Step One

Today I made the first step toward being scholarly, by registering at the national library, the Museo Correr, and the state archives.  It’s pretty intimidating, these grandiose reading rooms full of serious-looking university students and grey-headed researchers poring over these massive books, and me feeling like I have a neon sign over my head that says AMERICAN.  I went to the Marciana library first, and luckily Dr. Cooper had told me the name of a friend who works in the manuscript room, because the woman who gave me my library card told me nada and was quite unfriendly looking.  This woman, Betty, chatted with me for 20 or 30 minutes and explained how everything worked; like at the NY public library, you can’t go in the stacks, you have to submit a request for the books you want.  They still have card catalogs, though a lot of material is online.  There are separate offices for modern books (1850-onward), old books, and a separate wing for manuscripts.  I’m sure I’m going to make a thousand mistakes!  My goal for the week is 30 hours.  It’s going to rain for five days, so I feel like this will not be a super difficult goal to achieve!!