Hunger Games and the Harvard Library Transition

I had echoes of deja vu seeing the movie The Hunger games this weekend. The movie was a brutal depiction of the struggle for limited resources imposed on the working class by the ruling class. It reminded me of the labor movement in general, and the Harvard Library Transition in particular.

In a pivotal scene, that had eerie similarities to the infamous January Town Hall Meeting, where layoffs of an unspecified number of library staff were announced, the villagers gather for the lottery selection for the Tributes, a fight to the death in a virtual world controlled by the capitol where there can be only one survivor. Effie, a garishly dressed representative of the capitol tells the populace what an honor it is to be selected to represent their district in the tributes. She, much like the Transition Leaders, seems callously oblivious to the pain she is causing in contrast to the villagers whose dread at the prospect of being selected or losing a family to the annual bloodbath is palpable. A young child, Primrose Everdeen is selected. Katniss Everdeen in a display of extreme altruism steps forward to take her sister's place. Along with her, Peeta, the baker's son who earlier tossed a loaf of bread in her direction is also selected. The lower and middle class, managers and support staff are thrown into the same pot of stew!

Granted, though what's at stake here is a loss of livelihood, not loss of life, the similarities between the Hunger Games and the the Library Transition are startling. Katniss and Peeta travel in grand style by train to the capitol. Their host Effie urges them to enjoy two weeks of living and eating in lavish splendor, much like the transition site's stress alleviating profferings of chair massage and "chair yoga for librarians." They will also undergo mandatory training in martial arts and weight lifting while preparing for the fight to the death, much like the recommended resume and skills assessment workshops in preparation for the announced staff reductions. Kind-hearted, if cynical, mentors Cinna and Haymitch, like our workshop leaders advise the participants on strategy to survive, one piece of advice being, "you must be liked." All of their sage advice could be packaged in a workshop with the same title as our transition workshop: "Charting Your Course Through Turbulent Times." The capitol is ensuring that the ruling class will be entertained by the life and death struggle of the working class. As the participants are paraded in their costumes, and interviewed by a freakish talk show host, a sense of the surreal, rivaled only by the Transition Team's poker strategy night, and the upcoming Oxford style debate on the obsolescence of libraries (followed by gin and tonics), rises within me. The battle in the Hunger Games will be monitored and controlled by the capitol and broadcasted to all 12 districts.

Early alliances are formed, even though there can be only one survivor. Katniss strikes out on her own, avoiding even Peeta from her district and tries to survive without killing anyone. Peeta has joined a group that is seeking to kill her. As the participants are killed off their images appear on the dome of the virtual world along with their district number. Rioting breaks out in the various districts as their representatives and family members die. To appease the populace and distract them from their distress, the capitol changes the rules of the game and announces there can be two survivors, but they must be from the same district. Katniss seeks out Peeta, now that it is in both of their interests to survive. Together they fight off the last participants when the capitol changes the rules again announcing there can be only one survivor.

You will have to see the movie to find out the end of the Hunger Games story! We will have to wait much longer to find out what's really in store for the Harvard Library and its workers.

Historic Research on Three New GSD Houses 40 & 42 Kirkland St., and 20 Sumner Rd.

One of the things that drew me to the city of Boston, and ultimately to my profession as a librarian was my deep love of history and historical architecture. The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University recently purchased three lovely old homes on the corner of Kirkland St. and Sumner Rd. to expand space for their programs. Staff were offered a tour of these new properties while they were under the process of renovation. On the tour our guide, the head of Building Services said they had researched the properties, and they were not able to find the original owners of the properties, but that they had most recently been purchased from a seminary.

I asked our guide why he didn't come to the library. He said they had already consulted the Cambridge Historical Commission and they were unable to find the information. I was intrigued and inspired to do the research myself. I first checked an invaluable resource for information on any Cambridge building or structure:

Hail, Christopher. Cambridge buildings and architects / by Christopher Hail.

Published: Cambridge, Mass. : [C. Hail], 2001.

Online version: http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/refshelf/cba/

Link to HOLLIS record for the online version of this book

http://hollis.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|008837681


SUMNER ROAD through street 1838
.....1838 laid out 1717 Cambridge St -- 40 Kirkland St & named
Sumner Street; named for Sumner Wm Hyslop
.....1906 changed to Sumner Road
•20 house 2�-st 1923
.....1923 house permit 24072 20 (o) McClane W D rev (b) Cormier [D T]
.....1930 Bromley atlas

•40 house 2�-st 1887
.....1887 house : foundation permit 853 c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
(a) Rand & Taylor
.....1888 house tax new w1 kirkland c sumner (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas

•42 house 4-st 1892
.....1892 house flat roof 3-st permit 3375 (o) Brewster Wm A (b)
Crowley John
..........house [mansard] tax cellar w1 (o) Brewster Wm A
.....1894 Bromley atlas
.....1928 •garage permit 30302 42 (o) Cronin Agnes B (b) Priggen
steel garage

Life dates and proximity to Harvard suggest William Brewster is most
likely the ornithologist who worked at Harvard as the curator to birds
and mammals at the Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1885 until his death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brewster_%28ornithologist%29
William Brewster (ornithologist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Brewster (July 5, 1851 – July 11, 1919) was an American
ornithologist.[1] He was the curator of birds at the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard University from 1885 until his
death.[1] He was the co-founder, with Elliott Coues and Joel Asaph
Allen, of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1883.[2] He wrote
Birds of the Cape Regions of Lower California (1902) and Birds of the
Cambridge Region of Massachusetts (1906).
[edit] References
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
William Brewster

Authors: Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee), 1850-1930.
Title: In memoriam: William Brewster. Born July 5, 1851 - Died
July 11, 1919.
In: Auk. 1920. 37. 1-32. pl. 1-2.

^ a b Emmet, Alan (November–December 2007). "William Brewster,
Brief life of a bird-lover: 1851-1919". Harvard Magazine 110 (2).
^ Orr, Oliver H (1992). Saving American birds: T. Gilbert Pearson
and the founding of the Audubon movement. University Press of Florida.
p. 22. ISBN 9780813011295.


There are several works listed in HOLLIS by and about the owner of the two Kirkland properties, William Brewster. I didn't find any information on W.D. McClane, owner of the Sumner Rd.
property, but it could probably be found in the archives of one of the
local churches.