If I’ve been a bit silent here, it’s because I’ve flung myself full-force back into the school year. A year into my education, with just one left to go, I’ve been able to really begin to form a more clear picture of the professional issues I care about most, and what I want to be doing in terms of work a year from now. What I really care about is access (archival and otherwise). I’ve always enjoyed reference work, ever since my wee-librarian days at the Carnegie Library microfilm desk. But I am especially excited to be involved in a project that I feel takes the elements of reference that I love and pushes them several steps further.
The Uni Project, that “portable reading room for public space” I have been incessantly telling my friends about for the past nine months, launched last Sunday, September 11 at the New Amsterdam Market in Manhattan.
And yesterday, Sunday, September 18, we set up in conjunction with the Brooklyn Public Library at the Brooklyn Book Festival.
It was really incredible to see the Uni in action after months of brainstorming and anticipation. I loved seeing it take on different configurations and adapt to two different settings with such success, and I can’t wait to see where it will go next.
Although not a “library,” by any strict definition, the Uni is a perfect embodiment of why I went back to school to get my MLIS. Regardless with the nature of the resources I end up working with in the future, this project has been such a valuable reminder that we preserve, catalog, digitize and maintain our materials in order to enrich the lives of the people who access them.
I highly recommend taking some time to browse the Uni website (and perhaps to donate some of your books as well…)
Figs and Things 