I was really bummed to miss the Barbicon Library site visit because I actually do work full time at a public library. That visit would have been the most relevant to my current job duties and area of expertise. Due to a misunderstanding about the mini break and when it officially began, I missed it. So to make up for it, I decided to visit Marylebone Public Library, a lending library that was right around the corner from our residence hall.
It was a very small library with a basement and ground floor, and it had books and DVDs for adults, and an adorable little children's section. The library on duty, Sabrina was more than happy to answer all of my nosy little questions, so it was a delightful visit.
I found their organization system for non-fiction books intriguing especially because we've been playing around with the idea of changing the way books are organized in the non-fiction area for teens at my library.
First, the books are organized by alphabetical categories: Art, Cooking, Sports, etc. Then, in each section they are arranged by Dewey. I really like this system because this way, a person can find all books related to their topic of interest in one area. Art books in the 700s are no longer separated from traditional folk art in the 300s. Sabrina said they changed to this method about 5 years ago, and it's worked really well at their particular location. In the picture you can see that they have a section for Media and Performance, followed by music, and then Nature.
There was a similar organization schema going on in the children's section. Fiction and non fiction were separated, and then grouped together by categories, like "Animals" and "Colors."
As Sabrina and I spoke, she was interrupted by various patrons, and it was nice to see that all of the questions were the same: "May I have the key to the bathroom?" "I would like to pay my fines" and the ever popular, "Can I have my computer time extended?" The only difference is, that at this particular library, patrons must pay to extend library time, which I thought was interesting, but makes sense considering they have such a limited amount of computers and space.
Because the library is so small in such a big city, I assumed it was a branch, but it doesn't quite work that way. Usually in big cities in the US there is one big central location, and then a few smaller branch locations which might have their own feel, but ultimately they all share the same director. And if one branch makes a change they all do. In London, they seem to be less centralized the librarians at each location decide for themselves how things will run, and how books will be organized.
However, several of the libraries in London, including Marylebone Library fall under the larger umbrella of Westminster Libraries and if you have a card at one you can use it for other locations, and they all share the same website and blog. I also visited Paddington Public Library, another branch of Westminster libraries. I tried to stop by the Barbican after that, but apparently they closed early that day at 2pm, which is absolutely outrageous to me, but whatever.
I really enjoyed my visit to Marylebone Library and had an interesting conversation with Sabrina about professional development and the professional organization in the UK. In America we have ALA, but they have CILIP. Actually, after talking to her for a while, I decided to focus my research paper on professional development instead of my original topic regarding sewing patterns.
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