The Goldwater Library will take its customary August vacation this year. The Library will be closed to the public beginning Tuesday, August 4.
This year, however, changes in staffing levels and a realignment of the Museum's libraries will mean other changes in access to the Goldwater Library and its collection.
The Goldwater Library will no longer be open to adult researchers without appointment during weekday Museum hours.
While the final outcomes are still being decided, what seems certain is that beginning after Labor Day most outside researchers will request library materials in the Goldwater Library from the Thomas J. Watson Library, the central library for the Museum. Library staff will retrieve requested items from the Goldwater Library on a yet-to-be-determined schedule.
And though the Watson Library will be open during the month of August, it's not clear how soon this paging method will be up and running.
Discussions are underway to see whether researchers needing extensive use of the library collection can schedule appointments during designated times to use the Goldwater Library on site.
As for the Goldwater Library staff, Erika and I will be moving to the Watson Library full-time during the month of August. In addition to a full roster of other library activities, we will both continue to be actively involved in reader services and collection development for the Goldwater Library. The library collection will continue to grow and thrive, maintaining its standing as the preeminent library of the traditional arts of Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas.
On a personal note, this marks the end of a twenty-one year stewardship of the Goldwater Library, a tenure of which I am immensely proud and professionally gratified. I inherited the job (if that's the proper verb) from Allan Chapman, the founder and only other Goldwater Library director and my mentor. He is no longer with us, but I tip my hat to him in thanks.
I have had the pleasure of working closely over the years with a number of dedicated and knowledgeable colleagues, both in the library and in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Many have gone on to distinguished careers in other institutions. I would like to be able to thank them -- again -- all individually in this space; this post will have to suffice.
Ross Day
Collection Development Librarian
Thomas J. Watson Library
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