The V&A Museum Library

Today I visited the Victoria & Albert Museum Library. The library is open to the public, but is a closed-access library; this means that while people can browse titles online, most of the actual books and materials will need to be retrieved by a librarian. One interesting aspect of the library is that they have no classification system--everything is shelved by size. Because most art books can be large or unusual sizes, this method is used to best utilize available shelf space. Another interesting fact about the library is that they never weed items, thus space is always an issue. This is further complicated by the fact that the museum will often fight them for space for its exhibits. The librarian showed us a room where library materials were in locked shelves along the walls, but a museum exhibit took up the central space in the room.

In addition to the regular art collection, the library also contains a special colelction. Some of the items include Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, a first folio Shakespeare, and Dickens' manuscripts (among other things). These items can be pulled out for patrons but only if absolutely necessary and if the patron provides appropriate letters and credentials for needing to see the items. One way around this is items like da Vinci's notebook, of which they have a photocopy. That way they almost never have to pull out the original. A couple interesting items they showed us were "art books", which weren't books at all in the traditional sense, but works of art. One was bound comic book pages that had several pieces cut out, making the original story unreadable. Another looked more like a wooden box, but had text written all over the inside, and pieces that came out of it, such as a small scroll.

Other than visiting the library, I didn't spend too much time at the library. However, I did take the time to visit the Beatrix Potter exhibit. My mom read those stories so many times growing up that I was eager to see the original artworks. The exhibit was well done in that it had each original illustration with the text from the story underneath it; thus you could walk around the room and read the story while viewing the original artwork.

After the museum, a classmate and I went to Hyde park for a bit. The park is massive and I intend to go back as I only got to see a fraction of it. We followed the park trip with a quick dinner at a pub, and then we were off to see the Welsh band Los Campesinos! play a show. The show was a lot of fun, it was at a smaller venue and the crowd was really into it. I had seen the band once before (at last year's Lollapalooza) but seeing a band at a festival is a lot different from seeing them at one of their own shows.

Image courtesy of curiousexpeditions.org

The Caird Library

Today we visited the National Maritime Museum's Caird Library. The Caird library is open to the public and is one of the largest maritime libraries in the world. In addition to maritime-related materials, the library's collection also focuses on emigration, navigation, piracy, astronomy, exploration and naval architecture. As part of a national museum, the library receives public funding. The librarian leading the tour explained that while the library is currently somewhat hidden, they will soon be moving to a new building where they hope to increase visibility and the number of users.

Of the many interesting items they pulled from their archives to show us, the two I found most interesting were a naval atlas from 1686 and a book of signal codes from 1800. Part of my interest is due to the fact that both were plundered from other ships. The naval atlas was copied by Basil Ringrose from one that was pirated from the Spanish. The book of signal codes came from the USS Chesapeake and was obtained when the British attacked the ship. What was particularly unusual about the the signal code book was that the spine was fitted with several lead weights; the information in the book was so important that in the event of an attack the owner should have thrown it overboard. The lead weights were to help it sink. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge of the book didn't do this and code book now belongs to the Caird library. I love that in both of these situations, information was one of the most valuable things obtained.

After the tour, I checked out the museum's toy boat exhibit, and then hiked up the hill to see the Prime Meridian and the Royal Observatory. The view was fantastic. I spent most of the rest of the day running errands, but later in the evening went to see Predators, which I absolutely loved. Highly recommended for fans of the original!

Image courtesy of the National Maritime Museum website.

The British Museum

Today, deep within the bowels of the British Museum, we visited the museum's central archives. The archives collection is composed of six types of records--government, meetings' minutes, staff finance, building, temporary exhibitions, and reading room records. The records were actually really interesting, both in their breadth and content. One particularly interesting item we got to see was an exploded bomb shell that hit the museum during WWII. We also saw pictures of the damage. While I've read about the air raids in London, I don't know that I realized just how much was bombed and destroyed here during that time. Every site we've visited so far has had something to say on the destruction caused by the bombings. Other things we got to see included a property deed from 1694 and a folder related to their King Tut exhibit in 1973. The exhibit folder was interesting because it included all kinds of information related to the exhibit, as well as pictures of the lines of people waiting to get in.

After the archives tour, a classmate and I wandered around the British Museum and saw--among other things--the Rosetta Stone. The museum itself is massive and was too much to get through in a day; even after breaking for lunch at a pub we didn't get around to everything.

British Museum image courtesy of foundationstone.org

The Barbican

Today was the Barbican Library, which was a drastic change from St. Paul's.

The Barbican is a public library built in the 1980s in an area rebuilt after being bombed in WWII. Around 9,000 people actually live there, but over 300,000 work or go in and out of the Barbican Center. The library itself was not terribly different from our own public libraries, though they do have an arts library (which focuses on architecture and perfoming arts) as well as a music library.

The area containing the library was not designed for this purpose, which presents interesting challenges in terms of shelving and layout. The librarian also explained that the thick concrete walls in the building make it difficult to access the wi-fi network. One thing I found particularly interesting was the Bookstart Program that the children's librarian explained to us. Bookstart is a national program that entitles every child three free packs of books, that are given to them at intervals beginning when they are toddlers up until age five. The program even receives some government funding.



After eating lunch at the Barbican Center, a classmate and I went to the Tate Modern. Wow. Sometimes I forget how much I love art. It was fantastic. I saw many famous pieces, including Lichtenstein's Whaam!, which I enjoyed immensely. Really, the whole museum was terrific. I'm always surprised by how much I still remember about art, sicne I haven't studied it in so long. The abstract expressionist gallery was probably my favorite.

For dinner, I had my first ever fish and chips! I even ate it with vinegar, the way you're supposed to. I got it at a place called Fishcotheque. (Best name ever.)

After dinner, my class got tickets to see a play called Nevermore, which was a musical about Edgar Allan Poe. Given that I absolutely love Poe, it was right up my alley. The set was minimal, but the costumes and the props were outstanding--very Tim Burton-esque. The music used lines from Poe's poetry, and several of his short stories were alluded to throughout the play.

Image courtesy of nytimes.com