Jenny, from the Miami Dade College Library, has an interest in museum libraries. During my meeting with her, I asked her to recommend a museum library and she recommended the Morikami Museum. My third visit was to The Donald B. Gordon Library inside the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. I chose this library because I thought it would be a different experience and it was. The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is located at 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach, Florida. They are open Tuesday thru Sunday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. George Sukeji Morikami was part of the Yamato farming colony that lived in Boca in 1904. Mr. Morikami donated the land to the city of Palm Beach County in hopes that one day it would become park to preserve the memory of the pioneering Yamato Colony. In 1977, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens became a center for Japanese culture.
I had the pleasure to speak to the volunteer librarian. He was very friendly and willing to sit with me and answer as many questions as he could. He has volunteered at the museum for over 20 years now.Only one volunteer works in the library at a time. There is a curator that manages the collection. The park and library are owned by Palm Beach County. The Donald B. Gordon Library is a reference only library which holds 7,000 volumes on a variety of Japanese and Chinese topics. The books and magazines are owned by The Morikami Inc., a private not-for-profitorganization. But if that company were to go out of business the books automatically belong to Palm Beach County.
The library has between 50 and 75 visitors a day. Very few local residents visit the library. Most patrons are college students or tourist. Some patrons visit for months at a time to study learn about Japan before traveling there. Patrons visit to learn about Japanese culture, pottery, gardening, art, architecture, industry, drama, travel, history, and religion. There is a small section with a rare collection of books which is kept behind a glass. This collection included books about Japan’s history, myths and legends, and art. The books were very old and falling apart. There is a small children’s section as well. I took a few minutes to read a Japanese fairy tale and a folk tale. Both books were written in English and one had the Japanese translation of the story along the bottom. Both stories were very entertaining.
Information on The Morikami Museum can be found on their website, Facebook page, Twitter,YouTube, and Flicker.
The Morikami Museum website: http://www.morikami.org
I had a great experience visiting the library,museum and gardens. Jenny also recommended the Ringling Brother’s Museum Library. That library is also a reference only library. I look forward to visiting more museum libraries in the future. I would definitely consider working in a this type of library or maybe volunteering after I retire.
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