Pittstop at a Special Library
Imagine this: You’re on a regularly scheduled video call with a close relative. The relative has embarked on a career as a dual librarian and archivist and, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, works at one of the most instantly recognizable companies headquartered in the city: Harley-Davidson.
You ask, “How’s work going?”
She answers, “Fine, but there was an emergency the other day.”
You ask, “What does an emergency look like for a librarian/archivist?”
She replies, “Brad Pitt came by.”
Yes, that Brad Pitt. Apparently Pitt, along with a business associate, dropped by the company’s archives to conduct research for a project. It wasn’t a film but rather some initiative related to fashion. They were hoping the archives would have assets, primarily photographs of people and vehicles over the years, that could serve as historical references for what they were planning.
Your relative shares more, of course, but most of it stops registering – the shock of her rubbing shoulders with THE Brad Pitt, and at work no less, fried your bandwidth for additional details.
You remember, though, that your librarian/archivist relative describes Brad and co. as “lovely” and “perfect gentlemen,” something that you don’t fail to include when you inevitably share this story with your friends.
And share this story you do. That’s how it got to Jon last year, who then shared it with me.
It’s a great story, no doubt about it. But, perhaps surprisingly, my most visceral reaction to it wasn’t centred on Brad Pit as much as it was on the fact that Harley-Davidson headquarters houses a museum and employs at least one librarian/archivist! And that museum plus archives is significant enough to attract a visiting “researcher” as famous as Brad Pitt!? What wonders must it hold? Photos, yes, but what else? Technical drawings of motorcycles? Motorcycle parts? Racks upon racks of biker jackets? If all of the above – and likely more – how cool is that?!?
These are the questions of a fellow librarian/archivist, you see, one who’s been lucky enough to work at a museum as well and been enamoured by “special libraries” since first discovering they exist.
From Harley-Davidson to Lululemon
For sure, upon hearing about Brad's "Pittstop", I mused about what he could possibly be working on. He must be producing a film – maybe a remake of Easy Rider? But once Jon said, no, it's fashion-related, it's not as if I completely lost interest. Rather, it inspired a ride of my own – down memory lane.
I was immediately brought back to the moments when I first learned that librarians and archivists worked everywhere – and sometimes in the most surprising and thrilling places.
The first such moment was during orientation week of the first year of my Master’s program in Information and Libraries Studies. All the various student groups had staffed tables with representatives poised to recruit new members. As I chatted with a second-year student rep for LASSA, short for the Library and Archival Studies Student Association, she deduced and kindly informed me that I might be interested in SLA@UBC, or the student chapter of the Special Libraries Association. She didn’t see a table for them but shared some contact information with me.
Special libraries? Yeah, special libraries – staffed by special librarians. These knowledge centres easily could have been named “Specialized Libraries" instead, because they are defined as providing access to a specific collection that is of interest to a select set of patrons.
An example would be a library housed within a law firm – its collection of case law files and legal databases would serve the research needs of the firm’s lawyers and legal aids. But, man, if there aren’t countless more examples! Medical libraries, government libraries and corporate libraries. Also art libraries, music libraries, botanical garden libraries, and even libraries at major clothing brands.
In fact, my favourite moment of all was learning that Lululemon employed at least three librarians and archivists, including a librarian who manages the thousands of licensed colours the company’s designers have access to; a librarian who does the same for the many different fabrics utilized at the company; and an archivist who catalogues and preserves examples from every collection to continue creating the record of the brand’s design history.
I even had the benefit of attending a tour of the company’s headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, where I got to see where these librarians went to work as well as get a sense of the collections they work with. It was truly revelatory – and filled my head with all kinds of musings. Like, could I go to work at the Nike campus in Beaverton, Oregon? Or how about for any of the other primary brands I’m most loyal to? The thoughts stayed with me for a long time. And one of my favourite ways to explain my having gone to "library school" to someone not familiar became my asking them, “Hey, did you know Lululemon hires librarians?”
While I have yet to work for one of my favourite brands, I have indeed worked as a special librarian. I’ve been the aforementioned librarian/archivist at a museum, a business librarian at a university, and an archival researcher for a historical documentary. I’m thankful for all these experiences. And you know what? I’m thankful for Brad Pitt, because his visit to the Harley-Davidson museum and archives reminded me yet again of how “special” some libraries can be.