Had a "Field Day"

There’s a little play on words there! Last Friday “we – 4 staff ladies” (S, J, A, and L) took a Field Trip and visited other libraries in our area. We had a “field day” – a good time. This year we visited Art related libraries: Kansas City Art Institute, Jannes Library; Nelson-Atkins Museum, Spencer Library and the Hallmark Creative Library. This is always a good way to broaden your horizons on similar workplaces to your own and to expose yourself to the library world in general. We always pick up ideas that we could use or adapt.

We started at KCAI where MJ first gave us background information about the Library building. It was originally a private home. KCAI was able to acquire it, did major renovation to it and moved in, in 2002. Their collection is less than half of ours and their acquisitions budget about the same as ours. – That tells you how expensive art books are! They moved from a crowded basement with less than a desirable environment, to a beautiful home which fits their needs much better. Patrons wondered where they got all the extra books that filled up the new location. They just didn’t realize they had been there all along – just were squeezed in, to maximum capacity.

They have had visitors tell of living there and of attending parties there, and more. They did well to maintain the flavor of the home and still adapt it to their needs. Pocket doors and working fire places are still in place.

MJ talked about evaluating their rare books for insurance places. (Bling! – We need to finish evaluating our rare books, to not only make them available but for insurance purposes. – Hadn’t thought of that!) She showed us their computer lab on 3rd floor and where they all sign in to use the lab. (Bling! Now there’s another idea to consider. How much staffing would that take?) Second floor held stacks in the addition to the building and offices in the original part of the building. Because staff needs access to the offices, MJ showed us how they are able to close off the stacks to allow for office access when the library is closed.

Next we went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. If you have never visited the NAM, you should. Next time you’re in KC, at least drive by! They have extremely oversized shuttle-cocks (i.e. badminton birdies) in the front lawn. I don’t know what all the controversy was for when these got put in. I think they are very amusing and intriguing. ‘Whodathunk’ they would make such fascinating sculptures! Oh, yes, KCAI has a statue of Thomas Hart Benton in the front yard. It looks like he’s walking up the lawn to the library.

The director of the museum, JH, gave us a good overview of the Spencer Library. They, too, have a smaller collection than ours. The reading room is graced by portraits of both Mr. and of Mrs. Spencer. It is also adorned with vases and dishes owned by the Spencers. You won’t have any trouble dusting these objects d’art. They are glued to the shelves! We also humorously mused if the Spencers’ ashes were sealed in the urns that were on display. The room houses new books, as well as reference material, ready reference and a table of publications that contain writings of NAM staff. There was one young man there doing some research, who graciously put up with our distracting conversation.

We all learned something here, including yours truly, the Librarian. The NAM library does not catalog the items for the Museum. The Register does that. We were disappointed that we would not get to see what some of those records would look like. But we did get to see the closed stacks. They have compact shelving there. The handles on each end are so easy to turn. It is amazing to see so much weight moved so easily.

The Archives room, is really a fenced in, locked area – in the closed stacks room. Not every one would be able to work in that kind of environment. But I think I could easily become so engrossed in my work that I wouldn’t even think of the surroundings! The archivist explained to us how size is determined by (cubic) feet instead of by volume. This is a different concept than what my ladies are used to. The NAM cataloger showed our cataloger, that even tho’ she was using RLIN instead of OCLC, she still used the universal MARC record format. As you may know, RLIN and OCLC are soon to merge, btw.

Since books in this library are to help those who work at that Museum, or others from the ‘museum-world’ these books are for in house use only. None are checked out and taken home. They can be, however, taken to their offices. They aren’t limited to 3 weeks, either but can have a book for months at a time. If I remember right they use the LC system for classification.

After a delicious lunch in the Museum’s Rozelle Court Restaurant, we headed for the Hallmark Corporation location. We were instructed to come in the corporate entrance and check in with the front desk. Our escort, IH, was paged and our temporary sticky name tags were printed.

IH took us to the Creative Library. They use the Dewey classification system here. Again their library was no bigger than ours. Their books were obviously heavy in items that would help inspire and create. They included books on religion, even bibles, books on architecture, gardening, etc. Anything that would be about a topic that could give insight and inspiration would be included. They were heavy in the 6, 7, and 800 sections of Dewey. I doubt there were any “how-to” books there.

They also have a large serial collection, popular magazines as well as trade magazines. Anything that could give you an idea where the culture is today and insight into life or anything that had to do with people relationships. After all, “when you care enough…” you want to be able to send the best. This is where they get those perfect thoughts and ideas that end up separating you from your money but hits the spot for your situation.

On one side of the room where little “inspiration cubicles” –at least that’s what I call them. They would be on various themes from time to time. Some of the four were “connectivity,” and “creativity.” The librarian there was telling about a committee that had been at the library earlier. They come to the library for the meetings so that they can surround themselves with where the inspiration starts. This is the genesis-room (if you will), for what the company is all about. (Bling! Maybe we ought to have one of the monthly faculty meetings in the library, sometime.)

Next, IH took us to the Research Library. Here T. told us about how she catalogs documents, surveys, data, and more. She does not use the typical cataloging system. Instead she uses Word to write up information about an item. Then she sets it up for metadata searching. This creates a wonderful in-house database for researchers. They can do this from their desk, or can come to the library and look at the item, holding it in hand. T and IH even took us to a conference room to show us via the Intranet how employees can research these databases from their offices.

This library has a very large collection, percentage wise, of journals and periodicals. We learned that those “annoying” survey takers in the mall really are helpful. These are some of the ways that Hallmark gathers information for where the culture is today and what the current needs and habits are of customers. (Maybe next time, I’ll actually talk to one of those survey takers.)

All of these special libraries were interesting to us. We were impressed with how, in each case, the staff was, without exception, aware of the purpose of their library and how they fit into their institution. It was not forced comments as though they were trained to be sure and convey that thought. It was part of their thinking process and awareness of the importance and place of the library in that organization. (Bling! Do we really see and understand the importance our library plays in our institution?)

It was delightful to get acquainted with others in our profession. We even discovered that two of the folk we met were believers and listen to KLJC, our “flagship” radio station here at Calvary. Did you know you can listen to it online, even though you don’t live in Kansas City?