(source)
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/810/620/
Our group assembled in the courtyard, along with the Theatre and Children's Literature Groups, for a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. It was a 2 hour drive, with a 20 minute rest stop which ended up to be 40 minutes because 2 girls in the Children's Literature Group were late; the Children's Literature professor even stated that it was 2 from her group and that they did it before on another trip.When we arrived, our group went directly to the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archives for a tour. We were greeted by Clare Maffoli and were given information on their workplace, specifically that the library was newly refurbished and that they had merged records archives with the library. Clare stated that they have two sections: the Local Collection, which includes information on the city, maps, and family history; and the Shakespeare Collection, which includes the life time of Shakespeare and his collective works, which is further sub-divided into: 1. the Collection of his birthplace, and 2. the Royal Shakespeare Company Archive Collection. Additionally, she told us that the Collections included programs, photos, music, theatre reviews, and related items.
It was explained that there are temperature/humidity controlled rooms in the basement that stores most of the old, valuable materials. There is even a flood control system in the basement to prevent damage. Clare mentioned that they use archive quality labels, covers, and related items in storing all of their materials.
First, we were taken through the Reading Room, where we noticed some people were accessing some materials. We were also informed that when viewing original books and materials, it is mandatory to wear gloves when inspecting the contents, to only use pencils when writing notes about the materials, and to only use weights to hold down pages when viewing books.
Statistics of library usage were given. On average, approximately 3,000 readers use the Shakespeare Library every year. This includes school children who need information for reports, such as streets in Stratford and how they've changed; local and "out-of-towners who are seeking family and/or burial information; new home owners who want to find some history of their house, such as historic pictures of the street, or plans (blueprints); and even A level students (high school), who are studying Shakespeare performance history, or need illustrations or portraits of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Images in the library database date back to Shakespeare's time (approximately 1590 to 1613), up to more modern times, and that on average, 50,000 books, maps, and other materials are requested in any given year.
Overall, the Trust was formed in 1847, with the purchase of Shakespeare’s birthplace and now comprise of four additional buildings. They are not connected to the government, they are a private charity, and apply for funding as a major source of operational expenses.
Regarding collection development for the library, Clare said they try to purchase things that will be used and that others (libraries) don't have. Currently, the collection consists of pre-1700 books up to modern day, with many foreign language texts, and periodicals are displayed in the Reading Room. She mentioned that they have a subscription to the William Shakespeare Bibliography, and also borrow materials from the British Library.
On staff, there are 12 members that have different duties. There are two librarians, various library assistants and subject specialists. The library also relies on volunteers for conservation, and various other duties. An former theatre director is assisting in the library, as well. And the staff utilizes the Copac library catalog (copac.ac.uk), which is a free access of merged online catalogs consisting of the major universities and national libraries in the UK and Ireland, to research and gather information on various related subjects.
Clare further discussed more about their Local Collection, stating that they have a community outreach program where they either go out and do talks at schools and such, or they have groups come in for special visits.
The next part of our tour took us down to the Strong Rooms in the basement area. These rooms are environmentally controlled with air conditioners and dehumidifiers. We were shown four of these rooms and told about their contents. Amusingly, I refer to them as the "vaults" because of the vault-like door that seals in the environmental control atmosphere, as well as acts as flood protectors (they have had floods in the past and lost much of the previous collection).
After all the meandering around reading and storage rooms, we were then led upstairs to the conference room to meet Jo Welding, User Services Librarian extraordinaire. She proceeded to give her overview of the collection, stating that the Trust was founded in 1847 with the intention to collect items to form a library and archive consisting of materials, history, etc. That the Royal Shakespeare Company took over the collection from the theatre in 1964. It contains 250,000 photos (mostly black/white), and will be digitizing the collection shortly, starting with reviews of Shakespeare plays. She continued telling us that she does all the displays for A level students on drama, production materials, and study performance history.
Jo then got to the good stuff. She proceeded to describe each book, photo, and playbill that was placed on the conference room table. They were all related to A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare's play. after discovering that we will be seeing "Taming of the Shrew," she said that she would get examples from that play. But we all said that A Midsummer Nights Dream was fine and so she proceeded. While talking about each piece, she stated that they tried to collect things that were on the shelves during Shakespeare's time, and that Lord Strange was one of Shakespeare's early patron. Incidentally, Jo pointed out how the herb thyme was spelled in a Shakespeare play; it was spelled "time".
When she finished, she pulled out the Shakespeare Folio, one of several that were printed in 1623, shortly after the death of Shakespeare's death as a memorial to him. She stated that their copy was close to the original copy, further stating that not all of the Shakespeare Folios, 229 copies in all, were printed in the same place, therefore, each having a slight difference about them. Also, that eight plays would have disappeared if they were not published, and that there are 32 total plays in the Folio. Incidentally, one Folio was auctioned off for £2.8 million ($5.6 million) in London. Our group was then told that the Royal Shakespeare Company has three Folios in there procession: one located in Shakespeare's birthplace which is imperfect, having many original pages missing; the second in the Trust; and the third Folio at the Theatre, having some facsimile pages in place of the originals. Oxford has a copy, and others are held privately.
After the wonderful presentation and inspection in the conference room, we were taken downstairs to Storage, entered 4 or 5 "Strong Rooms" and were shown the various materials stored there. Each contained specifically cataloged materials, such as books, videos, cassette tapes, 8mm film, photos, prints, and production records of plays, among other things. One item in particular, "The Lives of the Nobles," was pointed out and was mentioned that it had been repaired, but it's published date is unknown. All of these rooms (I call them "vaults" because of the vault-like outer door), contained rolling stacks to conserve space, with some additional metal shelving against the walls. When asked if there were any questions, one group member asked what classification system they used. Jo answered that they created their own specialized system, because they are a specialized library. And when in the storage area downstairs, we all got cold from the air conditioning (the environmental control system).
We ended the tour by returning to the Conference Room to get our belongings. Throughout the second part of the tour with Jo, I could help but be amused with Jo's spunk and excitement about the library and it's collection. She reminded me of Patsy from the BBC show AbFab (Absolutely Fabulous!, http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/abfab/).What an exciting tour.
I then joined up with Dr. Welsh for some Indian food at the Coconut Lagoon, located down the street from the Shakespeare Theatre. The food was very good! We also walked by the Swan Theatre and tooks pictures, which was directly across from the Shakespeare theatre. The play we saw, The Taming of the Shrew, started and ended with a modernistic twist of the original play. Very enjoyable, but a little bizarre! It was after 11pm (23:00) when we all convened back to the bus after the play, where we were rushed back to the dorm, shortly after 1am (01:00).
Of note: The Buffalo Library of Buffalo New York, USA, has 80 copies of the Shakespeare Folio. They recently acquired the Durham copy of the First Folio.
(http://www.shakespearepost.com/2008/07/18/buffalo-library’s-first-folio-has-folger-connection/
(Related Sources)
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/main/3/20
http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/content/view/19/19/
(http://calm.shakespeare.org.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqCmd=index.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqApp=Archive
collection@rsc.org.uk
library@shakespeare.org.uk
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