Hitting the ground running

So one week under my belt at the Library and I'm feeling pretty confident. The week began on Tuesday with paperwork processing and getting our official ID badges that allow us to enter the library before the general public and use staff entrances around other sides of the building. We met our supervisors as well as other Junior Fellows who will be working within our departments before multiple informational sessions dealing with security, collections management, and our research presentation day at the end of the summer.

The next morning (Wednesday), we had our keynote address delivered by the head of the D.C. Public Library, which was fantastic. However, the real highlight of the morning was our guided tour of the Jefferson Building with a library rector. She pointed out the symbolism and meanings of architectural elements and artwork throughout the main hall and reading room. I've been in the Jefferson Building before, but had never fully appreciated all the nuanced work that went into the decor and the ingenuity of the architects who were building it in the 1890's.

Beginning work that afternoon, I was led around the Manuscript stacks by my supervisor and given a (VERY) brief overview of the general flow of the reference desk and duties I'll be expected to preform. The other Junior Fellow and I began to orientate ourselves to the layout of the building by retrieving materials for patrons as new call slips came in - asking for help along the way for materials that were difficult to locate or off-site. I felt fairly comfortable forging my way through the maze of manuscripts due to my supervisor's note that the only awful mistake I could make would be to allow a patron access to a restricted collection - and as long as I didn't do that, I was doing fine.

By far, the best part of working in the stacks is walking by some of (in my humble opinion) the most amazing collections within the Manuscript Division. Notable names that I saw listed on document boxes include: Clara Barton, Thurgood Marshall, George McClellan, the Wright Brothers, and of course, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Another responsibility I enjoy is answering reference questions posed via the LOC website. In  responding to a patron's research question about Peter Force (He's a very cool guy, you should look him up), I found on one of the microfilm reels a letter written by John Hancock, which was clearly recognizable from his famous signature. Working on these questions is the main method by which I get to investigate the collections, so needless to say, I'm looking forward to more of them!

By Friday afternoon, both the other Junior Fellow and I were both pretty exhausted, but I feel like we both are integrating ourselves well into the staff and slowly but surely are learning the way things work.

The cover of the orientation booklet. Also known as the guide to everything that's going on this summer in the Library

One of the hallways on the upper floor of the great hall in the Jefferson Building. Neoclassicism was a huge influence on the design of the library before it opened in 1897.

This is the original office door of the Librarian of Congress from when the building opened.