One of the librarians showed me the secret room in the library if I’d write something about it. There is a secret room in the ceiling of VTC’s Hartness Library. You turn a key in a keyhole in a brick wall and a staircase descends from the ceiling with a great rumbling. Climing the stairs gets you into a disused room that used to be the bindery area but is now just used for storing shelves and old Eames chairs. It’s an odd and noisy room since it’s right next to the room where all the HVAC equipment is. They don’t use the room anymore because of ADA requirements and because it’s darned complicated to get into and out of when the library is open. I’ll add this freaky little room to my list of library attics and basements that I’ve been compiling. Places that don’t have elevators, places that are inaccessible or otherwise tough to get into. Thanks, Ben, for showing me another one. Here’s the list I can put together off the top of my head so far.
- Entering the sub-basement at Colorado College.
- Rubber stamps in the University of Alabama library basement (there was also a printing press)
- The stairs to the room upstairs from the Bradford (VT) library
- The Calef Library basement in Washington Vermont
- Old card catalogs at the Library of Congress
- Not quite on topic but the secret door [art piece, not functional to go someplace secret] at the San Jose State library is pretty nifty.