Sjoerd Koopman, Dutch Librarian, Donated over 2,400 Library Post Cards for us all to enjoy.
Q. Tell us about your collecting.
A. From Sjoerd Koopman:
Around the year 2000 I started collecting postcards of libraries: exterior (architecture) and interior (catalogue halls, reading rooms etc.) views of library buildings, black/white, colour, vintage and modern. The collection of international library cards amounts to 17,594 at the moment. All of my duplicate US library cards I have donated (and ongoing) to the American Library Association Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Q. Please tell us about your career as a librarian.
A. From Sjoerd Koopman:
I am a profesionally educated (University of Amsterdam) Scientific Librarian. I started my career at the Political Science Faculty Library @ the Amsterdam University (1974 – 1976).
Following I was a subject specialist (political science) and later policy officer @ the Royal Library, the National Library of the Netherlands (1976 – 1991).
Royal Library: National Library of the Netherlands
From 1991 – 1998 I worked for library automation organization Pica, later Pica/OCLC Europe, currently OCLC.
Small towns in the early 20th century valued their libraries highly, both the collections and the architecture, so they wanted them to appear on postcards along with all the tourist attractions and places of industry and commerce. These postcards told the rest of the world, "Yes, we know how to read great literature too, just like you snooty New Yorkers!"
What a great idea--to collect postcards of so many different libraries. I look forward to browsing through many of them over this holiday weekend.
Small towns in the early 20th century valued their libraries highly, both the collections and the architecture, so they wanted them to appear on postcards along with all the tourist attractions and places of industry and commerce. These postcards told the rest of the world, "Yes, we know how to read great literature too, just like you snooty New Yorkers!"