Charles Asher (he/him/his), Acquisitions/Interlibrary Loan Specialist in the Western Libraries (essential[at]Western project)

This is a photo of me working in the library--actually, a photo of me in a book in the library. I have worked various on-site shifts in the library over the past year: providing curbside service, processing interlibrary loan materials, and scanning requested articles and book chapters. Searching for materials in the Northwest Collection of the Wilson 4 Central Reading Room, I spotted the blue spine of a book in which my wife was interviewed as a commercial fisher in Alaska many years ago. I'm in the lower photo (in the water) with my wife Rebecque and my skipper Don, beach seining for salmon on Kodiak Island. One of our holding skiffs in the background is already half-submerged with the weight of fish (photo in book credit: Leslie Leyland Fields). I've thought about whether the metaphor of fishing applies to searching for and pulling library books from the vast pool of volumes at the Western Libraries. It doesn't. Having LC call numbers, well-organized stacks, and a computerized inventory system to locate an item is an infinitely more efficient method of retrieval than setting a 150 fathom net on a lone jumping fish.

Creators/Contributors

Charles Asher - Contributor

Collection

Telling Our Stories: Essential @Western During COVID-19

Identifier

wwu_covid_essential_12

Date Created

March 16th, 2021

Publisher

Digital object made available by University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, Western Libraries, Western Washington University

Physical location

  • WaBeWWUA
  • Western Washington University

Repository

University Archives

Resource type

Still image

Related to

Telling our Stories: Western's Response to COVID-19

Access conditions

  • http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

  • The contributor has transferred to Western Washington University Libraries, Division of Archives & Special Collections, all rights, title, and interests to these materials, and further agreed that these materials may be made publicly accessible (with no restrictions on their use). For more information, please contact University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; archives.speccoll@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Telling Our Stories: Western's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Collection, University Archives, Archives & Special Collections, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Genre

Images

Rights and Permissions

  • See "More Details" tab and "Access Conditions".