The archivist Mike, told us that approximately 1/5 of all materials belonging to the library are in storage, and books are organized by Universal Decimal Code which I can't say I'm too familiar with. A lot of the librarian's time is dedicated to one on one research assistance, which could be nice as long as the person you're working with is pleasant, which of course, can never be guaranteed.
It really surprised me when Mike said that there is no interlibrary loan for this library. Especially since their collection is by no means exhaustive. He even mentioned that for certain journals, their library might have one year, and a library in Canada might have the next year!
At this library, he pulled out rare volumes of interest including Barlow's Journal, that was filled with colorful illustrations to record his adventures on the sea.
Of course, the absolute best thing he showed us were all of the documents related to the Titanic. We got to see menus of what the passengers ate for lunch aboard the ship, and some fascinating letters. I loved the letters by Mrs. Casebear. It sounds like she had quite the little flirtation going with a young Jewish man aboard the ship, and the ending was tragic! She got on a life boat, and told him to get on, but he told her, "No, it's women and children first." So romantic! And her best line was, "I owe my life to discipline and a pretty dress."
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