826Bob Dylan

Posted on October 08, 2006 by Allison Milligan

"We don't usually make interns clean but..." So this is how my time at 826NYC started. Scott and I ventured out to Staples, some cleaning supply store, and then grabbed a car to the Williamsburg library. On the way I had little idea of where I was going and little idea of who I was with, but was fully aware that I wherever we were headed was a) extremely messy and dirty b) hasn't been used for months and may or may not have been broken into and c) contains a conspiracy theorist's vault. When descended into the depths of the Williamsburg Public Library, I was surprised - it was pleasant down there. Yes, it was a little dirty, but nothing our new slick new lime Swifer Wet Mop couldn't handle.

Yes, the markers, colored pencils, and crayons were disordered, some broken, some bleeding, some already bled dry. But it was nothing a couple coffee thermoses couldn't organize. And yes, there was a vault - clear of theorists for the time being. Perhaps the most unexpected and perplexing facet of the Williamsburg library basement was the plethora of Bob Dylan memorabilia. Dylan and Baez in homey picture frames, several copies of Dylan's Chronicles, a collage typically reserved for "hot-guy" teen-magazine cutouts but curiously only featuring Bob. While this struck me as strange, I couldn't help but imagine happy students down there - a space full of books, vaults, and Dylan seems to me like an okay place to learn.