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Elizabeth Bird

Pooh Has Left the Building

March 12, 2008

Well, we knew it had to happen and happen it did. Winnie-the Pooh and friends have vacated the premises. They've been good friends and stalwart companions, but the time finally came to say goodbye. On Monday morning professional preservation type persons came to the Donnell Library and took care of our darlings like they were made of platinum, silver, and gold. The good news is that Pooh will be moving pretty much immediately to his brand new home at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (a.k.a. the one with the stone lions out front). They will live in the Salomon Room in a case that once belonged to a Gutenberg Bible. So just in case you Brits out there are worried that we don't know how to take care of your babies, they are so important that they live where GUTENBERG BIBLES once tread.

The moving process was quite complex and fascinating, so I just had to take a couple snappy snaps of how it worked.

First of all, our preservation types came loaded down with all kinds of mysterious boxes and foamy things.

The alarm was turned off of Pooh (yes, he had the finest of protection) and the doors opened.

Here they sit for the last time in their old abode.

And then nothing much happened. There was a lot of rolling up of tissue paper, which is pretty much as dull as it sounds. I decided to work on the Reference Desk instead on the other side of the room until something happened . . .

. . . which is how I pretty much missed everybody getting packed up, except for Eeyore.

This meant that the old case that had once looked like this . . .

. . . now looked a little more like this . . .

Now watch this fella as he painstakingly arranges our favorite donkey just about right. I love watching this stuff sometimes.

And that was that. The only left was to pack up the case itself, which they did.

And now we've a little sign where an icon used to sit.

Everyone has been very good about making Pooh continually available to the public, but if you are in the city you may as well stop by the Humanities and Social Sciences Library rather than the Donnell if you want a taste of Milne. We are without Pooh from here on in. That little quiz Gwenda offered the other day makes me nostalgic.

Speaking of news, BIG BIG library news was in the Times yesterday, in case you missed it. Renovations! Money! Hubs and Spokes! The Humanities and Social Sciences Library renamed to (and this is true) The Schwartzman Building. Don't believe me. Read it for yourself.

Posted by Elizabeth Bird on March 12, 2008 | Comments (12)

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Monica Edinger commented:

Saw the article. Good news, but what about in the meantime? Where will the Central Children's Room be after Donnell is closed?

Love those white gloves! When I was an American Memory Fellow at the Library of Congress we were shown lots of treasures and always, always, always the white gloves. (Funny how the fanciest buildings here in NYC are called white glove buildings referring to staff wearing them.)

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Fuse #8 commented:

No word on where the Central Children's Room is going quite yet for the interim. I will keep you posted.

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
nw commented:

I never even knew it was the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. I always called it the Central Library.

What is the interim? Is there an ultimate destination for the Central Children's Room? Is it just being renovated?

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Fuse #8 commented:

At this point we don't know much. The New York Times article mentioned that there will be a children's room in the Central Library (as you say) but I don't know if that will be us. The Donnell is closing so it definitely won't be here. Again, I'll keep you posted.

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
candice commented:

Ohhh, the poor little things! They looked so sad when those men came for them. You could have heard my heart break in five continents . . . this is the beginning of the end of Donnell.

March 12, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Brooke commented:

Good luck with the new digs, Pooh!

While I'm pleased to hear that the Milne gang have a new place at the H&SS Library, I can't help but wonder if a special collections room is the best place for them. Mainly because I'm betting that the bulk of gung-ho Pooh enthusiasts in this world are little kids, and while special collections libraries are indeed wonderful places, they aren't exactly the sorts of places that invite small people to traipse around and coo excitedly. Hmm. I'm glad my own toddlers got a chance to meet Pooh before being whisked away . . .

March 13, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Karen commented:

Oh! I wish I had known! I was a librarian at the Central Children's Room when the whole brouhaha broke out over Pooh (in fact, I was a pretty newly minted librarian, yet somehow nominally in charge as the two wonderful veteran librarians had recently retired). Had I known they were leaving on Monday, I would have somehow gotten out of work and come to say bon voyage!

March 13, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
DanMc commented:

Booo!

March 14, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
ann mccrory commented:

I was the publisher/editor-in-chief of children's books at E. P. Dutton when we were sold to New American Library. John Dyson donated the beloved animals, which were not part of the deal, to the NYPL. Until then, they lived in a glass case in the reception room. We could unlock the caee and I did so for two special visitors - my niece who was a Pooh fanatic and my fiancee who had been properly brought up on the books. As had I, and getting to meet Ernest Shepard and Christopher Robin Milne were mountain top experiences for me. Now I worry about whether children, old and young, will ever find their way to the Salomon Room.

March 17, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Alkelda commented:

I came after Karen when the whole bruhaha broke out, and I'm holding on to those memories. I miss my friends in the glass case-- oh yeah, and my co-workers too! I'm glad the Humanities and Social Sciences Library has been renamed, because it was too tempting to call it HASSLE.

April 1, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
Cathi commented:

I'm with Brooke and Ann. I hope "they" move Pooh and friends to the new children's center that's planned in the renovated circulating space for children on 5th Ave. That's definitely where they belong!

April 7, 2008
In response to: Pooh Has Left the Building
bb commented:

Ohhhhh. I don't know how I missed this, Fuse! You put a nice face on it, but it sounds like a sad day :(

I would have to agree that the beloved beasties should be where kids will see them...