YBP.com - Feature Articles

Notes From the Field
by Francoise Crowell, Collection Management, International Sales, has been "on assignment" for several months at Lindsay and Croft in Godalming, Surrey, England

My job at YBP Library Services has evolved over the course of my 18 years with the company from Bibliographer to International Sales. During that time I have had the privilege of visiting many libraries. I once tried to count the number of libraries I have been in but gave up. I then counted the number of countries and think it is sixteen. When my colleagues at YBP found out that I was going to England to work out of our UK office, Lindsay and Crofts, and work with some UK libraries, they asked me to write an article on the differences between US and UK libraries. I agreed, thinking this would be an easy task. I was wrong. There is no difference.

The marvelous thing about libraries is that, especially if you are a librarian, you immediately feel at home no matter what library you walk into. You may feel awestruck when walking into the great libraries of the world, such as the Library of Congress, the British Library and the Bibliotheque Nationale of France. Small departmental libraries may make you feel superior. But the university library is the same the world around and when you walk in you know exactly where to go.

Main Library of the University of Hong Kong

Before I go into a library I search the web and find out all I can about the library and, specifically, I get a map of the campus to see where the library is and what the building looks like. Nothing is worse than arriving on campus and asking a student where the library is and receiving a blank look. The hardest library for me to find is the one at the University of Hong Kong. The University is built into the steep hill above Hong Kong harbor. There are several levels to the campus, all connected by elevators and ramps. If the taxi driver drops me off at the wrong entrance, I turn around several times before finding the correct level. Once there I am rewarded with a library that is the state of the art: newly renovated, inviting and well marked once inside.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Another Hong Kong library that always enthralls me is the library at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. This campus is also high up on the hills of Kowloon, but the campus is new and enjoys a view that is hard to match. Perhaps readers could share with us their favorite view from a library. HKUST looks out onto Clear Water Bay, filled with islands, sail boats, ferries, freighters and sandy beaches. This view is not just reserved for the administrative offices but can be seen from the study areas in the library as well. I can't imagine getting much work done with such a view in front of me.

While library buildings sometimes tend to resemble each other, there are some interesting differences. In the Philippines they tend to have a colonial feel. In Paris I went into a library that seemed ancient on the outside but once inside it was totally modern with large openings and lots of glass. In constructing the library the shell of the building was preserved and the inside totally modernized. I am happy to see that many libraries are renovating and making their public spaces, and, though less often, their work spaces, inviting and comfortable. Construction, of course, brings inconveniences. I was in a library in the UK working with the staff when I was shuttled out so quickly I could not even say goodbye. The library was being totally renovated and the electricity was to be turned off at precisely 5 PM. No elevators and no lights to get down the stairs. I am happy to report that when I returned a few weeks later the renovation was completed and the library a pleasant place in which to be.

Back when I was a student, many, many years ago, our libraries did not allow eating and drinking and most libraries still do not allow this. Water is now allowed in some libraries, cell phones are allowed in some rooms or in the stair wells of some libraries. What fascinate me are the cafes attached to the libraries. I feel as if I am in Borders, though again here books and coffee don't go together. So how do librarians greet visiting librarians or vendors? I have worked in libraries where I talk and demo for several hours with no one offering a coffee or a glass of water. I have been in libraries where the hospitality is exceptional and I am not even sitting before I have been offered a coffee or water. In a steamy basement room somewhere in Hong Kong I remember having endless cups of tea and then floating out of the room. The ideal situation is being offered a break with something to drink and maybe a cookie or two. Lunch with librarians is always a challenge. Early in my career I learned to order the simplest or least messy choice so that I could eat and talk at the same time and not end up wearing my meal.

No matter what language the librarian speaks, the library speaks to you in one language. Mention LC classification, Dewey, OCLC, MARC records and Amazon and the librarians know exactly what you are talking about. Most libraries use one of a handful of acquisitions systems, their online catalogs are accessed the same way the US ones are; they use the same theft detection systems and the same bar codes. While each librarian will say that they have their own system and their own way of doing things, I know they are not much different from other libraries. It is like a family. Siblings are from the same branch but they have their own personality, their own quirks, their own faults, their own accomplishments and yet you look at them and you know where they belong. Libraries are unique but they are all part of the same family. Enter the library and you are home. The reference room may not be quite where you remembered it, the classification may not be what you are familiar with, but you can figure it out, and the stacks may or may not be open ones, but the librarians will all be the same: helpful, ready to share experiences, ready to hear what you have to say and even ready to accept some changes. I can travel around the world and visit libraries in Melbourne, Bangkok, Paris, Amsterdam, Reading, and Boston, and I always know where I am going and I almost always find a friend.

Feature Articles

What We're Reading

Feature Articles