Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

Our third stop on the library tour brought us to the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia, adjacent to the UVA Hospital.  The Health Science Library is situated over Jefferson Park Avenue in the large raised walkway that connects Hospital buildings on either side of the road.  Ambulances and doctors wearing scrubs abound near the entrance, giving this library a distinctly medical setting.  The interior also has sparse, minimally-decorated feeling of a hospital.  This is certainly not inappropriate, but for two humanities scholars accustomed to forests of bookshelves, it felt a bit bleak.  The fluorescent lights and low ceilings make it feel a bit like a laboratory and less like a library.  I cannot say that I found the setting particularly conducive to creative writing, but of course that is not what this space was designed for.  The place is clearly very popular among medical students; it was packed on the day that we went, and a friend in the nursing school confirmed that he loves it as a place to study.  I have no doubt that it is an excellent resource for medical students and a wonderful place to conduct scientific, digitally-based research.

Before we arrived, I mentioned to Anne that the name "Claude Moore" reminded me of Clement C. Moore, the author of The Night Before Christmas.  I joked that in his portrait (which would no doubt grace the walls of the lobby) he probably looked like Santa Claus.  But when we got inside, there was no portrait to be found.  Unlike the warm and inviting Tracey W. McGregor Room of our last stop, the namesake of this particular library did not make his presence known anywhere.  Not in the plain, businesslike lobby.  Not on the walls in the low-ceilinged, fluorescent-lit study area.  However, as we were leaving, we noticed a small plaque on the outside of the building.  We walked closer to get a better look, and then we saw him:  Claude Moore.  White beard and all: I'm not even joking.

I am very glad we stopped to read the plaque, not only to confirm my notion that he indeed resembled Santa Claus, but because the brief biography that accompanied his picture opened with the best line ever.  It began, "Claude Moore, a colorful and outspoken millionaire..."  Anne and I agreed that when we died, we would both like to be remembered as colorful and outspoken millionaires.  At the Health Sciences Library, inspiration is found in unexpected places.  And even though it wasn't really my style, I am very glad to have visited.

The McGregor Room at Alderman Library

    For the second stop on Library Tour Fall 2014 we visited the McGregor Room, a hidden jewel nestled several floors below the main floor of UVA's Alderman Library.  Alderman is an impressive place, too vast and nooked-and-crannied to get a proper overview of in one visit.  The McGregor room is surely but one of dozens of little havens within Alderman, each with its own distinctive character and special features.  I hope to revisit Alderman many more times and explore the whole range of rooms, halls and floors it has to offer.  But for this week, we happily spent our two hours in the Tracy W. McGregor Room, on the second floor of the East Wing.

    After entering through the main lobby of Alderman with its echoing floors and tall, vaulted ceilings, we passed by tidy rows of computers and gleaming white walls that stretched the length of the lobby.  We pushed through a glass door and into the East Wing stairwell and went down two winding levels.  The stairwell and lobby were both spacious, and fairly sterile and institutional looking. But when we pushed through the door to the second floor, the mood immediately changed.  The lighting was much dimmer, and as we exited the stairwell and stepped into the second floor hallway, we were greeted by an imposing figure: the dark and formal carved stone portrait of Tracy W. McGregor himself.  He looked very serious.  From Mr. McGregor's picture we turned to the left and saw the doorway to the McGregor Room beckoning to us.  I had heard several UVA graduates refer to this room as "the Harry Potter room", and standing in its entrance now it was apparent why.  The decor in the room was antique and traditional, quite a contrast from the stark grey-and-white computer rows upstairs.  Here the walls were lined ceiling to floor with dark, pristine wooden shelves, each one filled with books.  The floors were carpeted and the room was lit (not brightly) by several tasteful chandeliers.  It was cozy in the McGregor room, warm and masculine- just like Tracy W. McGregor himself, I'm sure.  I half-expected Mr. McGregor to stride out at any moment from behind one of the chocolatey-brown bookcases, smoking a pipe and pouring a glass of brandy.  It was a very comfortable space to spend two hours.

     Only one unfortunate thing happened.  I was reading over some of my archived journal entries from about ten years ago, sorting through and seeing what I wanted to keep or work on more.  Basically, as I was reading over what I had written...there is no good way to say this...I kept cracking myself up.  I kept coming across a line that struck me as funny, and each time I had to cover my mouth and put my head on the desk as I stifled my laugh and shook silently like a third grader.  And I'm a grown ass woman, so that had to look kind of weird.  I'm not sure if the material was really that hilarious.  But the more I read, the more I laughed, to the point where tears were streaming silently down my face.  Because as comfortable as the room was, it was also as silent as the grave- and everyone in there was very serious.  Much more serious and silent than in the Charles L. Brown Science & Engineering Library, just for the record.  Because it was a formal, traditional setting and everyone was serious and silent, it was sort of like being in church and trying not laugh.  I was sure Grandfather McGregor was going to sternly chastise me at any moment, but that just made it funnier.  I don't think I disturbed anyone, but it was a little bit embarrassing.  However, even with an inappropriate fit of giggles, my two hours in the McGregor Room were productive, pleasant, and even restorative.  It is certainly a room that I look forward to revisiting in the future.

Note:  A previous version of this post had misspelled Mr. McGregor's first name.  Thanks to the careful eyes of my friends at the UVA Library, I have removed all superfluous "e"s from the text.  VR

Library Tour Kickoff: Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library!

Recently, my friend Anne and I devised a plan to develop more regular, regimented writing schedules for ourselves.  Getting into a writing routine this fall is something we both needed and wanted.  She is a Professor of Spanish currently on sabbatical from her university to write an academic book examining Latin American film and literature.  I am a perpetually procrastinating Free Spirit with a lot of ideas and no discernible self-discipline.  We are both the perfect candidates for a structured-yet-fun new routine: Library Tour Fall 2014!  Our plan is to visit a different library every week and spend two hours there, simply writing.  Since we are in Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia, the list of libraries within a short walk or drive is lengthy and impressive.  The university alone boasts over a dozen, and the local public library has several branches both in the city and in smaller neighboring communities.  Traveling to a new and different setting every week will be exciting and fun, but each destination will offer the same basic necessities: a quiet, comfortable space designed for scholastic and literary inspiration and two uninterrupted hours of time.  I will fill those two hours writing, working on my own projects.  Then in addition, I will update this blog and write you a little review about all of the libraries we have visited. Like Yelp for libraries: you're welcome.

For our first library of the tour, we chose the Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library.  I grew up in Charlottesville, and even though I didn't attend UVA, I am intimately familiar with many of the buildings on grounds and I sort of feel like I know where everything is.  Not true!  Not only had I never set foot in the Engineering Library before, I had no idea it was even a thing.  It is a thing, and it is actually an incredibly beautiful place.  The entryway is a huge, echoing lobby with pleasant natural light and murals of naked ancient Greek men painted on the immense walls, and a small coffee shop in the near left alcove.  It feels like a fancy airport, or the lobby of an art museum.  Once you pass through the lobby into the actual library part, it's more conventionally libraryish.  Long front desk, rows of carrels, clusters of chairs. Seated at a table with a view out the window, surrounded by 19-year-old future engineers, I wrote twelve handwritten pages.  I stayed on task, didn't check my phone, and I didn't cry.  The first stop of Library Tour was a huge success!