Looking a gift horse in the mouth
My boss notified me this morning that the library is going to be receiving a substantial donation of books in the very near future. He has been making noises about this off and on for several months, asking me to write him a memo outlining how we'd commemorate such a gift (one word: bookplates. What the hell else can I do? Build them a wing?) and hinting that said donation was comprised of photography books.
Today he called to discuss logistics. Namely, the gift will be in the form of twenty boxes of books. More specifically, twenty eighty-pound boxes of books. Primarily about painting. What did I think would be the best strategy for storing them until they were processed and ready to shelve?
To provide a little context, my entire library currently consists of 2,500 books. I've never tried to box it up, but twenty boxes would hold a sizeable portion of our collection. Said collection is also housed in a relatively tiny space, with limited shelving. In fact, I just scored a major victory in convincing him to let me get rid of the 1991 Encyclopedia Britannicas and the 1989 Time-Life Understanding Computers series (a feat three years in the making) because of the fact that we are about out of shelf space for our current collection. This conversation took place less than a week ago, and yet he was shocked and a little mystified when I told him that there was no way in hell these books were going to fit in our library.
But of course, we can't let reality stand in the way of free stuff. So he and I and a couple of student workers are driving a small truck (his, apparently) to Lincoln Park one day next week to retrieve said books. Where we will deposit them once we retrieve them, I have no idea. And how I will process them and shoehorn them onto the shelves is a mystery. But I'm sure the commemorative bookplates will be lovely.
Today he called to discuss logistics. Namely, the gift will be in the form of twenty boxes of books. More specifically, twenty eighty-pound boxes of books. Primarily about painting. What did I think would be the best strategy for storing them until they were processed and ready to shelve?
To provide a little context, my entire library currently consists of 2,500 books. I've never tried to box it up, but twenty boxes would hold a sizeable portion of our collection. Said collection is also housed in a relatively tiny space, with limited shelving. In fact, I just scored a major victory in convincing him to let me get rid of the 1991 Encyclopedia Britannicas and the 1989 Time-Life Understanding Computers series (a feat three years in the making) because of the fact that we are about out of shelf space for our current collection. This conversation took place less than a week ago, and yet he was shocked and a little mystified when I told him that there was no way in hell these books were going to fit in our library.
But of course, we can't let reality stand in the way of free stuff. So he and I and a couple of student workers are driving a small truck (his, apparently) to Lincoln Park one day next week to retrieve said books. Where we will deposit them once we retrieve them, I have no idea. And how I will process them and shoehorn them onto the shelves is a mystery. But I'm sure the commemorative bookplates will be lovely.
posted by Madame Defarge at 4:32 PM
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