena Public Library, but they don't quite hold a candle to the Huntington. Though they are each a bit cozier....