A librarian’s work is never done. As AFS’s de facto Lead Archivist, Toni Vahlsing (director of libraries) has long loved to steep herself in the school’s rich history available in the Faulkner Library’s Archive Room. This past summer, Toni visited the Park Archives and Record Center at the Presidio in San Francisco, among the most visited U.S. National Historic Landmark, to learn more about how they conduct their work and see what she could take away to bring to AFS.
Why the Presidio? Sometimes, an opportunity is too good to pass up. Toni’s spouse was visiting San Francisco for a conference, and she knew that it would give her some time to look into some fascinating archives on the west coast. “The archivist there gave me some of her time to talk about archiving in general and how they store things at the Presidio,” says Toni. In addition to an impressive physical collection spanning from the Spanish exploration and colonization of San Francisco to the present day, the Presidio also has a fantastic digital record on their website that details everything you could find in-person.
If memory serves… With 328 years of history to keep up with, and an entire library to manage, Toni has her work cut out for her. Part of what she likes to do by visiting other archives is to see how their systems work to bring useful parts back to school. “I learned about ways to store architectural drawings that I plan to work on next summer,” says Toni. “The Presidio also had an interesting binder system for their most commonly asked questions.”
What is old is new again. Part of what has drawn Toni to archival work is the way we can rediscover parts of our history. While information nowadays can feel like it is always at our fingertips, it still requires active curation and cultivation to sort the wheat from the chaff. “I keep finding interesting nuggets of information from working with our older materials,” says Toni. “I love doing the research, but also like learning about AFS history as I help to preserve what we have. For example, it was great to be able to help Nicole Hood [Head of School] learn more about Beverly Floyd Johnson so she could speak about her at the convocation.”
The rest is history. What about the rest of her trip to San Francisco? Well, she obviously had to scope out the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library. “They have an amazing teen space there that is pretty unique,” says Toni. “Plus, it’s a lot of fun to talk to other librarians.”