The North Carolina Room has always had a visibility problem, even when it was on the main floor across from what used to be the Reference Desk. Staff and Board members of the Friends of the North Carolina Room decided to put a window wrap on the front corner of Pack Memorial Library at street level on Haywood Street as a way to help people know we are here. The Friends of the North Carolina Room paid for the wrap. It was made for us by Henco Reprographics at 54 Broadway. Henco’s does all of the North Carolina Room’s oversize printing. You can order a high resolution historical image from our collection for just $5.00/image and take it to Henco’s for printing to hang in your business, home or office. Browse our website at ncroom.buncombecounty.org.
While gussying up the place we added a 12′ by 3′ copy of a 1910 Herbert Pelton panorama on the main floor at Pack as you walk in on the left, as you walk towards the Friends’ used book store, Book Ends. Again, Henco Reprographics came to the rescue and did an amazing job creating this exhibit piece. NC Room staff Ione Whitlock spent many hours preparing the original for enlargement. Much appreciation to the Friends of Pack Memorial Library for paying for this project.
Setting up and cutting in library hallway.
Up she goes for an exact measurement. Made of Dibond, a durable aluminum composite, the material bends without breaking.
Attaching to bolts.
Finished project. The size of the work on the wall makes you feel like you are standing right there.
Digital image of the original Herbert W. Pelton photo of Pack Sq, from the north centered on the Vance Monument. Many pedestrians and vehicles, streetcars, wagons, and one automobile, 1910. You can tell from this original image what amount of work Ione put into retouching. B440-xx
If you’ve read that Pack Square was always segregated, come into Pack and take a good look at this photo. In the far right corner you will see a good mix of white and black, and both black and white citizens appearing in dress from upper class to lower class. And, in true Asheville fashion, note the woman with her little dog at far left.
If you haven’t visited the North Carolina Room, please come see us and we’ll show you what kinds of things we have in our collection. That includes over 12,000 photographs, not including photograph albums, over 4,000 postcards, a map collection, thousands of architectural drawings, the Thomas Wolfe Collection and a manuscript collection documenting Buncombe County’s families, businesses, churches, schools, and organizations. And more! And, if you do know about our collection, tell your friends or bring them along with you the next time you visit.
Special thanks to Julie Niwinski, previous Head of Adult Services of Pack Memorial Library, for the simple, perfect concept on the window wrap and for her help in implementation and advice on both of these projects.
Post by Zoe Rhine, Librarian North Carolina Room.
