As an old guy I am rather old-fashioned about libraries. Old, actual ones full of wood and paper rather than the new virtual ones full of computers and comradery. Although there is nothing wrong with comradery it is likely that the warmer, actual libraries were more conducive to contemplation if not outright creativity. I liked libraries when I studied in them and even as places in which I worked. I expressed my concern about the disappearance of actual libraries back in “University Libraries: A Last Stroll for a Lost Cause”. My affection for, and fond memories of libraries is noticeable in the ongoing series “Periodical Ramblings.”
Virtual Ones
I realize, however, that it is very difficult to convince administrators (and even many faculty members) at universities to devote money to an actual library they will not visit and increasingly need not to. Particularly since the students will prefer the virtual kind. The space above was “inspired by student requests” and one of them remarks that “I usually come here because it’s a lot more focused,” he said. “It’s just rows and rows of cubicles, and people only come here to study.” It was once the home of a good science library full of books and journals.
I suppose that if space and money were unlimited even the philistines on a campus would not object to having a beautiful building full of books, manuscripts and mahogany. At some ivy-covered colleges they do still exist.
And, as you will learn below, in some instances adventurous libraries have acquired and restored and even resurrected the libraries of others. Perhaps a few such places will live on as repositories for manuscripts and as museums for memories.
And, as you will learn below, in some instances adventurous libraries have acquired and restored and even resurrected the libraries of others. Perhaps a few such places will live on as repositories for manuscripts and as museums for memories.
The Newark Public Library
It will seem odd to begin in New Jersey, but just about a year ago it was announced that Philip Roth would donate his library to the Newark Public Library. As a child he often visited the various branches and as a college student he spent a lot of time in the main one. In this instance, the contents and books will be supplied by Roth and stored as they were in his Connecticut home, but the space will be remodelled as shown. Here are some details:
“Mr. Roth has designated the library, which he has called his home away from home, as the repository for his own book collection, a bequest that will be announced here on Thursday evening at the inaugural Philip Roth Lecture, to be delivered by Zadie Smith.”
“The series is a sort of thank-you on the part of the library’s trustees, who see the gift of his books as a fortunate, transforming windfall and intend to house it in a special room designed by the architect Henry Myerberg. “It really sparked a renaissance here at the library,” Rosemary Steinbaum, a trustee, said recently, explaining that the board planned to start a capital campaign not just to pay for the Roth room but also to refurbish the whole place. “We think the Newark Public Library can now become an important literary destination for students and scholars and even for tourists.”
“Mr. Roth’s library, some 4,000 volumes, is now stored mostly at his house in northwest Connecticut, where it has more or less taken over the premises. A room at the back of the house has been given over to nonfiction. It has library shelves, library lighting — everything except a librarian, Mr. Roth said recently on the phone from his New York apartment. Fiction starts in the living room, takes up all the walls in a front study, and has also colonized a guest bedroom upstairs. Copies of Mr. Roth’s own books and their many translations are stuffed in closets and piled in the attic. The books that were helpful to Mr. Roth in his research for his novel “The Plot Against America” are all grouped together, as are those he consulted for “Operation Shylock.”
“The books will be shelved in Newark exactly as they are in Connecticut — not a window into Mr. Roth’s mind exactly, but physical evidence of the eclectic writers who helped shape it: Salinger, Bellow, Malamud, Kafka, Bruno Schulz. Many of the volumes are heavily underlined and annotated. “It’s like he’s having a dialogue with them,” Ms. Steinbaum said.”
“I’m 83, and I don’t have any heirs,” Mr. Roth said, explaining why he decided to give the library away. “If I had children it might be a different story. It’s not a huge library, but it’s special to me, and I wanted it preserved as it was, if only for historical interest: What was an American writer reading in the second half of the 20th century.”
“Mr. Roth said that he liked the design the moment he saw it, and added: “I’m glad that my books are all going to be together. I don’t know why. I’m not going to be together, but let them be together.”
THE HARRY RANSOM CENTER
This library/archive and museum is located in Austin at the University of Texas. You have probably read about it since it is well-funded, aggressive at acquiring archival material and frequently in the news. Over the years they have resurrected and restored at least two working libraries.
THE FLEUR COWLES’ LONDON STUDY
Fleur Fenton Cowles was an author, journalist and the founder of Flair magazine. In 2011 the Ransom Center acquired her papers and set-up her study. You can learn more by consulting their blog Cultural Compass and the entry on “Fleur Cowles’ Pieces of Flair”
ERLE STANLEY GARDNER’S STUDY
Temecula Valley Museum
One does not have to be among the high of brow to gain a room of one’s own at a prestigious university. Given the Texas setting it is fitting that this collection also includes a lot of weaponry. Here is the link to the Erle Stanley Gardner Study at the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. From this link you can explore an interactive panorama of a replica of mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner's study at his ranch home in Temecula, California, displaying original memorabilia and artifacts from his career.
Other Actual Spaces
Rooms other than libraries and studies have been acquired as artifacts. A few years ago I went to some meetings at Babson College and was shown some valuable space that was occupied by Sir Isaac Newton’s parlour!
The Sir Isaac Newton Room
The Sir Isaac Newton Room, purchased for Babson College by Roger Babson's wife Grace in 1937, was installed in the former Sir Isaac Newton Library (now called Tomasso Hall) on the Babson campus in 1939. It consists of the original pine-paneled walls and carved mantel from the foreparlor of Isaac Newton's house on St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square, London, where he lived from 1710-1725.
The Grace K. Babson Collection of Newtonia includes a library of more than 1,000 volumes of English and foreign language editions of Newton’s works (many of which are autographed and annotated in Newton’s hand), manuscripts, engravings, artifacts, and other Newton memorabilia, including a death mask that originally belonged to Thomas Jefferson. The collection was acquired through the efforts of Grace Knight Babson, first wife of Roger Babson, and is the largest source of Newton materials in the United States. The original 1950 printed catalog is available as a PDF.
For more details see: “The Grace K. Babson Collection.”
One can even find a kitchen at the Smithsonian.
Julia Child’s Kitchen.
“Bon Appetit! Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian is located in the West End Gallery on the first floor of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. It features the 14' x 20' kitchen from Julia Child's Massachusetts home exactly as it appeared in November 2001, when she donated it to the National Museum of American History. While it is not possible for visitors to walk through the kitchen, there are three viewports set into the actual doorways that led to other areas of the house. Visitors can view all corners of Julia's kitchen.”
Perhaps in the future there will be at least one actual library even if it is only an exhibit.
