Ray Anne,
Many European libraries--i.e, state libraries as well as academic
ones--have commercial eating establishments and/or cafe located on the
premises. However, food and drink (and smoking) is normally allowed only
in these areas not within the library itself. On the one hand, patrons are
accommodated because a welcome break with appropriate levels of
refreshments are easily available; on the other, the collections are
protected. I think that the key here is readily available nourishment in a
place which provides some relief from intellectual work. But this may well
not work in the USA where we always need to gratify our hungers. Margaret
At 02:03 PM 11/14/00 -0500, you 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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> > > to [log in to unmask]
> > > ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
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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)
> > to [log in to unmask]
> > 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]
> >
>
>__________________________________________________________________
>Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
>Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
> to [log in to unmask]
>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]
Margaret N. Webster
Visual Resources Facility
College of Architecture, Art & Planning
B-56 Sibley Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3300
EMail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.aapvrf.cornell.edu
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
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]
