Among the many treasures of the Burke Library, it is the Van Ess Collection that makes the book conservator’s heart beat fast. This collection of more than 500 volumes is unique in America for its high concentration of early European printed books in contemporary bindings. To the modern eye they are something out of a […]
“Of making many books…”
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, the Burke Library hosted a workshop, organized by Columbia Libraries’ Conservation Department, for New York City curators and conservators on the study of the provenance of historic bookbindings. Dr. Nicholas Pickwoad, Director of Ligatus Research Centre at the University of the Arts London, led an all-day session featuring more than […]
#LoveInAction: A reflective essay
That sounds familiar! As I sifted through the materials in the Burke archives, reading student publications and looking at pictures that were over forty years old, I kept recognizing my classmates in these relics from our predecessors. My project was tracking a series of student-driven movements in the 1960s and 1970s that radically transformed the academic […]
My Own “Final Blog Post” Has Arrived
We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. ~Walt Disney As I look back on the last four years and four months that I’ve spent as the project archivist at the Burke Library, I am so thankful to have had this opportunity. […]
A Marxist reflection on the Burke Library
When I’m checking in periodicals or sorting books in the stacks of Burke library, it’s not uncommon for me to think how utterly useless it all is, all these journals of theology and philosophy, all these books on God and sin and grace. What need do we have for them? For Origen and Aquinas and […]
First Collection Completed
My first archival project here has been completely fascinating. The Catholic Church in India from 1880-1893? I know absolutely nothing about that! I found myself absorbed with the first few volumes, trying to get a sense of that world. The pages were browned, the edges were crumbling, some of the spines were a wreck and […]
Light in the Darkness
“Every book is a little light in that darkness”- Scott Landon My job at the library resembles the craft of archaeology. On any day, I may come home from work with several centuries of dirt on my hands. This can be from crosschecking in world cat whether we have Der Kleine Katechismus Dr. Martin Luthers […]
Musings on the Burke and Libraries
As a recent graduate in art history and archaeology, I am thrilled to be employed as the Burke Library’s circulation and reserves desk assistant. Prior to this job, I worked as a general assistant at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. As someone who grew up in Queens, libraries have been important in my life. […]
So exactly why an MLS?
In 2003, around the New Year’s holiday, I spent a little over 30 hours (in the span of two days) teaching myself how to use Microsoft’s now defunct program FrontPage. By New Year’s Day, my eyes burned, my right wrist ached from (self-diagnosed) carpel tunnel syndrome, and most importantly, I completed my first website (a […]
Sexual Politics in the Archives
As an incoming MA student at Union, having previous experience working libraries as well as a Master of Information & Library Science degree under my belt, I’m excited to join the student staff at the Burke Library for this next step in my academic studies in theological librarianship. My area of research is ethics, specifically […]