Central Library in Edinburgh Scotland is built on the original foundation from the 1600's. The library still contains the multilevel shelving with hidden staircases. The passages were originally used by staff, separating male and female entrances for staff. The age of the building creates a unique working environment as heat and cooling are a bit temperamental. The library is an interesting mix of old and new. On one hand, technology is being utilized for digital services, and on the other there are still active physical card catalogs. My librarians heart was so happy to see the beautiful rows of traditional card catalogs, but I was definitely surprised that patrons still use them to place requests. Once they locate an item in the catalog they fill out a request slip that is on carbon paper. These requests are filled by library staff. While they still utilize this system, they are also involved in digital ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. It is an interesting combination of resources that I found unique to any public library I have visited.
The portion of the tour that captivated my attention the most was the presentation about a service project the library had engaged in called Youth Talk. It focused on youth services in the community. The library recognized that they weren't reaching a certain demographic in the community, namely teens. They sought out a group to better understand what they were looking for in terms of activities in their community so that the library could help provide them. I felt the approach the library took with these children was an amazing confidence builder. They essentially handed over the reins of the project and created a committee of teens who helped guide the activities and who the adult workers would be. The program allowed the teens to be vocal about the different areas of the community and where they felt the most comfortable. It gave them the power to get what they want and need. The program activities included graffiti art, film work, and a life skills course. At the end there was an awards ceremony honoring the work of the youth involved. The incredible part is that the program did not cost anything. The library looked at what they already had and put it to use. I feel that youth services to teens is a vital area that public libraries should be addressing and I feel inspired to use the example of the Central Library in my own service area.New College Library
New College Library was founded in 1843. It was created as the library for Free Church College which was to be a training place for ministers. The Library is housed in what was once a church. The library was built from donations. It received 3,000 items in the first year. It now has 90,000 items including manuscripts and rare books. Today it is part of the University of Edinburgh. The library is open access and the majority of the collection uses the Library of Congress classification system. While the collection is focused on theology for the School of Divinity, all students in all subject areas can access the collection. The atmosphere of the library is very traditional in most respects. There are very few computers provided by the library. Students generally bring in their own laptops and devices when using the space. For the general collection students use a self return and self issue system. Within the main floor of the library is a glassed in reading room named the Funk Reading room which is used for Special Collections. In terms of digital material, in this discipline printed material appears to be of higher value to scholars. They face the challenge of providing both mediums.
Traveling down in the elevator to the stacks reminded me of Alice falling through the rabbit hole. It was an adventure into a new world full of unique objects. The organization of materials housed within the shelves on the lower floors was not what I was expecting. At the time of our visit, about 60% of the libraries stock had been cataloged. Physical catalogs are still in use and there is a project archivist putting information online. I found the method for cataloging very interesting as they are not approaching sections of material and adding it in. Items are being cataloged once the are checked out and returned. It makes sense after thinking about it because it decreases the number of times material is being handled. They already have a system in place that allows students to locate the material for the time being so why increase the use of staff time when the items are going to be processed in a natural way on their own. It's a smart approach, it just seems to mean that it will take longer to complete the catalog because there's no guarantee of when material will be checked out. I loved walking down the aisles of early bibles, hymn and song books, and a medieval manuscript. The collection is historically rich and I feel privileged to have seen it first hand.
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