St. Paul's Cathedral Library

The view of St. Paul's from Millennium Bridge

Our trip to St. Paul's was a vertical one as we ascended higher towards "the heavens" or more precisely into the archives and library of the St. Paul's Cathedral. Upon entering the cathedral we went upstairs to the triforium level. The "triforium" as defined by Merriam-Webster, is "a gallery forming an upper story to the aisle of a church and typically an arcaded story between the nave arches and clerestory".

Our lovely guide, Yvonne, told us that the timbers above us in the triforium level are 300 years old.

Yvonne also pointed out this cataloged wall of fragments of the cathedral.

One issue that was discussed was the issue of dust not from age and time but from the constant need for repairs on the cathedral that finds its way into the room where our group ventured next.

Joseph Wisdom, the Librarian of St. Paul's for about the last 20 years, talked about the current Library Project in which they are in the process of removing items to clean and upgrade the room itself as there is not specified funding for in-depth conservation of the collection. He stated that the focus of their work is not in restoring the collection but in preserving and conserving it through low-impact procedures on a consistent basis. Often, restoration can be more detrimental to the integrity of the item and involves much more invasive alterations. Their staff includes: the collections manager, the librarian, and a conservator.

The collection is theologically based and items are rarely deaccessioned. 

It was almost totally lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was slowly rebuilt through donations and bequeathments.

The library in the process of removing items for Library Project cleaning and upgrades

The collection that we saw there has gone through changes of its own. Mr. Wisdom said that at some point in the previous decades, there may have been some overly enthusiastic weeding and that the scent we smelled upon entering the library was the odor emitted from the rebinding that had been carried out during the 19th century.

This was also another example of a library that holds very special items that is open for anyone to use as long as they prove the need. I appreciate this trend in the libraries and archives that we have visited--they are the keepers of very precious items and historical information but they still uphold the value of sharing that information with others.