DAR Library

I visited a new library last week, one that DC uniquely offers: The Daughter’s of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum Library. It was extraordinary. Even from the outside you could tell it was going to be an amazing place.

You then walk in and it’s even better than you hope: The long tables, the adornment, the old-school affixed lamps. It gave me pleasent flashbacks to studying at the long tables in the JMU library back in the day. And that glorious roof!

This was clearly a place to work, the tables filled with very serious people doing very serious work, watched over by very serious pictures on the wall.

This is where things take a turn: The place had an amazing un-serious vibe! Even from the start, the library felt like a welcoming place. The security folks were smiling, helpful, seemed like they were truly happy to have me there and, most importantly, they laughed at my jokes. There is no greater joy in life than making a security guard laugh (the holy grail being a TSA officer at a busy airport).

It continued into the main room, where the librarians greeted me warmly, and were super helpful when I later asked them some questions. The highlight was when one of them yelled out to the entire library (it’s not that big) “Is anybody missing a cell phone? I think you’re from Utah!”

The whole place laughed together, something I’ve never experienced in any of my many library visits across the country (Please note: This is now twice I’ve mentioned laughter — when was the last time you laughed just once in a library‽)

I admit that I visited the library just kind of to see it, as I’d never even heard of it until a few weeks ago. Then, sitting there to finally do some Drink•Eat•Walk work, it slowly dawned on me…my tours discuss the history of DC…I’m now actively writing about the history of DC…this is a history museum…come on Tim, you can get there…HEY! Maybe I can do some research here!

I told the friendly librarian what I was working on, got her to laugh a few times (that’s now three laugh mentions), and she directed me to the exact shelves I needed…”History of DC”. I grabbed a bunch of books and then looked through them while taking notes, like I was a real researcher fitting in with the other very serious folks doing very serious things in there.

You can’t check books out from this library, but that’s where Amazon’s used books comes in. I’m now the proud owner of a dusty ol’ history book that fills a knowledge gap that I’d been struggling with.

Vive La Révolution!