January 2021
Preservation
The house where J.R.R. Tolkien lived when he wrote some of his most famous work is up for sale. There are a number of people making a concerted effort to purchase this house and turn it into some kind of literary center, including a garden of some significance. There is a news article about it on Tor’s website. This article sent my mind wandering down the path of historic preservation and the collection of authorial works. There are other displays from famous authors in many forms, in many places but I realized I don’t know the first thing that goes into creating or curating a collection like this. Thankfully, the wonderful world of fandom allows me to connect to people that know an awful lot more than I do. I decided to reach out to one!
Mary Spila is a long-time member of our fan group here at Watch The Skies and just so happens to be one of the librarians for our state. I pulled together the teeny amount of info I know about this sort of things and asked her a few questions about it. Here is the interview:
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First, thanks for being willing to help fill me in on these sort of things. I think the work you do is important, and more people should know about it. What is your official job title and what sort of things are entailed in the work that you currently do?
I am the cataloger at the State Library of Pennsylvania. I am responsible to cataloging everything that in put into the collection. This includes books for the Main Library, Law Library, Government Documents, and the Rare Materials Library.
Does the state library have a collection of letters (or more than one) similar to the sort of works that might be on display at the Tolkien house, should that project become a reality? What sort of things are in that collection?
The Rare Collections Library of the State Library of Pennsylvania holds items from the founding of the State of Pennsylvania, and the United States. This includes the “Assembly Collection”, books that were purchased by Benjamin Franklin for the General Assembly, and the beginnings of the State Library Collection.
The library has the largest collection of Pennsylvania Newspapers, some of which go back to the late 1600s. There are copies of materials that were printed in Pennsylvania back to 1685.
The collection also contains rare items that include a copy of Hartman Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicles; a map and documents signed by Hannah Penn and Lord Baltimore regarding the borders between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Several years ago, we were gifted with a collection of materials from Steve Didko, Pennsylvania Comic Book artist best known for his work at Marvel and DC. That collection contains pencil sketches, ink drawings, and published comic books. It is the basis of the State Library’s graphica collection, which highlights the works of Pennsylvania authors and artists in the comics industry.
How does the library team decide what to keep and when? There has to be a limit on space, right?
There are library policies and procedures for purchasing and removal of materials from the Main and Law Libraries. For the Main Library this includes genealogical materials, Pennsylvania newspapers, things that are about Pennsylvania and its history, as well as materials requested by State Agencies and Legislators. The Law Library contains materials that directly related to the courts, laws, and legislation of Pennsylvania and the United States.
We are also a Federal and State Documents Depository Library, and those materials are kept until superseded.
Outdated, damaged, and superseded materials from both libraries, are removed from the collections and replaced if needed.
Does the library have special systems in place to care for the works in their care?
The Rare Collections Librarian and Technician have some basic skills with materials maintenance and repair. For materials that are in need of more extensive work they are sent out to professional restorers.
Materials in the Main and Law Libraries, are generally replaced if they are damaged beyond use, as repair of modern books is not cost effective.
Are there special rules about who can see these collections and when?
For materials in the Rare Collection, an appointment needs to be made with the Rare Collections Librarian. Permission may be denied based on the condition of the item.
Given the significant increase in authors using electronic means to both write and communicate with each other in recent times, what sort of things might the library have to display in the future? Have there been discussions of this among various members of the librarian community?
Electronic resources can be “Displayed” in electronic formats such as the Library’s website and social media.
I’d really like to focus more on that last bit. I wasn’t clear about how I phrased my question about displays. I didn’t consider the internet as part of the library at all, I was visualizing some kind of digital kiosk on location in the library itself with a big ol’ touch screen or something like that.
Even if there were a physical device for an electronic display, what is displayed would still be tied into the library’s website. Physical tech requires the library to have the time, funding, and personnel to maintain it, and most libraries don’t have any to spare.
People are already carrying personal devices where they look for information and entertainment. It is more cost effective to put things on the website and the library’s social media, where it will reach a wider audience and is not limited to times when the library will be physically open. Many libraries are even recording their current physical displays and putting them on their websites. The website, or some future incarceration, will end up being the primary way that libraries interact with users.
I know this isn’t what you are looking for, but that is the reality, especially considering that library budgets have been falling.
A very big thank you to Mary Spila for being willing to share her time and expertise with us on this subject! IF you have knowledge about an industry that relates to the publishing world or science fiction in general, we’d love to hear from you too! Let us know ~ we want to hear what you have to say!
Interview by Eric V. Hardenbrook
INTERVIEW: MYKE COLE – ARMORED SAINT
Myke Cole is the author of 9 books, two trilogies in the Shadow Ops series, two books in the Sacred Throne series and the non-fiction history book, Legion Versus Phalanx. He received the Compton Crook Award for Shadow Ops: Control Point in 2013. Myke’s military background, three tours in Iraq, service with the United States Coast Guard Reserve and with the NYPD, comes to the forefront in the Shadow Ops series. Myke is also one of the investigators on the TV reality show, Hunted. But in his latest endeavor he draws from older influences: enjoyment of roleplaying games, love of comic books and being a heavy weapons fighter with the SCA, to create a new fantasy series that begins with The Armored Saint. Myke was kind enough to answer several of our questions about the book we read, as well as his experiences as an author.
Hi Myke.
Congratulations on your new book. We’ve got a number of folks that are excited to read it. We’ve done our best to avoid questions that you’ve covered in other places ~ but if we’ve missed something feel free to point us in that direction!
- Starting with your newest (The Sacred Throne Series), a question from one of our readers: why write from the point of view of a 16 year old girl?
Myke : I have tried to push the envelope with each book I write, stretching my abilities. Writing is, at its core, *people*, and writing people well, especially people who are nothing like you, is the holy grail of a great writer. Look at George R.R. Martin’s incredible executions of Cersei and Tyrion Lannister. The challenge, of course, is empathy. It’s one thing to *understand* the goals of a person who is nothing like you. It’s another to *empathize* with them. A 16 year old woman is pretty much as far from my perspective as you can get, which is of course why I had to tackle it.
- Sticking with that series, Was it your choice or the publisher’s choice to make the stopping place between Armored Saint and Queen of Crowswhat it was?
Myke : It was mine. In fact, I sold THE ARMORED SAINT as a complete book, and the deal wound up being a trilogy. So, I found myself having to extend the story out, but I hadn’t planned on it when I wrote the first book. THE ARMORED SAINT ends exactly where I intended it to.
- Another reader question: What is the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for your work?
Myke : Sex from the point of view of a woman. In intense detail (for a scene in GEMINI CELL). It was a real (and embarrassing) wake up call to me that I had never really thought about how women experience sex in detail. I was fortunate that I had friends willing to talk to me about it, but *man* those conversations were awkward. It is one of those situations where the experience of writing a book actually made me a better human being.
- You have a vocal position on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), has this had a positive or negative impact on your growing readership?
Myke : I think it balances. When I was still in the military, I had to keep my opinions to myself. I couldn’t have politically opposite subordinates thinking their commander wouldn’t do right by them. But I view America as being in the midst of one of the greatest crises in our history, and I feel that keeping silent is the same as being complicit. I know my strident political positions offend many readers and I’m sure it costs me sales, but I think it also draws like-minded readers to me. The truth is that there is no way to be sure, and I need to be able to look in a mirror every day and believe that I am a good person. Speaking up is a critical part of that.
- Our traditional final question – if you could have one (and only one) super power, what would it be?
Myke : A force field that would prevent me from ever seeing, hearing about, or having to thinking about the genitalia of elected officials.
Thanks for being willing to take the time and answer our questions.
Myke : My great pleasure! Thanks for your interest!
tps://www.tor.com/2018/10/08/brush-up-on-ancient-warfare-in-myke-coles-legion-versus-phalanx/