Photography

Look Up

Photo of library bookstacks, looking up at the ceiling, showing the books towering above the viewer

We have hybrid schedules, since going back to working on-site.  I love working remotely, but on my remote days I miss walking in the stacks.  This was taken on the 10th floor, where the photography books are kept.  Like art books (those are on the 9th floor), photography books are often oversized.  Only unlike the 9th floor, which has recently been remodeled to accommodate large art books, the 10th floor stacks aren’t set up for the size or volume of books it houses.  The stacks are too close together, and when there are books hanging half off the shelves, because they don’t fit, you feel a bit like they’re going to cave in on you from above.

And no, I’m sure a lot of our stacks aren’t ADA compliant.  The building opened in 1970, I think, and the stacks floors are largely unrenovated.  You could not fit a wheelchair or scooter between the stacks.  I’m not sure you could even fit a walker between them.  And people, including staff, leave step stools between the stacks.  Every time I walk, I move the step stools out of the way, because the stacks shouldn’t be an obstacle course.

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