Re: Protocols regarding food and drink in rare book collections

[Lynne Fors <fors@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>]

IME, food and drink in rare book collections during public events is not
unusual.  I've worked in three different RBSC libraries--one at a private
college, one at an independent research library, and one state
school--all of them had similar policies, which basically entailed
allowing food *as long as it was nowhere near the books*.  If books were
to be displayed at an event with food, they were to be in exhibition cases
--not out in the open.  

As long as cleanup is vigilant (which it usually is), there should be no
problems with vermin.  And if the books are in closed cases, their
environment will not be much affected by steam tables and the like, as
long as the collection (as has been said before) has a
properly-functioning HVAC system.  

As much as we may not like the idea of having food and drink near rare
books, often the rare book rooms are chosen as reception areas for public
relations reasons.  It's a room full of "treasures," it's nice ambiance,
it is one of the better decorated rooms in the library, take your pick.
If you're grooming a donor, it's easier to do in a pleasant environment.
If you're trying to entice new donors, showing off the "pride of the
collection" is often a good way to convince them that they want to give
their money to it.

If one event is able to raise preservation funds for a year for the
library, or create an interest in the department by new and previous
donors alike, I think that it is worth the calculated risk.  I have a real
problem with the image of special collections librarians as dragon-like
gatekeepers trying to keep people away from the books; public events often
draw in new researchers and readers in addition to donors, and as far as I
am concerned,*IMHO* if there's no one to use the books, what are we
guarding them for? 

My $.02

************************************************************************
Lynne Fors					fors@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
M.S. candidate, Lib and Info Science / Rare Book Room Graduate Assistant
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign    http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~fors

"I love working in the library.  There is something to be said for 
working in a place bound in leather." -- Peter Verheyen