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 Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:25 pm
Working on the third floor was always peaceful.
Away from the front desk and the more high traffic areas of the library, like the popular renewals kiosk and the children's literature corner, the Research and Reference floor was a quiet retreat for those of studious minds or with big projects they had put off too long to ignore further.
There were plenty of rooms for rental, in one was seeking a private place to work, outfitted with desks, projectors, a research and catalogue computer, and with the option of borrowing out equipment to read the copious amounts of microfiche and the thousands of images stored on slides and in film rolls. It took a lot of work to maintain the space, though, as it was far easier to dig through endless articles, encyclopedias, journals and photographs than to put them all away in a meaningful, searchable order.
Still, it was that tedium that made the Research Institute, as the floor was commonly called, one of Tony's favorite places in the library. He was just cleaning up one of the tables between sections, where some students had been working but had recently left once their paper was done and one of them had the idea to go get burgers.
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Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:40 pm
Torshavn loved the library... and simultaniously felt as though he were in a permanent battle with things like card catalogues and the dewy decimel system. Show him a chart of dots and arcane looking symbols and he could turn a bunch of yarn or threads into elaborate art... put him in front of a bunch of numbered book spines and related research documents and he felt like his eyes were trying to cross out of a sort of exhausted self defense. This was... particularly frustrating when he was trying to find a book with close up photographs of a historical lace collar, which he knew was supposed to be here... but felt like his eyes kept drifting over the same book spines over and over without actually registering the titles or numbers, and it was starting to get stressful. Which was of course why they had librarians, but somehow it felt like he was interrupting something important, even though he could see around the shelves that the man was mostly picking up after a couple of students, more invested in their empty bellies than the traces of their passing. He sucked in a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and advanced toward the man, sketch book tucked under one arm and a piece of paper with the book he was looking for gently being clutched in the other. "Hey... if you get a second can I borrow some help to find this book? I'm probably looking right at it but man... I guess it's that kinda day."
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Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2021 4:13 pm
Tony jumped at the voice, dropping a box of slides and watching with dismay as they clattered around the legs of the chairs and table, some disappearing from view. He shook it off, though, and turned to the source of the voice with a smile and a nod. "Of course, I can help!" He said, as if he had not just created a larger mess than when he started cleaning in the first place. He waved the mostly empty box of slides, noticed he was doing so, then tucked it behind his back with an awkward grin. "I'll ah... pick this up in a moment. It's not going anywhere, I'm sure." Leaning back a bit, he set the empty box on the table behind him before clearing his throat and removing his hands from behind his back. "Now then, what was it you were looking for?" He noticed the sketch book, taking the man to be an... art student, maybe? Tony always thought about going back for more schooling, perhaps pursuing a new career or at the very least just learning something exciting, but he could never really rationalize the time school would take and how much time he liked to invest in the library.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2021 3:02 pm
"It's a book with close studies on some painted fabric and photos of historic lace... I've been trying to look online but sometimes it's hard to find the photos I need when they aren't being shared with thoughts of reproduction in mind." He rambled, gesturing vaguely with the slip of paper. "I think its called a Sumptuous History of Lace... but uh... maybe I can help with the slides first?" He added, with an grimace of embarrassment. "Sorry, Didn't plan to make the mess worse... and this is a lot easier of a trip than trying to jump across the pond, so to speak, to study the paintings in person." He gave a wry smile at the thought, gesturing again vaguely as though he could dismiss his awkwardness, or summon the slides back from the forces of gravity.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 8:08 pm
"Ah, I can imagine that would be difficult," Tony said thoughtfully, searching through the card catalogue that was his brain for references. He knew the spot in the library where they could go and look, but it would take some scanning and intuition to find anything exact. Guiding like that was usually better for someone looking for a specific topic, rather than a book directly. No, this was a job for the catalogue computer. Though he was finicky with technology at the best of times, his reference database was almost infallible when it came to the contents of the vast library. If it could not be found on the shelves, it could at least be found at another library for transfer. And if it couldn't, it usually meant Tony took it personally and began a hunt to expand the library by one elusive book. He looked over at the slides, waving his hand and laughing off the accidental confetti he made out of them. "Oh, don't worry about that, it's been quiet today so that'll just be something to fill the time. Come on, let's go to the research desk over here and we can see if we can track down that book. And more on that subject, if you'd like. Are you interested in textiles?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 5:51 am
"I am actually." Shavn brightened with the personal light that came with the chance of being able to discuss something you really enjoyed. "I'm a fiber artist actually. In this case I'm trying to reproduce bobbin lace but I do weaving as well, this is for a special commission for someone in the local SCA. They've put a lot of hours in their current project so I want to nail the accuracy on my end as well." Not just because he was proud of his work, but for the price on the hours involved, it seemed only fitting.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:37 pm
"Fiber artist? That's not something I'm familiar with, but that sounds fascinating." Tony looked brighter as well, always interested in learning new things. And anyway, someone that loved what they did always had a way of making their work seem to glow. It made Tony want to know more, and that in turn would allow him to help find the material they needed from the library. If he could help in a small way, he most certainly would. That was sort of why he enjoyed this line of work in the first place. Heading back to the desk, he turned the computer monitor more toward Shavn so he could see the screen as well. Bringing up the library search browser, he typed in the title that was given to him earlier. He hoped they did have the book, as he was very curious to see for himself what these textiles looked like. He had no real experience with this part of the art world at all, so it was a rather exciting thing to look up. "Ah, it does look like we have a book with a name like that," taking a small piece of paper from a dispenser nearby, Tony jotted down the location number and handed it to Shavn. He, of course, would remember the number and could already picture where they were headed.
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