Yale Libraries

You know I love a good library. I value libraries for the obvious reason of a place of learning, reading, and a place where anyone can go. But I also value the building itself because many times it is worth a tour and paying attention to its interesting details.

Yale has many libraries on campus, of course, like any grand university. I spent time in the Sterling Memorial Library which is the central historic library built to look like a cathedral, the Beinecke Rare Book Library which is world-renown for it's huge collection of rare books and it is held in a building that looks like a cube, and the Bass Library, which is an underground library accessed through a tunnel from the Sterling Library.

The grand, cathedral-like library of Sterling Library is just beautiful. I was visiting my friend, Ina, who is a graduate student at the Divinity School, and she had a lot of reading to do for a class. I also had a lot of reading to do for my Oxford class, so we spent several hours here over a few visits, reading. It was quiet and bright from the big windows. I would love to read in there more often.

What can I say about these libraries except that they are amazing? Or that I could have spent all my time in these places and been happy as a clam? (Why are clams happy?)
Granted, the classic, grand libraries are usually the ones that capture my heart. At first, I thought this modern cube library that is the Beinecke Rare Book Library was not going to impress me. But when I stepped inside, that all changed. The glass tower displays 180,000 books, with 320,000 more below ground. The square panels that make up the building's exterior are made of a very thin marble that allows light to seep through, but not UV rays. So, the library is filled with a beautiful light, and the books can be on display as you can see here, without any damage being done to the books by UV rays. This is brilliant! I get to see these books without harming them.  Another interesting feature is that the glass chamber in which all these marvelous books are resting is an air-tight room and at a moment's notice, all the air can be sucked out of the room to cease the spread of a fire.
Oh, and an original Gutenberg Bible was also on display here (the first book in the west printed by movable type) , except we were asked not to take a photograph of it.

 
The Bass Library is largely underground, and links to the Sterling Library through a tunnel. I mentioned that Ina and I read in the Sterling Library, but we also read here several times. But before I could read, I needed to find the books I needed, which Ina helped me do. We looked up the call numbers online before heading to the library, and we found them downstairs in the basement. (In case you were wondering, I needed to read the introductions and beginnings of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights the Oxford World Classics version). Ina checked out the books for me and I had them the rest of the days I was there. So we visited the library several times through our days, and on this occasion (above) we stopped at Ina's favourite tiny coffee shop near her home to get lattes (she has good taste in coffee), and we could enjoy our coffee while we read that morning.

You know how bookish I am. I was like a wide-eyed little kid in these places. Smile on my face, breathing in the books and letting my senses memorize the surroundings. I loved learning about these libraries and spending time in them.