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Walk in safe Photo. National Geographic. Boston Public Library.
a) Check out an old National Geographic with a photograph of the walk in safe at Boston Public Library during the Milton Lord administration of BPL. The 1950's? National Geographic Magazine issue can be looked up at a Copley Square Library Reference Desk or
http://www.bpl.org/contact/
One of our many Universal Hub regulars or BPLers might be inspired to post the photograph !
b) There are also photographs of the BPL Stacks pneumatic tube communications system for book delivery, something like the Paris Pneu
http://www.cix.co.uk/~mhayhurst/jdhayhurst/pneumatic/book1.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=paris+pneumatique&tbm=isch
c) Have any of you folks taken a look at the miniature railroad for mail under the old John Hancock Insurance buildings?... tours run by the modern urban archeologists out of the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation http://crmii.org/
How about put up a "Kramer"
How about put up a "Kramer" in it's place? At least people would enjoy that painting. No one cares about Rembrandt except the 1%ers.
I am far from a "1%er" (ugh),
I am far from a "1%er" (ugh), but I and many others can appreciate master art work.
Sounds like you need to visit a museum, how lucky to have the MFA so close.
No one cares about Rembrandt
Shut up, you fucking moron.
Whooosh!
I gotta believe (hope) the person who posted the Rembrandt comment was being sarcastic.
Hard to tell around here.
Hard to tell around here.
I'll do you one better
They should replace the Rembrandt with a button you can press that produces fart sounds and series of grunts. That'll really appeal to the common man.
Nah, the common man would be
Nah, the common man would be even more likely to steal that button than steal a Rembrandt.
Why is the library spending
Why is the library spending money on this stuff? Never mind they don't take proper care of it.
Yeah, burn 'em all!
Do you know for a fact the library spent any money at all acquiring these pieces? Based on your general appreciation, I'm going to suggest you don't, but, in any case, people have been donating things to the library since it opened, some of considerable value (and not necessarily just monetarily).
I do question how they are
I do question how they are protecting and monitoring such important pieces of art. Is it possible someone just walked out with it? I'm unfamiliar with how these pieces are displayed, but it sounds vague, like they're not sure exactly when they went missing.
I hope I'm wrong.
Good question.
I would be curious, also. Valuable pieces such as the two that are missing, should of been under tight security.
On the other hand, I worked for a town's local library and we had valuable (thousands of dollars worth) WPA art on our walls. I remember the paintings as a child; they were on the same walls for years and years until the Trustees finally had them appraised and their value found out. We even had one in the library's attic that was almost thrown out during our move to a new building. So not all libraries may be on the up and up in regards to taking care of important art work.
Not displayed
It's unlikely these pieces were displayed at all, but instead kept in the special collections department in safe containers, only taken out when requested by some donor or a researcher or displayed as part of an exhibition.
The BPL has a large collection of valuable works, some of which date back to when the BPL was founded and split from the Boston Athenaeum and MFA. From what I've heard there have been some rumblings that some library administration want to get rid of the special collections department entirely and let the Athenaeum and area universities be research libraries.
Special Collections security has been an issue for some time. It's possible these pieces were stolen a while ago and it was only noticed recently. The big scandal here isn't that these Perez are missing, but that there is such a significant amount of time between when they were found to be missing and when they were reported to be missing. That gap is enough for someone to lose their job over.
Thank you, Colin.
I guess if there is a correlation, it would be one of loosy goosy practices in regarding to keeping an eye on valuable art. We had a valuable painting in our attic that anyone could of walked away with, the BPL has issues with their Special Collections security. It all comes down to having best practices for the care and security your collection in place.
It really is a shame. It will be interesting to see if anything else is missing.
Security
It's not just the BPL that has issues, but most special collections. As cited elsewhere in this comment section, the Smiley incident led most special collections to wake up and step up security, but it might not have gotten funding at the BPL. A lot of the security practices used by institutions also hinges on how the area is designed. If the BPL wasn't designed for those security measures, it's going to have more problems. The BPL has to decide, as an institution, whether the department is worth keeping and if it is, they need to fund it, including a potential redesign of the space.
Very valid points.
Also, your mission, as a public library, is to provide access to these great works of art yet you don't want to be so restrictive as to make it akin to an Act of Congress for someone to view the same.
Part of the problem with BPL
Part of the problem with BPL is that everyone running the place wants to acquire all these rare collections just to say they have them because "this is the BPL." They don't give a crap about storing or securing them properly, they just want them to point out how special and prestigious they are to the rest of the world. If they actually cared about these special collections, they would have used some of the $90 million for the Johnson building renovations on that and not on video games and $10,000 furniture.
Citation?
If money is appropriated for renovations, usually the money can't be spent in other ways.
And tell us what rare collections have been purchased by the BPL recently. Private fundraising supports a full-time conservator to take care of, and preserve the material that is fragile. Why? Because the City and State don't fund these essential jobs at the library.
I know a lot of librarians, and all of them care very much about protecting their collections and making them available. They don't sit around crowing about how special they are. And, relatively speaking, they aren't paid well for their efforts.
Anyone concerned should write to their City and State representatives and lobby for more support for our libraries.
not really important
importantvaluable pieces of artThe artwork probably isn't all that important unless there's like a hidden treasure map on the back of one of them. It's not like they're difficult to image and reproduce. They're mostly just valuable because investors would pay a lot of money to own them, because Rembrandt isn't making sketches anymore.
I think this is the big difference between a "library" and a "museum". Libraries share information and knowledge. Libraries hold copies of stuff. Originals of artwork and rare books go in museums. Go ahead and make a nice JPEG or STL of the artwork and rare books and put that in the library for the public to use. But the original belongs in a museum. Hang it on a wall and charge people to see it.
I was using the term "important"
connected to the word "art". Many times you will see the two together when one speaks about "art".
I think you are being flip, which is fine, but there is art done by the masters that is considered "important" in the art world, with or without a treasure map on the back.
Works of art are valuable due to market conditions, correct, but also due to the rarity of the print and/or painting as well as the artist's reputation. It is not only just because folks with big bucks purchase the stuff 'cause they like to hang a Van Gogh on their wall.
One of the great things about BPL is this:http://maps.bpl.org/
It is just not information and knowledge, but access to some great resources.
You also have a narrow definition of what a library should hold. We have national libraries, where part of their mission is to indeed hold rare and important works, public libraries, research libraries, et. al. You name it. BTW: Digitizing collections may be cost prohibitive for many institutions.
Fun fact!
The second an item is taken into a library's collection, it effectively ceases to have monetary value. Why? Because if everything goes right (collection development policy is right, deaccessioning policy is properly evaluated, funding is secured, nothing is destroyed) the item will never, ever be sold again. From that point on, it's a question of how to best provide a balance of access to the public (who in the case of the BPL, really own the item) and keep good enough security that this sort of thing doesn't happen.
And while digital reproductions can give you a lot of information, they don't tell you everything about the item. They don't tell you what kind of paper it was printed on, the depth of the impression on the piece, what kind of ink was used, all that stuff that is critically important to researchers.
Special collections are the museums of libraries, and in a lot of cases, the institutional memory of places that have always been changing to meet the needs of the population they serve. And museums don't just hold the stuff that's displayed on the walls. They have vast collections that researchers and curators can take a look at to understand our history and piece together the arts that are very often overlooked when actually created. The Hokusai exhibition on right now at the MFA, as a matter of fact, is largely pulled from MFA collections, but only a fraction of the collection can be displayed at any time. The museum just isn't big enough to display everything they have.
Um... maybe it was donated?
Um... maybe it was donated? Regardless, you don't think a Rembrandt etching is a good investment??
Donated around 1958
According to Globe today.
You'd think the BPL would be
You'd think the BPL would be more diligent about valuable works after they'd been through this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/arts/design/03maps.html?pagewanted=all...
'Now librarians and curators from New York to Chicago, alerted by the F.B.I., have been sent scurrying to their stacks to make sure their books are intact. And in some cases, including the New York and Boston Public Libraries, maps may have gone missing, though no one has accused Mr. Smiley in those cases.'
Misfiled?
According to the article "BPL President Amy Ryan said in a statement... that 'it is our hope that these two significant pieces have simply been misfiled'." Misfiled? How do you misfile a Rembrandt?? Not to mention a Durer. But having seen some of the employees at the BPL I''m not surprised.
It could happen.
If the filing is done by humans, folks make errors.
Computers make errors, too.
Computers make errors, too. Algorithms are written by humans, who make errors.
Yes, that is correct.
But I fail to see your point as the starting point for both is a human being.
You made it sound like there
You made it sound like there is an alternative to humans, basically. At least to me. But you already seem to get that, so never mind.
Libraries are passe?
I walked through the Johnson building recently and discovered that the about half the second floor is now a glorified baby sitting center. Library be damned; books be gone. The BPL is now a hangout spot for kids. Perhaps that is best. But it does not make this a library. Perhaps rebuilding the 1st floor will offset the space sacrificed for baby sitting.
Does the library now employ lessor paid baby sitters to accompany the one or two librarians that will serve the kids section? Or will librarians be expected to be baby sitters?
The misplacing or theft of these prints is not surprising. The library spends no money in maintaining its Fine Arts section. Walk through the Fine Arts section. The ceiling and walls are peeling; they have been peeling for 20 years and after millions spent this area remains untouched.
The permanent exhibits that are near the Fine Arts area. They are effectively closed off to most people because they are open when most folks are working.
Like so many institutions in Boston (e.g., the T), potential that exceeds the best that comparable cities can achieve, and yet potential that is either unrealized or misdirected in goals that are irrelevant to the purpose of the institution.
Ever seen what's in the teen
Ever seen what's in the teen room? Xbox's, Wii's, PS4's, high end design computers, a 3D printer. This is what they spent the renovation budget on.
BPL buildings for events more than for library services.
a) Boston Public Library buildings in Copley Square are more venues for events than for library services. Many staff are more prepared to sell event space than understand/facilitate things for the varied library users!
b) Treasured BPL Librarians, Curators would do better to prepare listings of their expertise with the Collections, each BPLer listed with their own special interests. Faculties do it, BPL folks who've done graduate studies can blog too ! Whatever happened to the great BPL Librarian who had done graduate Russian Studies in the UK?
By Douglass Shand-Tucci. Misplaced Priorities At BPL...
By Douglass Shand-Tucci
Misplaced Priorities At The Boston Public Library: Missing Art Is Not The Half Of It
http://wgbhnews.org/post/misplaced-priorities-boston-public-library-miss...
A Guide To Problematical Boston Public Library Use
Arrogant types generally unavailable pay greater attention to everything but the people, the BPLusers (pun intended), the BPLers staffing public counters and Reference Desks. For too long there has been an off quality to the efforts of BPLer staff at public counters and desks.
The story is often told you go to Boston Public Library Reference where some Librarians make a point of indicating they know you or the type of person you are, yet things too often go off the mark of an enquiry. You go to New York Public Library Reference and Librarians pick up on your enquiry readily, never having to make any point about knowing what type of person you are because at NYPL Librarians are more keyed in to users.
More and better customers services programs are needed at Boston Public Library. The BPLers currently involved in similar efforts need to expand, and with new staff for customers services training and supervision.
A Guide To Problematical Library Use is needed that compiles hints, tips and pointers to current practices and procedures of our Library including a good deal of information about how the Lib works backstage behind the scenes. Reference Librarians might use mobile telecommunications technologies to move through the BPL stacks and buildings responding to reference enquiries.
Greater encouragement for BPL staff to blog, write articles about BPL Collections like any university faculty would a good thing. In earlier times BPL published its "More Books" journal.
Haha, get it?
They're probably just borrowing it.
Real Sheet newsletter of the B.P.L.P.S.A.
A few references...
Ask at BPL Central or Branches' Reference Departments for the Real Sheet newsletter of the B.P.L.P.S.A. Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association
http://bplpsa.info/contents/?page_id=92
http://bplpsa.info/contents/
Save NYPL
http://thelongandshort.org/issues/season-one/new-york-city-flops-remakin...
New York Public Library Guild Local 1930
http://www.local1930.org/
Previous Keepers of Special Collections at Bos Pub Lib.
Check with previous Keepers at Boston Public Library. The Current Keeper of Special Collections is accessible and helpful, unlike some colleagues at BPL
http://whdh.images.worldnow.com/images/7824854_G.jpg
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/05/bpl_offi...