As corny as it sounds, one of the best things about working in an historic library is making its collections come alive to students just beginning to grasp the importance of primary resources. Basically, it’s cool to get students to understand that the Peabody is more than a pretty face — it’s actually full of amazing resources that will actually help them make the most out of their original research. Undergraduates from Johns Hopkins had a class several weeks ago in which they each got to handle old books, manuscripts, and pieces of ephemera and then talk about what these awesome ancient things reveal about the past. It was pretty groovy for all concerned!
