So the archives, currently stored on the library grounds, will be moved to a secure storage facility at Monterey Peninsula College in the near future (road washouts and various other out-of-our-hands things have kept us from getting a secure date, but they will likely be moved before interns arrive in Big Sur), which will act to do two things:

1. protect them from the elements in Big Sur – the possibility for debris flows, landslides, and fires are only the most extreme of the things which are bad for them here, the fog in the summer is a daily reminder that no matter how hard one tries, a climate controlled environment is next to impossible to come by around here) and

2. clear up a great amount of working space for a number of items – mostly framed items, art pieces, and book boxes, to be properly stored and accessioned into our database, as well as a backlog of donated collections which have been hard to access until this space was cleared out.

We are also working with a grant-writing firm to secure a grant to have our collections and facilities surveyed by an archives consultant, to create a cohesive long term strategic plan for various aspects of our work with preservation, publication, and storage. Cross your fingers for us, and spread the good word.

We are also interested in creating a more active online exhibit using materials from the archives to enrich our web-users experience and to teach you all more about Henry Miller.  Currently, if you go to the “About Henry” section on the website you will see the brief chronology that Henry wrote with bullet points for each important year in his life.

Soon, this will be updated to include hyperlinks to relevant pre-existing web media relating to those that he mentioned, but the ultimate goal for this section is that it may become a bigger, better compendium of information relating to the archives with more visual, interesting pieces of information interspersed with his own words.

Additionally, an important goal of the summer is to web-publish our database, currently in the form of a File-Maker Pro database accessible only though a hard drive on site.  Stay tuned for these awesome internet-based improvements!  We’ll let you know what to check out and when!

As the summer approaches, we are gearing up for the arrival of another crew of amazing interns.

Stay tuned for introductions to them, as they are announced.  The internship at the library is different every year, and projects are tailored to the interns’ specific skill sets and interests – it is in this way that the internship differs from others (and, I’m sure you will agree, is far superior to others)

Each year our interns come with inspiration, select a project, create a series of goals and work to own and complete these projects.  The library is a living, breathing labor of love for the entire community and when we all work with passion and zeal (in a way that Henry Miller would be screamingly proud of), it is easily the most beautiful thing.  I hope you will excuse my superlatives and believe me.  I cannot wait to show you as we make strides in the summer of 2011!