Or, what about a campaign to promote proper care of books in general? In a
predominantly circulating collection like ours, food and drink (both in the
library and at home) is just one of the many hazards to a book's longevity.

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Dana Beth                               [log in to unmask]
Art & Architecture Librarian            phone: 1-314-935-5218
Washington University, St Louis         fax: 1-314-935-4362

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On Tue, 14 Nov 2000 14:03:23 EST, Rayanne Lockard <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>Jack's remarks are on the mark as far as the commerce environment goes and
>the coffee shops.  I have long thought they would hit libraries and I
>think they should becasue researchers DO need convenient access to food
>and drink.
>
>BUT, I personally think the food and drink should be confined to the
>coffeeshop!  Does any library with a coffeeshop for patrons require such
>"confinement?"  I find it extremely ironic after libraries have
>concentrated on "preservation iues" for the past two decades!
>
>Do any of the RESEARCH, academic/museum/large public/special collections
>or archives, libraries allow patrons to use their collections with covered
>beverage containers and food in hand?
>
>Actually, what I really wanted to know in my original request for
>information is if any of you work in libraries that have n organized PR
>campaign consisting of a series of signs, bookmarks, etc. that forbid food
>and drink?  So far, I have only heard from one academic art library that
>does.  Way back when -- when I was art librarian at RIT in Rochester
>(during the mid-1970s) Wallace Memorial Library had a very interesting
>and clever and thorough PR campaign that was designed by Graphic Arts
>students.  (That was, admittedly, after the demise of coffee shops that
>featured hootenannies (anyone old enough to remember that word and
>music?) during my lower division undergraduate college days, prior to the
>mega-bookstore, prior to Starbucks, and prior to the photocopier -- let
>alone the laptop, e-commerce, and netBooks!)
>
>So, how about it?  Does anyone out there have a PR campaign against
>food/drink in the interest of preserving a collection that is
>non-circulating and includes many volumes from the 18th-21st centuries, in
>addition to facsimiles of illumninated manuscripts, innumerable folios
>with loose plates....?  We actually have GRADUATE students who are
>completely clueless about proper book handling, not to mention chewing gum
>and using a pen without washing hands prior to using an items in the
>stacks dating from the 18th century.  (Even though we do TELL them about
>proper book handling, tell them we have white gauze gloves, and to use
>pencil only.  Our staff has been reduced to the point that we can not
>supervise each individual who uses these materials in our collection!
>
>If your library or library system does not have such a program, is anyone
>in your library or system contemplating such a thing?  I would like to
>hear from you.  I also think that all the comments on this subject are
>important.  So, let's keep the discussion going!  RAL
>
>Perhaps we need another session on preservation issues.  I notice that,
>while other library organizations have preservation sections or
>committees, ARLIS/NA does not.  Why is that?  I am rather surprised
>sinceart books have unique preservation needs that non-art librarians do
>not understand or even know about.  Is anyone else interested in beginning
>some sort of Preservation Issues group?  RAL
>
>                                Ray Anne Lockard
>                         Head, Frick Fine Arts Library
>                           University Library System
>                            University of Pittsburgh
>                             Pittsburgh, PA  15260
>                              Voice:  412-648-2410
>                                Fax:  412-648-7568
>                          E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
>
>                A book should be a ball of light in one's hands.
>                                   Ezra Pound
>
>On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Jack Robertson wrote:
>
>> Dear Ray Anne (and others),
>> you won't want to hear this, perhaps, but with all the
>> competition from Barnes-and-Noble type "full-service"
>> bookstores (eat/drink/browse/read/write/chat), libraries
>> are having to loosen up on the old rules.
>> the coffee and pastries shop in the lobby of the University
>> of Virginia's main library has done a booming business
>> (literally "booming" in terms of the ambient din), and many
>> additional tables have been added.
>> Several years ago the no-food-or-drink rule was abandoned
>> throughout the UVA library system -- with the exception of
>> Special Collections and the computer classrooms.
>> We were never able to enforce these rules, anyway, and to
>> tell the truth, I have not witnessed any damages caused by
>> big slurpies or pizzas delivered late at night.
>>
>> So, it seems that in this open commerece environment,
>> anything goes -- except for smoking.  Of course, the State
>> Code about restricted smoking areas does not apply to
>> chewing tobacco, so we have to put up with the ocassional
>> chewer-and-spitter.
>>
>> -- jack
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 13 Nov 2000 09:39:58 EST Ray Anne Lockard
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> > Dear Colleagues:
>> >
>> > Our main library has a loosened pollicy that allows beverages in the
>> > library as long as they are in "covered" containers.  On the other
hand,
>> > we will not allow this in the Frick Fine Arts Library.  Due to the more
>> > liberal policy in the main library (that will soon construct a coffee
>> > shop on one floor INSIDE the library), our challenges with preventing
>> > food and drink in our library have increased.
>> >
>> > I am, therefore, beginning to work on a PR campaign that is visually
>> > oriented that will catch the attention span of undergrads.  Do any
other
>> > art libraries have such a visual PR campaign in place?  Please share
>> > your thoughts and ideas with me.
>> >
>> > By a visual campaign, I mean a multiple presentation using the same
>> > design.  No one reads the subtle, calligraphic signs we have had for
>> > years.  I think we need to grab the attention of the Generation Xers
and
>> > Nexters who haev grown up with the Simpson's, video-games, etc.
>> >
>> > For example:  signs on each table in the Reading Room that show an
>> > artwork featuring food and/or drink overlaid with the "forbidden"
>> > graphic (the circle with a line through it), strips put in each book
>> > retrieved from the stacks and given to each patron in the Reading Room,
>> > a screen saver on each public device, a sign seen before patrons enter
>> > the library.
>> >
>> > I appreciate any ideas you can share with me!
>> >
>> > Ray Anne Lockard
>> >
>> > --
>> > Ray Anne Lockard, Head Librarian
>> > Frick Fine Arts Library
>> > University of Pittsburgh
>> > Pittsburgh, PA  15260
>> > Voice:  412-648-2411
>> > Fax:  412-648-7568
>> > E-Mail:  [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> > "A book should be a ball of light in one's hands."
>> > Ezra Pound
>> >
>> > __________________________________________________________________
>> > Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
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>> > Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> ---
>>
>> * * * * * * * *
>> Jack Robertson.  Fine Arts Librarian
>> Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library
>> University of Virginia
>> (804) 924-6601
>> [log in to unmask]
>> www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/
>>
>> __________________________________________________________________
>> Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
>> Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
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>> ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
>>        http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
>> Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]
>>
>
>__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________
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