Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Our publicity has been paying off! Marilyn Maynard, a local Iowa Citian, read about our recovery efforts in the Press Citizen and thought she might be able to contribute. She is currently working on a project designed to clean and copy the working files for the African American Museum. The filesContinue reading “Volunteer Begins Working File Project”
Category Archives: Main library
Disaster Planning E-Forum a Success!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Walter Cybulski, Preservation Librarian at the National Library of Medicine, and I led a two-day e-forum lsitserv discussion on disaster planning and response. We weren’t really sure how it would work but were willing to give it a try. It was exhausting but well worth it. We shared sites for resources;Continue reading “Disaster Planning E-Forum a Success!”
More Civil War Letters
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Here is another Civil War letter similar to the one posted below, only here the additional challenges were that the letter required some flattening of the wrinkles and folds before mending and the repair tissue had to be tinted. This letter was pressed overnight between moistened blotter paper to flatten it. Then theContinue reading “More Civil War Letters”
Preparing Civil War Letter for Scanning
Thursday, January 15, 2009 One of the collections that the department is currently digitizing is a collection of letters and diaries relating to the Civil War. While most are in good condition, a few are so torn that they require considerable mending before they can be scanned. For our mending, we use Walters repair tissue which weContinue reading “Preparing Civil War Letter for Scanning”
Moving The Music Library
Monday, January 5, 2009 Since we don’t know how long the music library will be inaccessible or even if the building will remain, the music collection needed to be moved. The Music Library began it’s move to the Main Library today and will probably take two weeks. The preparation for this move actually started inContinue reading “Moving The Music Library”
Do Not Recycle; Flood-Damaged Books
Friday, October 24, 2008 It took a couple days before we had assistance to move the books and a room secured for the returned freeze-dried materials. In the meantime we kept them in the basement. It never dawned on me that someone might think these materials should be re-cycled! Thankfully someone labeled our stacks.
Goodby Ventilation Equipment
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 All are in agreement that we no longer need the additional ventilation equipment. Early arriving staff will finally be able to enter the building through the west door. It’ll be good to be back to “normal” — at least for the Main Library staff. We’ve had the equipment around so longContinue reading “Goodby Ventilation Equipment”
Overlooked Files
Thursday, August 28, 2008 We’re very lucky to have Facilities Management for our area stationed in the Main Library. When we need to discuss something we can go down to the basement and talk directly to the staff. When Mike Lee discovered he had some wet files, we were happy to be able to offerContinue reading “Overlooked Files”
HVAC Augmentation
Monday, August 4, 2008 We were lucky in the Main Library. We have three air handlers and have managed to keep two of the three working. With one out, we needed a way to keep air circulating everywhere. Plastic air tubes were placed strategically throughout the building to augment our HVAC system. Air is brought inContinue reading “HVAC Augmentation”
Dumbwaiter and Phone Bill
Saturday, July 12, 2008 Our morning newspaper reminded us that the flood happened a month ago today. It seems like yesterday and also months ago. My binding supervisor called letting me know that she has been getting sick everyday she comes to work but thinks she has it figured out. Right near her desk is a littleContinue reading “Dumbwaiter and Phone Bill”