Special Collections Reference

I’m a little late in posting about this, but I have to mention that despite being thwarted in my efforts to take the train (“Sold out?” I said to the Amtrak operator, incredulously. “I didn’t even know trains could sell out!” This from someone who spent a Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend on an Amtrak train to Boston during college sitting on his luggage between the cars of the train. The whole 3 hour ride. In November. They sure as heck didn’t sell tickets based on seats back then), I made it to Chicago another way (shout-out to Illini Express Shuttle!)and in time for the 10:30am tour of the Newberry. I hadn’t expected it to be sobig, especially the massive general reading room and reference area. The Special Collections reading room (or “fish bowl”) was almost empty, but was interesting for its transparency and orderlyness. I chickened out and, perhaps influenced by HCL’s draconian in-building photo policies, feared retribution should I try to document it in any way.

To make the most of my short time in Chicago, I speed-walked from the Newberry to the Printers’ Row Lit Fest down Dearborn Street. I should say I am not a regular book fair attender, and am thus not sure if I should have been impressed at this one. I was, though, at the number and variety of booths and the amount of people attending, despite the impending showers. I did manage to just finish my walk-through of all the booths before the showers began, and the plastic sheeting was whipped out to cover shelves in danger.

It was then on to the Chicago Public Library for a brief stop, and then to Grant Park. I wondered as I arrived there if it would now become a tourist stop by virtue of being the site of Obama’s emotional victory speech on election night. I admit that this was the main thing that brought me there, despite the increasing intensity of rain.

My ride back was courtesy of Amtrak, a less popular run, though one that was still full.

You can see more pictures of my Chicago adventure on my Picasaweb Album.

Perhaps it is all of my time spent at Harvard, where they don’t officially exist, but I find the ubiquity of fraternities here overwhelming. Is everyone in a frat at Urbana-Champaign? If I look out the door closest to my room, without actually going outside, I can see three different fraternity houses (left, straight, and slightly right). And that of course does not include the back of Alpha Kappa Lambda which is always viewable out my cell, I mean room window.

The variety of care in maintaining them is also astonishing.  Some, though majestic looking, clearly should be cared for more (note the broken window). For others, the building itself looks fine, but the surrounding environment could use improvement, including signs and lawns. Then there are those that even have advertising built right in. If I had more time right now, I might make a pithy comparison between these frats and rare books, including clever examples of how the above descriptions could be used also for rare books and collections… but I’ll leave that to you.

For some visual stimulation, head over to my Picasaweb Album of Urbana Champaign. Now with mapping!