Going Underground in Chicago

Underground Library at the Chicago Zine Fest

A new model for the library?  Underground?  The librarian history lover in me was suspicious... why do we need a new model when the old model seems pretty perfect, a least for me.  Which is, of course, the problem - everyone is not me.  An underground library implies an alternative approach, something subversive, radical, even revolutionary - I had to find out more.    
The Chicago Underground Library opened my eyes and brain to a new way of sorting the library.  C.U.L is a “location specific” library that collects independent and small press materials.  Their holdings include books, magazines and newspapers of any and all types that are created in or by Chicagoans from any time period.   They accept ALL materials, regardless of their “perceived quality or importance” in order to get an in-depth view of the community.  They have completely eliminated the literacy gatekeeper, otherwise know as the librarian.

A video clip on their website provides a little tour that shows off some of their diversity.  There are shelves of books made by students, tiny handmade books, poetry chapbooks, works by self-published authors and neighborhood newspapers.  Their goal is to “map the evolution of Chicago’s communities and movements and encourage the production of new media by providing context, inspiration, and programming designed to support collaboration.”  They hope to encourage people and groups to come together and collaborate to reach new creative heights and allow connections to emerge.

Nell Taylor, the founder of the library, talked to Nina Simon on her blog last year.  Taylor explained that by keeping track of everyone involved in the publication of item (from photographers to interns) CUL hopes to record the migration of ideas across the country through individuals and their interactions with different communities.  They are currently working on software that could be used for collections like this in other cities.   

One of Taylor’s ideas that I though was particularly interesting  was to encourage patrons to value items without judging them by the way they look, or by the importance that other people place on them.  The Underground Library encourages people to think for themselves about what they value, enjoy or are inspired by.  A little different from out current library model that sets up books, provides lists and tell us what we “should” enjoy or what is “good” writing.   Honestly, I am usually pretty happy to have the guidance as I wade through oceans of books, but I also see how our system prevent media from being included in library collections based on subjective criteria.

Thanks to a storm that buried some of the collection in a snowbank this winter, the library has gone mobile while they search for a new home.  In the meantime they are putting together “Pop Up” library exhibits in Chicago neighborhoods that offer specific materials based on interest or location.  I hope Taylor eventually finds a new home, above ground, for her important collection and continues mapping the literacy of the city - I wonder if she’s talked to the the library, they might have just the space she’s looking for.

Poole Battles On

from University of Illinois Archives

When we last left our intrepid librarian, William Poole, he was attempting to convince the library world of his superior design for large public libraries (see March 6th post)   Just as Poole outlined his grand scheme there was a new trend emerging in the library world...The Stacks.  Harvard’s Gore Library, under the direction of Justin Winsor, has just built an addition using the stack principle, ie; creating a central location for books on large free standing metal shelves.  The books were accessed by the librarian and brought to patrons in the reading room.  The benefits were clear and overwhelming:  large quantities of books were easy to store, find, re-shelve and protect and they were very hard to steal.  
Poole did not acquiesce, in fact he criticized the design at Gore Hall,  The Library of Congress and The Boston Public Library.  He definitely did not suffer from self-doubt.  By the mid-1880s most librarians were convinced of the superiority of the stack system and saw flaws in Poole’s “decentralized plan”.. but not Poole.  He went onto have an epic battle with Henry Ives Cobb, the new architect for the Newberry Library who, after touring libraries in the US and Europe, had determined that some type of stack system was most efficient.  He held his ground and would not cave into Poole’s design.  They proceeded to argue, bicker, disagree and quarrel over the design of the library for the next two years.  Poole was relentless, he hired his own architect to create alternate plans, wrote letters, begged for support and finally he won.  He wrote that “Cobb surrendered” and was jubilant that there would be no stacks and no soaring reading room at the Newberry.  In fact the final plan was almost exactly the same as the first plan Poole presented in 1881 - in ten years his thinking had not budged.

I wonder what Newberry would have thought of Poole’s great egotistical battle for the design of a library meant to “enlighten the human mind”  and I wonder what Poole would think if he could come back and see how libraries have evolved thanks to decades of understanding and reflection about their use.
Perhaps Poole should have read John Adams quote,  “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”  
Then again, it sure is easy being a Monday morning quarterback and taking for granted that my library books are easy to find in the stacks of my library.

Poole's Plans

Before leaving Chicago I paused to read about the physical home of the The Newberry Library at 60 W. Walton Street.  Maybe I should rephrase that because if the Newberry was a home it would be called a mansion or even a palace.  Predictably, there was a fascinating story behind the design and construction of the building that drew me in like a lake trout in spring - I was hooked.  Houghton Wetherold’s meticulous article, The Architectural History of the Newberry Library, told the tale.  

Before even one stone was laid for the foundation of the library a passionate battle brewed about the design.  Walter Newberry (and his daughter and his wife) were long gone before the funding for the library became available in 1885 (see yesterday’s post). Eliphalet W. Blatchford and William H. Bradley, the first trustees, hired the eminent librarian Dr. William Frederick Poole to oversee the construction at the Newberry family homestead in 1887, the site was later moved to Washington Park.  Poole, a Yale graduate, had already been at the helm of the Boston Atheneum and The Chicago Public Library when he took charge at the Newberry.  He was a scholar and historian, in addition to being an expert in library administration.  He is described as, “brusque, unswerving, clever, endowed with tremendous energy and force of will”, not the type of character I’d like to get into an argument with.  

Braver men than I did argue with Poole, at the ALA meeting in 1881, about his library design ideas. Poole was against the cathedral type library (think Bates Hall or Rose Room but remember that both were yet to be built!) and argued that they were an inefficient use of space, had poor climate control, were too noisy, made it difficult to locate books and were a fire hazard (apparently he was a ‘practical pete’ and was not swayed by such things as inspiration or great beauty).  Instead he advocated for a library divided into separate rooms by subject matter, each with their own books on shelves that were low enough to allow sunlight from large windows.  Each room would have its own librarian.  Indeed the separate rooms solved the issues of space, fires, book location and solitude but librarians were not convinced that Poole’s proposal was the right solution.  What about scholars working on more than one subject?  Would there be enough natural light?  And how about the sheer number of librarians needed to staff all those rooms?  Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post when these burning questions, and more, are answered...

Polishing Minds

Photograph © Wayne Lorentz/Artefaqs Corporation

Yesterday I read about the marginalia collection at the Newberry Library in Chicago and decided to travel westward (digitally) to check it out.   The Newberry is another example of a private/public library with plenty of funding and an abundance of exhibits, speakers, collections and programs for the public.  Increasingly I am noticing the gigantic gap between true public libraries (supported by tax dollars) and independent libraries (supported by private donations and foundations).  I wonder if we are headed back in the direction of the ‘private’ library and what that would mean for children, people living in poverty and the thousands of small rural communities that stretch across the country?  But I digress.  Let’s stick to the books for today.
The Newberry is an independent research library, open to the public, with a non-circulating collection of books concentrated in the humanities.  To get a ‘readers card’ at the library you must be at least 16 years old, show proof of a permanent address and have a research topic that is appropriate for the Newberry’s Collection, but the public is welcome to visit anytime and the huge variety of classes, groups, speakers, seminars, exhibits and events offered to the public is unmatched by any of the libraries I have researched.  
Walter Loomis Newberry was a man ahead of his time.  He lived from 1804-1868 and was a wealthy businessman involved in the railroads and banking (sounds familiar).  He had a dream of his own, to create the first public library in Chicago.  He believed, "We must encourage every thing that tends to enlighten and polish the human mind.... We purpose to lay the foundation of a library which we hope to see go on increasing until it becomes the pride and boast of our city." (1841).  For whatever reason he did not embark on his dream during his lifetime, but left his dream in his will to be implemented by others.  As a good husband and father he also added a clause to his will that made his fortune unavailable until his family was no longer dependent on it.  His daughters and wife lived until 1885,  they clearly weren’t in any hurry to get to work building a library either, public or private, and so the money sat idly by, waiting.  By the time Mrs. Newberry moved to greener pastures, The Chicago Public Library was in full swing and Newberry’s $2.1 million fortune needed a new purpose.  The library trustees decided to create a “research library for scholars” instead that would compliment the public library.  The collection focuses on the history and culture of Western Europe and the Americas.
The library takes its mission of civic engagement, life long learning and service to a diverse community very seriously, its calendar is like a university catalog (without the high tuition). Chicago Magazine calls their lecture series the best in the city and sites recent talks about Satchel Paige, Shakespeare and Hyde Park’s influeunce of President Obama - what a line up!   As it turns out, Newberry’s best laid plans not only created a sanctuary for research but also provided almost daily opportunities for Chicagoans to learn that will surely keep their minds gleaming.