Idiot's Guide to the BN - Part Two! (with bonus appendices)

Yesterday at the library went MUCH more smoothly.

First things first, in your first days at the BNE, be sure not to miss the noon tour. 

I was there in the morning, and was able to catch the noon tour yesterday. Their "15 minute introduction" to the library was actually a private 45 minute tour! The circulation desk librarian took me all over and explained each room in rapid, detailed, whispered Spanish. Honestly, I only understood maybe 30 to 40% of what he said at any given time, but I always got the gist of whatever he was talking about and congratulated myself for that much. After awhile I was glad I'd missed it yesterday and had to do all that reading figuring things out for myself, because otherwise I would have had NO idea what he was talking about. I felt my heart jump up into my throat with excitement when he took me in the Cervantes room (that's their manuscript room) - I so hope I have a reason to use it!! I feel much more comfortable with the layout and workings of this library now.

After my tour, it was nearly one, and I needed a break from concentrating so hard on the spoken Spanish tour. Got a coffee to perk me up and get me ready for... get this... ACTUAL RESEARCH. It was a delicious cup of coffee. Spain really values taking multiple breaks for food and beverages in the day. At first I thought this was lazy and slow. But I do work better when warm, full, and somewhat caffeinated, so honestly this is probably a really good system for me. 

Then I went upstairs to get started.

So. When you're ready to begin working, you go to circulation, and there you trade your library ID card for a pink desk card. It has a big number on it which is your desk assignment, and basically your new identity. You take it over to the map on the wall outside the Sala de Lectura, and figure out where your desk for the day will be. Today I was in 217. It is important to hang onto that card for dear life, as you need it to request books, get in and out of the Sala, and get your ID back at the end of the day. 

I had a good feeling about today...

I was seated right under Ramon de Penyafort - that felt like good luck for the day! And it was!

You're seated, comfortable, figured out how to turn the desk light on, and ready to work! Next, get on the internet, search the catalogue, and find a book you want to see. If it's in the Recoletos collection, congrats, it's right here in the BN and not at another storage facility. Fill out a pink card, and you'll have the book in under 45 minutes. 

There's one! 

I decided to start with a biography of Marti I had a hard time getting at home last semester.

The desk told me I filled it out perfectly. YES. GIMME THIS BOOK!

HAH. Wait. Just kidding. Be sure you're not trying to request a book during siesta hours, because they close the whole system until 3pm. Research foiled again! You win this round, Spain.

Go have lunch - there's really nothing else to do right now.

Be brave at lunch. See Appendix A for a guide to the Cafeteria.

After 3pm, celebrate, because work begins again! 

I turned in my card to the circulation desk, and returned to my seat to wait for my book. They say half an hour to 45 minutes, but my book was ready in under 20! Omg. I was never so excited to see a blinking red light before.

My first book!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!! I spent the next few hours, as it slowly got dark in the BN Sala de Lectura as the sun set, trudging through the Spanish and taking careful notes. However, I read Spanish at a very slow rate, and by the end of the day, when it was dark in the library and I felt like this...

...it was time to call it a day. A productive day. Finally! But I hadn't finished reading this book. 

Thankfully, although you can't take books home from the BN, you don't have to request them all over again the next day. You can leave them at the circulation desk on reserve - yay! 

To reserve a book for use in the near future, you fill out a white form.

Your book then goes into one of these red boxes by the circulation desk. You take a copy of the white form home, and when you return, you present it again to retrieve your book.

And thusly, one conducts research at the BN!

Stop to admire the awesome lamps before you leave

Goodnight, Biblioteca Nacional!!!!

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Appendix A

An Idiot's guide to the BN Cafeteria. 

You will need: About ten euros (I think lunch is 8.25), an understanding that Spanish lunch has two courses, and either (1) a working vocabulary of Spanish menu words, or (2) an adventurous attitude towards picking mystery courses. (I chose the later. Today it worked out fine.)

First you pay for lunch, and get a lunch ticket to trade for food. If you want a personal receipt to keep, you need to ask for one specifically. 

 I miss dollar bills - coins are heavy!

Then you go along the lunch buffet, and pick out two courses, bread, fruit, a dessert, and a drink. I recommend skipping dessert - Spanish desserts are just terrible. It's a shame when fruit is sweeter than all the desserts combined.

My two courses!

If you get fish, beware!!!!!!! It may be full of bones. If it is, you're in for an adventure.

I've never been so proud of myself. Look at all those bones I managed not to swallow!

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Appendix B

An Idiot's guide to dressing for the BN.

You're a young researcher, and you're in a fancy library, you want to look good, right? Well there's some practical things to consider. If it's a cold day, no amount of heat is going to be able to fill a giant Sala lit by massive amounts of windows. Wear warm layers, and bring a scarf that will double as a shawl/blanket.

Also, I don't know WHAT their floors are made of, but if your shoes have rubber soles, they will squeak. Now, I can't begin to make you understand HOW LOUD or HOW MUCH they will squeak. It is absurdly comical, and the noise echoes everywhere. So awkward! Hah!