Ten University Library employees from the Maps Library, Maps Cataloging, and Preservation, Conservation, and Digitization traveled to Harrisburg to meet the staff of the State Library of Pennsylvania and tour the facilities. The staff of 16 full-time state employees provides reference for the state, including legal research for the legislature, manages a collection of 4.2 million volumes including many newspapers, catalogs acquisitions, and digitizes and creates metadata.
Our group met with Iren Snavely, State Library rare books librarian, Rare Books Reading Room, to view rare maps and manuscripts. Highlights included the 1632 copy of John Smith’s account of his adventures in the New World and the first known map of Harrisburg. Kathy Hale, head of public services, guided the group on a tour of the Law Library and recently renovated law reading room, the main reading room, and the “Pulp” vault, which holds its rare collections. This state of the art vault is temperature-controlled to a chilly 50 degrees, has compact movable shelves, and has a waterless fire suppression system. The tour also included a visit to the digitization processing room and a walk through the maze of the closed stack.
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- Ceiling of the main reading room, State Library of Pennsylvania
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- A group of University Libraries staff viewed artifacts in the Rare Collections Library Reading Room during a visit to the State Library of Pennsylvania.
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- University Libraries staff viewed the State Library’s 1632 copy of John Smith’s account of his adventures in the New World.
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- Kept in the Rare Collections vault of the State Library, the first known map of Harrisburg, on vellum, was viewed during the tour.
University Libraries staff members who attended were:
Paige Andrew
Sue Kellerman
Steve Kroger
Tara LaLonde
Bill Minter
Nathan Piekielek
Heather Ross
Albert Rozo
Maps interns Jack and Miranda