Materials Monday Theme for 2022 is ...

A new year means a new theme for "Materials Monday" posts on the BDC's Facebook page.

In 2018 and 2019, I just wrote about items that I chose week to week as the spirit so moved me. 

In 2020, I decided that it might be more efficient to decide on a theme for the entire year. First up was "The Word "New" appears in the title or subtitle" of the material being highlighted, though truth be told, some of the "new" material was actually quite old. At the end of 2020, I still had plenty of "new" materials to use but I had tired of the theme. So I switched gears.  

In 2021, I concentrated on the "Letters" we have in published and unpublished formats. Response to the "Letters" series was quite good. And I probably could do another year or two's worth of nothing but "letters." However, I like a little novelty in my life. Mixing things up, I feel, is in general, a good thing. 

Believe it or not, since mid-2021, I have been giving the theme for 2022 considerable thought. Just like last year, I weighed a number of factors regarding potential themes:  

• I wanted a theme that would show the depth and scope of the BDC's holdings. 
• I wanted a theme that could cover a variety of topics and/or cover a number of historical periods.
• I wanted a theme that I would offer me some research possibilities to expand upon (perhaps) in the BDC's blogs or serve as a basis for a future BDC program or event. 
• I wanted a theme that might even be "fun" to research and write - well, in the sense of as much "fun" as an introverted librarian can have...
• Also I wanted to incorporate a Library truism this time: Every library worker has heard “I don’t remember the title/ author / what is was mostly about (pick one) but “It had a blue cover…”

The BDC does indeed contain materials with blue covers, but after a visual scan of the content with my own eyeballs inside the Research Room, I decided there was a more prevalent color tone that spanned a number of formats and time periods than shades of blue. (More about that in a moment). 

With approximately 47 Mondays in 2021 (omitting the County holidays that happen to fall on Monday in 2021) to write for, I started thinking about potential titles for the series. 

I wanted something catchy ... 

and book related ... 

and that played on something well understood by non-librarians ... 

and could take into account the "tone" of the Research Room. 

Hmmmhhhh.  

Thus, after much thought, fretting, and discussion with others, I announce that the Materials Monday Theme for 2022 is ... 

(Drum Roll, please)... 

Why? 

I picked “50 Shades of Beige,” as a pun relating to the Fifty Shades of Grey series that was very popular a decade ago. I like that "Materials Monday 2022" series title might be considered by some to be just a tad naughty. And we indeed have a lot of materials in shades of beige in the Research Room.

"50 Shades of Beige"

 

Manila folders housing the vertical files are a shade of beige; some of our archival boxes are shades of beige; some book covers are in shades of beige; some photographs are sepia toned - which is a shade of beige; some of the physical newspapers we have and documentary series microfilm boxes are in shades of beige. There are posters and illustrated 19th century newspaper prints in shades of beige. There are maps in shades of beige. There is correspondence on beige toned papers. Some materials have acquired beige tones as they have naturally aged, etc. Within those beige shaded containers or beige colored material is content that  run the gamut of the topics and time periods that the  BDC collects. 

I would have to expose myself to some materials that do not get used all that often and would require me to physically be in the Research Room to identify. (Book color isn't a part of the SCLENDS catalog metadata plus I love physically being surrounded by so much history "stuff.")  I had little doubts that I would "rediscover" some items in the collection that I had forgotten we had.  

My point is: Beige does not always mean “b-o-r-i-n-g.” There are a lot of treasures in the Research Room that are in shades of beige ... and I am going to write about some of them on Facebook this year. Watch for the "Materials Monday: 50 Shades of Beige" posts every Monday that the Library is open - plus a few of the Mondays that the Library will be closed - in 2022. 

I look forward to writing the posts. I hope that you look forward to reading them.

If you're not on Facebook, not a problem. I intend to continue re-posting FB posts for the month previous here in Connections as has become my practice since April 2021.