tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38498648.post117017648423227442..comments2023-10-15T10:25:22.469-05:00Comments on Arrogant Self-Reliance: Hope for the LibrariesAmy Readshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571924705714110971noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38498648.post-1170467437641021322007-02-02T19:50:00.000-06:002007-02-02T19:50:00.000-06:00Hi Thomas,When we were last there in 2005, we spen...Hi Thomas,<BR/><I>When we were last there in 2005, we spent hours just creeping in the half-dark around the ancient and not-so ancient books and papers. There is something terribly profound -- something that speaks to your Dickens/King comment -- about looking through glass at medieval illuminated manuscripts that rest hermetically in cases only a room away from preserved 45rpm records of "Love Me Do" and Lennon's lyrics scratched on an envelope.</I><BR/><BR/>It's really, really true. I try to impress upon my students that pop culture is not a new thing. In fact, I study 19th-century pop culture, when you get right down to it. And the British Library seems to love it all, from the medieval manuscript to those Lennon scratchings.<BR/><BR/><I>The news is terribly sad, though for the life of me ... I cannot imagine an alternate means of support. What the Library needs is probably a sizable amount of corporate donation. In exchange, Barclays and Cadbury get their names emblazoned on a plaque in the foyer. Reasonable enough.</I><BR/><BR/>I know, I know. I can't think of anything to fix it, either. But then, that's why I'm a reader and writer, not an economist. I've no head for figures or grand solutions.<BR/><BR/><I>Because really, were talking about a kind of stewardship. Not environmental, but cultural sustainability.</I><BR/><BR/>I really worry about the future Marxes, unable to write or view in peace.<BR/><BR/>Or for free.<BR/>Ciao,<BR/>AmyAmy Readshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02571924705714110971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38498648.post-1170220136069924582007-01-30T23:08:00.000-06:002007-01-30T23:08:00.000-06:00It sits there on the corner, so huge and yet someh...It sits there on the corner, so huge and yet somehow precarious, <A HREF="http://flickr.com/photos/grabbingsand/62023915/in/set-1305084/" REL="nofollow">guarded by Paolozzi's <I>Newton</I></A>.<BR/><BR/>When we were last there in 2005, we spent hours just creeping in the half-dark around the ancient and not-so ancient books and papers. There is something terribly profound -- something that speaks to your Dickens/King comment -- about looking through glass at medieval illuminated manuscripts that rest hermetically in cases only a room away from preserved 45rpm records of "Love Me Do" and Lennon's lyrics scratched on an envelope.<BR/><BR/>The news is terribly sad, though for the life of me ... I cannot imagine an alternate means of support. What the Library needs is probably a sizable amount of corporate donation. In exchange, Barclays and Cadbury get their names emblazoned on a plaque in the foyer. Reasonable enough. <BR/><BR/>Because really, were talking about a kind of stewardship. Not environmental, but cultural sustainability.Fearless Leaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03867756713804083325noreply@blogger.com