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The Jones Memorial Library is a privately funded public library that keeps a collection of regional history documents. Most of their collection began with the donations from the Jones monument until they merged and gained most of their documents and art. They also have manuscripts or historical figures from the region like their research, architectural plans, or donated letters. They also have a collection of bound newspapers that go as far back as the 1920s. This library is in the process of digitizing their records so not all of their collection is available online. The website is easy to navigate and clearly labeled. Some of there collections are only available in person. The manuscripts and historical books are available to look up online, but their bound newspapers are not available for online use. I got the opportunity to get a tour of the location since the reference desk worker was a teacher of mine. He told me that the library is mainly used for family history or for people buying older houses who want to see layout and history of it. There are no staff listed on the website, but I was told that there were five employees there at the time. Most of the interactions they have are in person or over the phone since they don’t have much of a social media presence.

            From what I can see, there are little accommodations for those trying to research online if a patron is visually impaired or speaks a different language. I feel that the website is a placeholder that pushes its users to visit the building since there is not many collections that are fully available online.

The Space & Physical Access

            This library is on the second level of their building and is combined with the local public library. The initial entry of the building is somewhat intimidating. I am not sure if you can enter in the public library, but I had to make a short walk from the sidewalk to get to the door which is on the corner of the street. The parking is shared with the public library, but it is a big enough size for both of them.  

All that is on the first floor is an elevator and a door unavailable to the public that I assume is for meetings. The actual library is a small and somewhat empty room that has many chairs and tables for people to use. It did remind me of a church, but I feel that was due to some of the stained glass art of philosophers from the Jones monument reminded me of typical stained glass windows that church’s have. They had no meeting rooms and was divided in a way of the computer station and general seating. Almost all of the collection was only available with staff assistance and the rooms with the collection were unavailable to the public.

I would say that the space is rather accessible since it mainly relies on the assistance of staff when finding documents. The floor area is open and allows all age groups to be properly served.

Services & Intellectual Access

            The only special programs that I could find is the brochure that is pictured above. They seem to mainly offer lectures in their meeting room to the general public but also some events for donors. Unfortunately, I see no advertisement of this on their official website and this was hung up in the elevator where I almost missed it. Little to no signage is a consistent issue here as I either found none or I missed it initially from how small it was. I was the only person there when I visited so I did not see the library in action as much as I wanted but all of the staff was incredibly knowledgeable and even knew some knew about my family on my father’s side. With the collection being kept behind a door, the information is rather accessible since the patron does not have to dig for it themselves and instead rely on the reference clerks.

The collections that they have are not organized in any other way other than date from what I absorbed. Even the nonfiction books they kept was all by time period and then alphabetically.

People – Patrons & Staff

Due to the nature of its services, I would say that the library mainly serves adults and elderly patrons. Children are not catered to as it is a research facility first and foremost. Also, there collection is mainly comprised of delicate material. I did not get to see any interactions with other patrons as I came later in the day, but it seems very hands on between the staff and patrons. As I mentioned before, there is only five members of the staff with only one of them being a part-time staff member. One of the interesting jobs that were included was the archivist and Collection’s manager. The Executive Director and Archivist are both MLIS professionals as far as I could tell from their job listing online.

The staff was comprised of mainly white women with two white man. I can not say what their patrons are made up of, but I feel like from their collection, white people would have an easier time searching up records. If your family is lower class or is not white, I feel that their collection might be limited to just court documents and possibly finding things like obituaries in the newspaper.

Collections

As this is an archive library, there is nothing in circulation for patrons to take tome. All of their collection must be used while in the building. The problem with that is the times that this location is open. The open from Tuesday to Saturday and usually from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., sometimes staying open until 8 at night on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This makes utilizing the library difficult for working adults who might work during those hours and can only visit on Saturdays with everyone else.

            The collections are mainly historical documents, whether that be manuscripts, newspapers, yearbooks, or architectural lay outs of local businesses or hotels. This library provides a membership on Ancestry for patrons who use their many desktops. The library truly relies on its reference desk workers since they mainly help find all the information that a person would need since no one else is allowed in the back.

Other

All of the staff are passionate about the history of their collection, and they all seem dedicated to their mission of sharing local history. I was surprised to learn that there is little protocol with touching some of the older documents. They allowed me to flip through some of the Newspaper books from 1938, and I was allowed to touch it without any preparation. It disappointed me slightly. I have not taken any archiving course yet, but I was expecting there to be a higher regard for all of the documents that they have. They have yet to digitize most of their collection, and a staff member even stated that the people in charge of it are not as thorough as they should be. I enjoyed learning about all that they have to other as far as genealogy and research. Also, I understand as a library that is funded by donors, there is only but so much that they can afford, and they have to follow a tight budget. The people they cater to are most likely those who donate, which are white and middle to upper class citizens.

I enjoyed the experience overall as someone who is considering archiving, and I want to continue to learn more.