Library Disjunction
Why isn't the Cleveland Botanical Gardens Library actually part of the botanical gardens?
During my visit to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens Library, what struck me the most was the disconnection between the library and the hosting institution. What seemed at first a minor separation widened into a chasm as the librarian spoke about his responsibilities and the role of the library at the gardens. I had expected that the library would be more involved with written material throughout the botanical gardens, not just a self-contained entity existing within the same walls.
One of the first things that I thought was odd was that the library published its own periodical, with a schedule of events. This is not odd taken alone, but it would seem that the library should publish in a combined periodical with the gardens. This method would collate events at both the gardens and the library. A combined publication would most likely reach a larger audience than each individual publication alone. Those who read the gardens publication would now know about events held at the library, and vise versa. To me, it seems as if the library acts independently of the gardens when a combined effort may be mutually beneficial in attracting people to the institution.
Another disjunction occurs in the archives. When the librarian mentioned the archives, he only seemed to be mentioning material to save from the library. He never specifically said anything about archiving things from the gardens. Not necessarily physical plant matter, but catalogues of the species on display or information relating to the gardens themselves would most likely constitute a botanical archives.
I see archives as a sort of ever-growing time capsule of an organization or institution. The information selected to be saved in the archives should therefore be that information of importance or value to future generations. Thus, while potentially interesting to have, a complete record of the library periodicals may not be the most useful information to a future researcher trying to study the growth and tending of a certain species of plant kept in the gardens. It would be interesting to see if the garden is creating its own archives to store such information, and whether the two collections could be combined.
Another motive for more interaction between the library and the gardens is the fact that the gardens could be considered as a type of library. Any museum or collection could be seen as a library of physical objects. Like the books in a regular library, each of the specimens on display is catalogued and organized. Also, the specimens are available to the public for visual examination and study. Curators of a collection perform the role of librarians as they direct people to subjects of interest and share their knowledge about the displays.
Overall, there is a surprising disjunction between the Cleveland Botanical Gardens Library and the gardens themselves. Removing this separation and more coherently combining the two organizations could be beneficial for both.
Comments