Schomburg Library

Last summer I interned at a film company in Harlem (Firelight Films), where I helped them both with organizing photos and researching. I was often asked to go to the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center, which was located just a few blocks away from the offices. Here, I was often asked to look at old Newspapers (such as the Philadelphia Enquirer and the Chicago Press) to find articles pertaining to Jesse Owens, the subject of the company's latest documentary.

I would often have to use the Microform Machines to print out these articles, and I wouldn't exactly describe it as fun. Nearly every time I found an article I wanted, the page came out illegible. Even more frequently, I needed to do two print jobs to receive a full-page. Charging 35 cents a page, this could have been a costly endeavor if the librarians weren't thoughtful enough to reimburse me each time I had a problem with what I had printed.

Near the end of my time working at Firelight, I told the librarians that maybe they should look into either putting out better machines or writing better guidelines. Sadly, I returned to the library yesterday and still found the machines weren't to my liking. While more recent papers (such as the New York Times) I was able to print out with little to no issue, I had problems with older, more obscure papers (i.e. Cleveland Gazzete). Although I don't quite think this was the fault of the machines, as the microfilms were in bad condition due to their age.