Category Archives: RL Photos

Events, From Our Collections, Hartman Center, Just for Fun, News and Features, Rare Books, RL Photos, Rubenstein Library Test Kitchen, University Archives

Eating at the Rubenstein Library

We are still digesting the feast that was Wednesday’s Rubenstein Library Test Kitchen tasting event, but the bloating has died down enough for us to be able to share some photos from the celebration!

The Desserts!

Delicious sweet potato custard pie, apple kuchen, and blueberry pie, ready and waiting to be devoured! And we’d only just recovered from Thanksgiving!

There was so much eating to be done, but Duke people are very determined people.

Getting food!So much eating!

Here’s Rubenstein librarian Elizabeth Dunn serving Soldier Soup!

Serving soup!

And, to our very great surprise, the Velveeta-creamed corn ring was gone in the first half hour of the event. We’d even made two! We retract any previous skepticism about the appeal of this most excellent “cheese food.”

No more Velveeta!

Of course, we had the historical cookbooks and advertisements that provided the sources for our wonderful recipes out on display (with the stipulation that there could be no simultaneous browsing and eating; goblin sandwich filling would be tough to get off a 1777 cookbook…..).

Students looking at Rubenstein Library cookbooks!

Our intrepid taste-testers received zines containing all of the recipes and made by Rubenstein Library staff. If you couldn’t make the event, you can download a PDF copy of the zine here: Test-Kitchen-Zine-2014

Thanks to everyone who attended! We’ll have another tasting event—featuring recipes from our next round of test kitchen blog posts—in the late spring!

Events, News and Features, RL Photos

Screamfest in Pictures

Look at all of the boys and ghouls (sorry, we had to) at our Haunted Library Screamfest!

Screamfest Visitors

We had materials on display from all of the creepy, spooky corners of the Rubenstein Library, including these items from the History of Medicine Collections:

History of Medicine Collections Materials at Screamfest

And no, the skeleton wasn’t made of white chocolate. Although some of this was!

Screamfest Candy

Visit the Screamfest 2013 set on the Duke University Libraries’s Flickr photostream for more pictures of the fun. And check out Duke Today’s report!

Just for Fun, News and Features, Renovation, RL Photos

The Lovers, the Dreamers, and the Rubenstein Movers

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Hi Rubenstein Library move diary readers! We’re into Week 4 here at Rubenstein Library Move HQ. And one of the fun things about moving our collections out of our soon-to-be-renovated stacks has been marveling at the expanses of empty shelving. We have a lot of stuff!

Our stacks weren’t always, well, ours. A few decades ago, some of our floors were home to part of the Perkins Library’s circulating books collection and provided study space for lots and lots of undergraduates. As we’ve been preparing for the move, we’ve discovered many fine examples of library patron graffiti, some of which were pictured in a recent issue of Duke Magazine.

Now that our stacks are clearing out, it’s become easier to spot these pencilled masterpieces. Like the one shown below, which graces a second floor wall.

Kermit Graffiti from Rubenstein 2nd Floor Stacks

(And we will neither confirm nor deny that the voice in our head that squealed “KERMIEEEEEE!” was Miss Piggy’s. OK, we will confirm it.)

News and Features, Renovation, RL Photos

Firsts from the Collections Move

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Welcome to the fourth installment of the photo diary of the Rubenstein Library’s move.  Like proud new parents, we present to you the firsts from this week of the collections move…

The first manuscript boxes moved into our new stacks.
The first manuscript boxes moved into our new stacks.
Holdings Assistant Carrie Mills, signing in for the first security shift of the collections move.
Holdings Assistant Carrie Mills, signing in for the first security shift of the collections move.

Helpful Links:

movelogo

 

 

News and Features, Renovation, RL Photos

Time to Move Our Collections!

Welcome to the third installment of the photo diary of the Rubenstein Library’s move. Today marks the first day of our collections move.  Time to use our spiffy new aprons and fill up all of those book trays!

Megan Lewis, Technical Services Archivist for the Sallie Bingham Center, in the official 2013 Rubenstein Library collections move apron.
Megan Lewis, Technical Services Archivist for the Sallie Bingham Center, in the official 2013 Rubenstein Library collections move apron.
An expanse of book trays for safely moving our rare books.
An expanse of book trays for safely moving our rare books.

Helpful Links:

movelogo

News and Features, Renovation, RL Photos

Dusting Flash Mob

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Welcome to the second installment of the photo diary of the Rubenstein Library’s move! We’re going to start off by showing you our new secure stacks, the future home of many of our archival collections and rare printed materials for the duration of the renovation.

Our new stacks!
Our new stacks!

Nice and empty, right? But they were a teensy bit dusty . . . So we organized a Rubenstein staff flash dusting mob yesterday afternoon!

Our dusting cloths. We apologize for their color.
Our dusting cloths. We apologize for their color.
The dusting flash mob in action.
The dusting flash mob in action.

And now our new stacks are clean and ready to be loaded with collections materials. Just in time, too, because the collections move starts on Monday!

Helpful Links:

News and Features, Renovation, RL Photos

Moving the Rubenstein, in Pictures

Dear readers, did you enjoy your winter break? We did, too—but we were busy!

Since December 17th, we’ve been packing our offices, our reading room, our common workspaces—basically, everything that’s not a rare book or archival collection—and moved to our new digs on the 3rd floor of Perkins Library. This is where you’ll come to do research (and visit us!) during the renovation, which is currently slated for completion in the summer of 2015.

Now that we’re all settled into our new space, we’ll be spending the rest of January and the first half of February moving our collections from their current stacks locations to our 3rd floor Perkins stacks or to the Library Service Center. (Yes, you’ll still be able to visit and do research during this collections move. Visit our “FAQ for Researchers” to learn more about researching at the Rubenstein Library during the move period.)

Since we need all hands on deck to ensure that our collections are moved safely and securely, we’re going to be temporarily turning the blog into a photo diary of the move process. Check back a few times each week to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a logistical process that’s been a couple of years in the making! (And the blog will return to its normal self on February 18th.)

And now, we present “What We Did Over Our Winter Vacation” by the Rubenstein Staff:

Our paper finding aids are packed and ready to go! What’s a finding aid?
Doughnuts increase packing efficiency. Especially when they're homemade salted caramel chocolate doughnuts.
Doughnuts increase packing efficiency. Especially when they’re homemade salted caramel chocolate doughnuts. We were surprised to find even one left when we arrived to take this photo.
3rd floor Perkins Reading Room, before the move.
3rd floor Perkins Reading Room, before the move.
3rd floor Perkins Reading Room, after the move.
3rd floor Perkins Reading Room, after the move. Looks like home!

Helpful Links:

Events, Just for Fun, News and Features, RL Photos, University Archives

What’s that Ringing in Perkins Library?

Shortly after Duke’s football win over the University of North Carolina on October 20th, the Duke University Libraries’ Communications and Development Departments and the Duke University Archives had an idea: why not bring the Victory Bell to Perkins Library? The University Archives has tons of historical material about Duke’s football team and the Victory Bell—including the bell’s original clapper, “liberated” from a UNC gymnasium in 1964—and, well, how much fun would it be to ring a bell in a quiet library?

After a few phone calls to our friends in Duke Athletics, the Victory Bell’s cart rolled over to Perkins Library this past Friday morning. Here are a few pictures from what proved to be a very fun—and occasionally very noisy—day. And, no, even though we’re librarians, we didn’t shush any of our bell ringers!

The Victory Bell arrives at Perkins Library!
The Victory Bell arrives at Perkins Library!
An excited student reacts after ringing the Victory Bell.
An excited student reacts after ringing the Victory Bell.
Two more students get ready to ring the Victory Bell.
Two more students get ready to ring the Victory Bell.
Coach David Cutcliffe and Provost Peter Lange share a turn.
Coach David Cutcliffe and Provost Peter Lange share a turn. Note some remaining blue spray paint on the inside of the bell.
President Brodhead rings the Victory Bell.
President Brodhead rings the Victory Bell.

So what do you think, Coach Cutcliffe? Shall we do this again next year?

Check out more photos of the bell’s visit on Flickr. You’ll also find more photos at Duke Today’s story about the bell’s visit.

Read more about the Victory Bell’s history here and here.

Renovation, RL Photos, University Archives

Construction Begins on the Temporary Rubenstein Library

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Over the past few months, Perkins staff has been shifting books out of the 3rd floor of the library to make room for the Rubenstein Library to have a home away from home during the renovation. We will be opening our reading room on the 3rd floor of Perkins on January 7, 2013. This month, construction begins in earnest. When we go check on the space, we even have to bring hard hats and safety glasses — this is kind of a thrill for some of us! (Okay, maybe just me.)

The 3rd floor of Perkins, now a construction zone for the Rubenstein swing space.

Our temporary home will house our reading room as well as work spaces for our Research Services, Collection Development, and University Archives staff.  We will also to be able to keep a portion of our collections onsite during the renovation.

The future temporary home of the Rubenstein Library Reading Room.
Library bookshelves have been re-arranged to safely hold our large folios.

As our regular readers know, moving out of our current space is no easy task.  In addition to prepping the collections for the move, we also have to execute a safe and secure move in a short period of time with minimal impact on our researchers. We know we cannot do this without the help of professional movers, so we have been talking with and reviewing bids from various moving companies.

Back in 1969 when the library addition we now know as Perkins Library opened, the books were moved by fraternity brothers around campus. Some days I wish our move would be that simple. Although, after looking at the picture below of the 1969 move (from the Duke University Archives), I’m happy we will have the professionals involved.

Moving Day for Perkins Library books, 1969.

For more photographs of the Rubenstein renovation, visit the Library’s Flickr page.

Post contributed by Molly Bragg, Collections Move Coordinator in the Technical Services Dept.