Introduction

Rubin & Rubin (2020) define special libraries as collections that can be found in organizations such as advocacy or special interest groups (p. 198). The Mazamas Library and Historical Collection contains history, artifacts, and other important items to the history of mountaineering and the organization as a whole. 

Digital Access

The website for the Mazamas Library and Historical Collections is extensive in the information that is offered to the public and members of the Mazamas organization. 

On the landing page of the website, there are subject guides about each glacial mountain in the Pacific Northwest that list all available materials that pertain to the climb. Additionally, there are several presentations that include information about Mazama Glacier Research, historic films, Mount Hood’s first mountain bike, women mountaineers, and the evolution of the Mazama logo. As far as services that are available, the public and members of the organization can access the archive and library catalog, or make a research information request to the librarian, Mathew. 

Rubin & Rubin state, “the special library is activity-oriented, focusing on meeting users’ information needs (p. 199). The library serves members of the Mazamas organization as well as those who are interested in mountaineering and alpine climbing. This can include those who physically participate in these activities, as well as those who are interested in these topics from a research (scientific or historical) perspective. This is evident based on the exhibits that have been curated.

There is only one staff member who serves this library, and his contact information is on the website. I actually interviewed this librarian for the interview project, so it was great to get to meet him in person and learn more about what he does! He is available via email, video call, or in person for support. 

The virtual programming that is available on the website includes a variety of exhibits that highlight interesting aspects of mountaineering or the history of the organization. Additionally, there are a variety of research reports available to the public. 

The Space & Physical Access

(Ackerman, 2022)

The Mazamas Library and Historical Collection is housed inside of the Mazamas Center in Southeast Portland, Oregon. The current facility was a masonic temple prior to being acquired by the Mazamas, so it does look somewhat “church like” in various areas of the building. It is nestled in a popular neighborhood in Portland, near the Portland Nursery and several restaurants.

There is a small parking lot outside of the building that provides ADA accessibility, and a small yard area with a metal goat sculpture and barbecue grill. There is public transportation nearby.

While the library itself only has one table and a few chairs for reading, the rest of the building has meeting spaces for committees and other meetings. There is one computer available as a search station. 

There are several areas of limited access that pertain to the library, which includes Mathew’s (the librarian) office. His office also serves as the processing and volunteer room. At the back of his office is a door that leads to the vault, which includes valuable pieces of the collection such as organizational records, photographs, film media, rare books, and a large safe that contains the integral original documents to the organization.

On the other side of the library is the realia room, which includes over 8,000 objects related to mountaineering and climbing. This space is also restricted and utilizes a passcode to access. 

Overall, I would say the space is the most welcoming part of the building. Care has been taken to obtain comfortable furniture outside of the library for lounging with materials, and the library itself is incredibly neat and bright for being in the basement of the building! However, the basement is wheelchair accessible through a backdoor on the other side of the floor. I would say that this space is meant to serve a specific population and purpose of adults who are interested in mountaineering, and that is clear through the materials available for checkout and display.

Mathew also spends time curating displays and photographs throughout the building for members and visitors to enjoy. My favorite was the “Tiny Treasures” display case. 

(Ackerman, 2022)

One additional feature that I found interesting about this space is that the building installed solar panels in 2017, and produces enough energy to actually put power back into the city grid; they are energy negative!

Services & Intellectual Access

One of the special services that is available through the library is textbook checkout for the various courses that are offered through the Mazamas organization, which include basic mountaineering and climbing and first aid. Mathew had about 12-15 copies of each text available. 

An additional special service that is offered is research support. Mathew conducts a research interview with interested parties, and from there will pull resources related to the request. For example, he shared that he is currently working with a professor and their graduate assistant to examine materials from the collection that would give information about the human environmental impact on the Elliott glacier of Mount Hood. He shared that although the team has been very focused on looking at one specific report to pull information related to their research question, there is actually a much more interesting place they should be searching; summit registers. I will speak more to these in the Collections section. 

The library catalog is accessible both on the website and from a search station set up inside of the library. The library is organized by the Dewey Decimal system, however, Mathew opted to organize the biography and autobiography section using the subject’s name versus the author’s name given the way a member would utilize the library.  

People – Patrons & Staff

It’s clear from the collection that the library serves the members of the Mazamas organization and researchers who have very specific goals and questions in mind. 

Mathew was the only person working in the building that day, and I happened to walk in at the same time as the only other visitor of the day, who left almost immediately. Mathew opts to work on a different weekly schedule than his colleagues so that he can have Friday’s exclusively to himself. He shared that because of the pandemic, there has been a huge loss in the volunteer support that helped maintain the organization. Because of this, he is often pulled to manage organizational administrative duties or answer institutional questions. 

Given that it’s just Mathew managing the library, the archives, the object collection, the publishing of the bulletin, and much of the correspondence for the organization, it’s no wonder that he looks forward to getting large projects done on Fridays! It’s clear that because he is a solo librarian in this space, performing all of the research, technical services, and administration, he has learned how to effectively prioritize and hone his project and time management skills (Lucidea, 2021). 

Collections

There are three main collections in the Mazamas Library and Historical collection: the library, the vault, and the object collection. 

The Library

The library was established in 1915, and serves to answer the following three questions about mountaineering and climbing (Brock, 2022):

1. How to do things? – Technical books, rock climbing, high alpinism

2. Where to do things? – Travel guide books (that include every published edition and

heavily focus on the Pacific Northwest)

3. Who has done it already? – Biographies, autobiographies, and profiles

The library also includes full runs of all the principal alpine and mountaineering journals, the Mazamas Bulletin, and popular mountaineering magazines (Brock, 2022). 

The Vault

The vault includes a vast amount of history important to mountaineering and the Mazamas organization. This includes an extensive collection of print images, both small and large format (Brock, 2022). Additionally, there are several refrigerators that include nitrate negatives and the film collection. There are also a variety of VHS tapes, DVDs, flash drives, CDs, and other forms of visual media that have been donated by members over time with materials they feel are important for the preservation of history. 

Most of the vault houses manuscript collections, which include published articles, journals from expeditions, or any other papers deemed of interest to the Mazamas by the donor. There are 20+ active committees throughout the organization, all of which have recorded minutes that are stored in the vault from their inception. There is a small oral history collection, which includes 20 transcribed and digitized interviews.

What I found to be the most fascinating piece of the vault was the summit register collection. Stored in a metal container at the top of the mountain, summit registers are notebooks that summiters fill in with their name and date of their summit. Often, these climbers would leave notes about the weather conditions and other facts about that day’s climb. As the archive holds all of the climb registers for Mount Hood from the conception of the organization, this would be a rich resource to mine. I was lucky enough to hold one from the 1930s!

Additionally there is a rare book collection, the criteria for “rare” including really old, one of a kind, signed by the author, or purchased now so that in 100 years there is a copy (Brock, 2022). The Mazamas are the only holding institution in the United States for about a dozen titles. 

The vault within the vault includes the earliest of the summit registers, the original meeting minutes from the 1800s, as well as super rare and valuable objects. 

The Object Room 

This is the youngest portion of the collection, with 8,000 objects all related to mountaineering. The items include anything from rock climbing harnesses, shoes, figure 8s, rock hammers, shelves full of crampons, ropes, sleeping bags, tents, mummy suits, boots, clothing, snowshoes, wooden skis, alpenstocks, and wood handled ice axes. Mathew was particularly excited about the wood handled ice axe collection, and when I asked him why, he exclaimed “because they are very rare!” The Mazamas library has the largest collection of these axes on the west coast, which includes one given to a former mazama member that belonged to the Argentine dictator Juane Perone (Brock, 2022).

(Ackerman, 2022)

Other

The mission of this library is to preserve and inform members and the public of the history of mountaineering in the United States and the Mazamas organization. This is by far the most interesting library that I have ever visited given the diversity of the collection. One thing that I found so valuable about this library is how it not only tells a story, but also supports scientific research. Additionally, I was so impressed by the passion and attention to detail that Mathew, the librarian, has spent organizing the collection so that it is highly accessible to its members. 

One thing that I would like to know more about the library and organization is what connections, if any, they have made with the Native American tribes that are indigenous to the area of Mount Hood. According to the U.S. Forest Service (n.d.), “the Molalas, Kalapuyans, Chinookan Clackamas, Shinookan Wascos, Northern Paiute peoples, and Sahaptin speakers all lived within the area and many of them called the mountain Wy’East” (para. 2). This has sparked my interest, and I now know what research questions I will come to the Mazamas Library and Historical Collection with the next time I visit. 

References:

Brock, M. (2021, September 28). Mazama LHC tour. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/617221437?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=34584320

Lucidea. (2021). The special library primer: Everything you need to know. https://lucidea.com/special-libraries/what-is-a-special-library/

Rubin, R. E., & Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science. American Library Association.United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). History and culture: History of the Mt. Hood national forest. Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mthood/learning/history-culture#:~:text=Hood%20as%20they%20traveled%20through,called%20the%20mountain%20Wy’East.

United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). History and culture: History of the Mt. Hood national forest. Forest Service. https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mthood/learning/history-culture#:~:text=Hood%20as%20they%20traveled%20through,called%20the%20mountain%20Wy’East.