Presence
Thoughts from a recent day at the Morton Arboretum's library
I volunteer in the Arboretum's library on Friday mornings, working through the seemingly endless boxes of my grandfather's correspondence and inserting details to accompany the digitized images. While summer has brought more numerous visitors across the library's hexagonal, clay-tiled floor, it's remarkably stereotypical of a library on most days—quiet and solitary.
Typically, I work diligently through the images--opening each one, extracting relevant details onto my notepad, and then filling in the form fields on the library's collections management system ACORN. But every once in a while, often after coming across a letter whose words feel remarkably alive, I'm inclined to stop and sit. To revel in my environment, listening to the quiet, attentive as if at any moment a comment from my grandfather might break through the silence and reach me.
These moments of explicit presence, utterances from the spirit of my grandfather or not, help me feel connected to his legacy. The place where I'm sitting appeared nearly the same as when he walked the geometric tiles.
Visiting the space with my dad a handful of weeks ago, I felt even more acutely aware of how woven my grandfather's legacy is with the library. My dad walked the hallways, trying to piece together where his father's office would have been despite the since altered footprint. When he was able to pinpoint a likely area, describing how it appeared in those years that he would visit his dad at work, a long-gone spiral staircase leading from his office down to the basement stacks, the nearness of my grandpa felt especially acute. I was standing where he spent his life--not just where he worked, but where he expended his passion. He gave himself utterly to this place, these acres and gardens, this library, and it doesn't escape me how lucky I am to be able to spend time each week settling in with that energy.
To learn more about the Sterling Morton Library and how to access its wonderful collections in ACORN, check out this online course the library offers, or stop in and see for yourself! Naturally, I highly recommend a visit.
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So cool to see that your grandfather was spending a significant amount of time in that exact same space! It feels like you're doing a bit of time travel here!