My love of libraries dates back to 2008, when I got my very first job at the Chappaqua Public Library. Two years later, I headed off for college to a campus with eleven new libraries to explore.
When the Earth & Planetary Sciences Library moved to its current location in 2004, the staff “missed the charm of the old space.” Looking around, the facilities here are pretty new actually. I initially misinterpreted clutter for charm, but really it’s just clutter.
There’s so little space in this tiny library that they have a window dedicated in someone’s memory.
The 1956 globe dominates the room. And in a photo of a previous librarian on the back wall, you can see this very globe peeking into the image.
Though most of the red granite buildings on campus look more or less identical, somehow the Law Library nestled in the southwest corner is the most beautiful of them all. Sometimes groups will stop in just to take photos of its reading room.
The main library users are the law students. I feel out of place here with my big sketchbook, but they’re so focused on their work that they hardly notice me. Many library patrons here are foreigners. Plenty wear engagement rings. Some smell of cigarettes.
In the neat, white Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library, the ceilings are high, the windows are large, and it’s uncomfortably quiet. I can even hear the conversations of people walking by outside.
No cake the sign seems to say. It’s displayed on every surface in the library.
The circulation desk gets so little traffic that sometimes there is no librarian there, just a bell to summon one.
When asked why this library exists, Rina Vecchiola, Art Librarian says, “Well, there’s good wireless.”
The Gaylord Music Library is just how I imagine the sixties were. Ignore the few computer screens and the place has practically been left untouched since it was built in 1960.
Busts from the offices of previous music professors are displayed prominently.
Behind the door marked Music Librarian, Brad Short tells me that the school has closed two libraries since 1994 and that departmental libraries will soon be a thing of the past.
The VHS tapes were recently moved out from behind the circulation desk because they stopped worrying about patrons stealing them.
This little book would not have been possible without the cooperation of these four libraries’ staff and patrons, so many thanks are in order!