An Idiot's Guide to the Biblioteca Nacional

I'm trying to let go of the fact that today, yet again, so much was confusing and frustrating, and I wasn't able to accomplish very much. So, I'll tell you all how one goes about beginning work at the Biblioteca Nacional, because it has taken me two visits to figure this out.

A grand place to go to work for the day

First things first - obtain a reader or researcher card. This gives you access to the library, the reading room, the collections, etc. It requires that you bring your passport and some letters of introduction. Then you fill out a lot of forms, they take pictures and copies and get you in their system, and then you're good to go for the next five years.

Once you're through the door, and through the security, and the second set of security, they give you a bright lector sticker to wear for the day:

Then you proceed to check all your belongings before you enter the library proper. There's a coat check, or lockers. You can't bring in backpacks or coats or ANYTHING except a few research supplies (in my case a pencil, my laptop and its cord, a mouse, and my wallet) which you can carry in using a "bolso plastico." So you're not sneaking in anything they can't see, I guess. There's less security at the White House, I'm certain. 

The next step, after having your bag inspected, is getting your computer checked in. It needs a badge and ID sticker too, obviously. They stick a permanent barcode onto your laptop, and scan it every time you come in, and then again when you leave. The code is linked to your account, so no one else can walk out the door with your laptop. This allows researchers to leave their laptops at their work stations when they go pick up delivered books or take lunch breaks at the cafeteria. People trust this pretty strongly here. I saw plenty of people just leave all their stuff at their station and go have coffee and come back later with it all safe and sound where they left it. I was wary but did it too at lunch time, and everything was fine! Lunch was terrible, but that's another story...

Then onto the Sala de Lectura! But first, you stop at another station. Outside the sala you present your card to get an assigned work space in the reading room. All the desks are numbered. 

Then, finally, congrats! You're in the reading room, ready to research!!! Sign onto the internet, which isn't too hard, and start browsing the collection! But first, enjoy the views. It's the kind of place that just inspires academic thought. 

But, the books aren't here. You can't browse the stacks. So, you need to learn where the books are, how to search for them in the catalogue program, whether what you've found is available to you, and when you can get your hands on it. There are a number of places they might be. Some areas they can fetch a book from in under 45 minutes. Other places, maybe a day or two. So when you want a book you have to fill out a request. There are a variety of colored request forms corresponding to each of the book storage locations. This took me awhile to figure out. Pink ones are used for books nearby, the blue ones are for books at Sede de Alcalá de Henares, and so forth. So you search, you find a book, you find out where it is, you find out the call number, you fill out the form, and then you wait for them to bring it to you. You can only have a certain number of books out at a time, and you can only consult them in the library. No lending here at the BN. 

Then, you go back to your desk and work for awhile. When they've located your book and it has arrived at the circulation desk, a red light will illuminate on your desk, and that's how you know to go pick it up! If you've already left they'll hold it at circulation for you for a few days. You can also request stuff ahead of time, so it might be waiting for you when you return the next day, but I don't know how that works yet. And then if you need to copy something, oy, that's another thing to learn another day. 

That's the procedure as I've figured it out so far... Now this is all in theory, because after two visits to the BN  I still haven't managed to see a dang book. I have high hopes to request one tomorrow. *sigh. So much prep work. I'm trying to look at today as valuable learning and preparation, rather than a day where I wasn't productive. I know productivity is measured in different ways. This whole first week has been laying a lot of groundwork, and hopefully that will pay off soon. I am so focused on my short term goals for this trip that I forget that I'm gaining an understanding of research abroad that I'm going to need to draw upon again and again the rest of my career.

It was an exhausting day, not helped by the fact that I did not enjoy my lunch at the cafeteria (another confusing room with its own procedures!) and I got lost and missed the GSA meeting with the other SLU grad students on campus later that day. :-(
 All that futile effort is how a day starts bright and sparkly, and ends in a frazzled, exhausted mess:

But I have a cure. Chocolate and Wine, enjoyed while watching some humorous television before bed. Bought myself some comfort food at the cute little grocery store on campus. So I'm going to enjoy my treats, and say a few prayers to St. Isidore of Seville, patron saint of the internet and statue guard of the library, that tomorrow some actual research begins!

St. Isidore, hear my research prayers!