San Diego Public Library pt. 3

This is the last post, I promise. Up on the 9th floor are things like the rare book room, but also an Art Gallery!  Well, you know I couldn't pass that up. Getting off the elevator, you're in this beautiful open air space. It's like your reward from all of the heavy inside you've gone through to get there. I may have twirled when I got off the elevator. 

The current exhibit

The next two go together. 

And the next two go together

The next three go together. And this was wild. I wanted to touch it so bad, but I know my art gallery etiquette.  What I'm saying is, I almost ignored it.... 

This was very cool. I wish I'd had time to stand and read them all. There were a lot of them. 

The next two go together and again, wanting to touch. I'm a menace! 

I really wish I'd gotten the write up about this one, but when you look at it, it's kind of self explanatory. 

And that was my trip to the San Diego Public Library! What a great place, and I wish I'd had more time. 

If you want to see the other two parts to this series, Part 1 and Part 2

San Diego Public Library pt. 2

 Have I mentioned that it has been a long time since I've done a blog post? Apparently, I couldn't do all the pics I wanted to do in one post? That may be a Blogger limit OR.....it might be a ME limit. User error, if you will. In any event, here is pt. 2 with everything else (I hope!) that I wanted to include. I suspect, looking at the pics I have left, there may also be a part 3....

The YA room was so interesting and looked very fun. 

I didn't go tot every floor. My sister was waiting for me, and we were pressed for time because the conference was going to be starting soon, and we still had to find lunch. So, of course, I went to the fiction floor. Because fiction. 

Waitaminute......what is this?!?  Is that....who I think it is?!? 

Okay, but there can't be actual cards in it.  Oh! 

Reference collections were kind of a thing of the past at the previous libraries I've worked at. And it is one of the things I miss about big Central libraries. Do people use these things? Probably not. Maybe once a year. Maybe once every 2 or 3 years. But for people with curiosity about EVERYTHING (namely me) they were glorious to have around. 

Up on the fiction floor were also the 800s because, of course. They go together. 

One of the things I found interesting was short stories being in the 800s. We'd done that, once upon a time. Now, I think most places put them in with the fiction. But if you're a person that just wants short stories, this is easier to browse. I prefer them in the fiction.

Some with stickers, some without. In stacks with old books, you can see the evolution of spine labels, stickers, and all the things they've tried in the past. For library nerds, it's like archaeology! 

Onward to Part 3!  Back to Part 1

San Diego Public Library pt. 1

 While in San Diego for Bouchercon, I made a visit to the library. Because you can't put a library in walking distance and then expect me to not go there. I had a free minute before the conference started in earnest, so library it was! 

Please understand that these are just MY thoughts. I talked to a few people who worked there, but it's not like I had a tour that explained all of their choices and situations. It was just me, as a tourist, walking through and comparing it to other libraries both visited and worked in. 

The Table of Contents....so to speak

The first thing I noticed was how dark it seemed on the first floor. Most libraries seem bright and airy now so this was definitely a blast from the past.  The upper floors didn't seem quite as dark and wait until we get to the top floor! LITERALLY bright and airy, as there is an outdoor element that was to die for. But on the bottom? Kinda dark. 

Even by the windows, it still seemed kind of dark. My sister camped out here while I looked around since she'd done that already the last time we were in San Diego. 

Absolutely in love with this Local Authors section. It was right up front, where it should always be. If you're an author local to San Diego, you should see about letting them know so you can be in this area! 

        

   

NEW books.  Separated into Fiction, Non-fiction. These are the new Fiction stacks. I could have stood here all day.

And some new Non-Fiction. Because I suppose you have to have that as well or people will get mad. 

Where people put their barcodes has always been a hot topic in libraries. Someone was complaining about ours (upper left corner, I believe) just the other day. Because it covered some of the back cover copy. I like this. I wonder, though, if their scanners get confused with a barcode over a barcode. If not, this is the preferred placement. You'll never be covering up cover copy! 

The thing I noticed about their paperback section:  

A. no spine labels. I'm not sure what that means. If it was naked fiction across the board, I'm all for it. If you shelve by author, do you even need a spine label? Columbus PL convinced me that no, you do not. (I wonder if they still do it that way.). But, it's *just* paperbacks that don't have a spine label. I like that less. 

B. there are trade paperbacks in this collection. Libraries usually segregate only the mass markets. I thought that was interesting. 

AV was also on this floor. 

I was digging these displays! 

The library had lots of rooms for different things and that's just one thing I miss about large Central libraries. 

Always a source of community information

Loved these little displays throughout as well.