Boatwright Memorial Library

Boatwright Memorial Library

May 1, 2012
A treasure trove for Osher members

By Linda Ventura (Photo by Tim Hanger)

Just walking through Boatwright is a visual delight. When you enter the doors, there is a well-utilized “8:15” shop serving Starbucks coffee and snacks just in case you need a lift. As you pass the front desk, you behold an array of computer banks and study tables with the scholarly journals just behind. The hustle and bustle of students working is an exciting sight. (For a look at the library’s interior take the visual tour on the library website.)

The Library contains the Galvin Rare Book Room, managed by Jim Gwin, which holds some 25,000 books, broadsides, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, music scores, facsimiles and photographs. Among the collections are some 500 Confederate Imprints published during1861-1865; rare facsimile volumes of The Books of Kells, the Mazarin edition of The Gutenberg Bible, The Lindesfarne Gospels, and Alfonso X's Cantigas De Santa Maria to name some of the prestigious volumes. You may visit the Rare Book Room for research by making an appointment.

The library is quite large but do not be intimidated. It is a wonderful place to visit, study, and learn. There is always someone at the front desk who will help you find what you are searching. The Boatwright librarians tell us that they love helping Osher members because their questions and areas of interest are so fascinating. There is also a help desk in the Media Resource Center. 

“He that revels in a well chosen library, has innumerable dishes, and all of admirable flavor” (William Godwin, The Enquirer: Early Taste for Reading). One who chooses Boatwright Memorial Library will certainly have many tasty dishes from which to choose.

Members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute have the privilege of using the library’s many offerings including the use of reference material (including more than 100 online databases) and borrowing books and media materials. As members we also have the ability to borrow books, CD’s, and DVD’s from the Parsons Music Library’s vast collection. The Law and Business Libraries are also available to Osher members. All of these offer a wide variety of opportunities for learning and enjoyment.

Aside from the scholarly journals and books available, there are lots of opportunities for pure entertainment. At the top of the stairs on the second floor of the library is the Recreational Reading area containing current fiction and non-fiction. Just past this section and through the doors is the Media Resource Center. If you take a leisurely tour of the media room, you will find a splendid array of audio books and movies. Actually, there are videocassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs, 1,500 audio books, and 500 spoken arts audiocassettes and compact discs. WOW!

This summer, just in time to make your summer reading list, there will be an opportunity to learn about the library’s recreational reading holdings. Marcia Whitehead, Humanities Librarian in the Boatwright Memorial Library, will lead a class to learn how to make the most of the library’s recreational print and audio book collections, and how to search for various categories of fiction in the permanent collection. This class is free to Osher members but requires registration. Check your Summer Osher Schedule of Classes for details.

Lucretia McCulley, Director of Outreach Services in Boatwright Memorial Library, leads Osher classes (also free to members) in fall and spring which include a tour of the library, instructions on using the library’s web site, and a hands-on workshop on using library databases interchangeably with Google to discover the treasures that are secreted away in the internet treasure chest.

During the academic year, Boatwright Memorial Library is open 24/7. Holidays, fall break, spring break, and summer hours may vary. Be sure to check the times at the desk when you enter. There is also a treasure trove of information accessible from the comfort of your home computer. You may follow Boatwright Memorial Library on Facebook or Twitter and visit the library’s website at library.richmond.edu

A Friends of the Boatwright Memorial Library organization strives to enhance the library through gifts of equipment beyond the library’s budget. They also present speakers for members’ enjoyment. To find out more, check them out at library.richmond.edu/about/friends. Osher Gold and Gold Plus One members may designate a portion of their annual membership fee to the Friends of the Boatwright to help with their many deserving projects.

And lastly, on a much lighter note...

One of our fellow Osher members, Bill Seward, had a somewhat scary and also hilarious time two years ago during the UR spring break. About 6 p.m., after a couple of hours of reading in a quiet, second floor corner, Bill decided it was time to hike across campus to his 7 p.m. class. When he came to the first floor entrance area, he noticed the lights were dimmer than on his earlier arrival. When he tried the doors, they were locked!  ith trepidation he began to investigate the library’s inner sanctum for a way out when he heard the distant sound of a door closing and the jangle of keys—music to his ears. A staff member working late had come to his rescue. Worrying he might have to bed down for the night, he said, “I felt a little like Macaulay Culkin [in Home Alone] there for awhile!” By the way, Bill did arrive at his class on time.