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25 Amazing Facts About Libraries

I had no idea about #6

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15 Comments

  1. The only danger of a dirty book is to the book itself, as dust can trap moisture that can damage pages. That’s why the Boston Public Library has a machine dubbed the Depulvera that acts like a miniature car wash for books, using a conveyor system to blast dirt from volumes.

    Interesting. Having worked exclusively at the BPL since 1982 I never once heard of this machine. But it is a big library and it may operate in some other department. I shall confirm this come Monday when I head back to work.

  2. Even without playing hooky (hookie?), I have great memories of my local public library.

    For one thing, I could get there by myself. That in itself is significant to a youth.

    It provided one with doctrines that may or may not even conform with your parents’. That, too, has significance.

    And the fact that they — your parents — allowed you to experience this is even more nostalgic.

    Our library building was modernized (for the worse) while I was a kid, so even at 12 or so years old I felt like an old-timer with an unspoken kinship with the librarians. There exists no historical evidence they felt the same.

    I knew the card catalogs very well — Index Cards! — their use was actually, at that time, taught in school. I knew the stacks as well as I now know the rooms of my own house. For example, you wouldn’t look for fiction in the kitchen.

    Great fun deciding whether to run up the wide stairs or take the elevator. I didn’t then know that either way was the elevator.

  3. The article was fine and fairly entertaining, but it had a BIG mistake in “Fact” #24:

    It listed “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” as a work of NON-fiction.

  4. The only danger of a dirty book is to the book itself, as dust can trap moisture that can damage pages. That’s why the Boston Public Library has a machine dubbed the Depulvera that acts like a miniature car wash for books, using a conveyor system to blast dirt from volumes.

    Librarian that I am I researched this and have discovered a different answer. We do have a Depulvera device which does indeed clean dusty books. However that is the name of the company that manufactures the item and not something we “dubbed” it. I have seen it in our Research Collection book sorting room where we return used Research material back to the shelves. I have never seen it in action although I don’t frequent the room it is in. I will testify I never heard of it being used recently although it may have been used about 20 years ago when we were suffering some mold problems. It certainly is not used for our circulating collection or in any way on a regular basis. Given how much our collections are used it would have to be running pretty much all day if it were. I hope that answer does not disappoint anyone but there are many misconceptions about the BPL that rise up from where I can only guess.

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