One of my ongoing projects is to process the records of The Urbana Free Library. Since we were founded in 1874 there are a lot of papers to sort through. Today I came across a folder titled ‘Reference Tallys’ [sic]. Inside is a sheaf of handwritten pages divided into 4 columns: reference question, source, answered (yes or no), and the answering librarian’s initials. Although, only the month and day are listed I am estimating from the questions and location within the collection that these queries date from the 1970s.
Take a look. [Click on image for a larger picture.] Do you think you could find the answers to the following?
Forty years later, our librarians are still ready and willing to answer your questions. Come on by.
- Sherrie, Archives Librarian