On March 28, my third day as a CHILI intern, I shadowed Sarah Burge who works in preservation. My experience was great and I learned a great deal about old books and works of art. I also learned interesting facts about the preservation of books. While shadowing Sarah, I learned about her life long passion for art and book preservation which led her to her dream job at the Yale Medical School Library.

It was also amazing to see the transformations of medical theories and information over long periods of time. The recordings of medical breakthroughs and old hygenic posters were very interesting and I was also able to see the impact of the Industrial revolution of the United States on the medical books. The older books in the library were carefully and intricately made, while the books produced during industrialization were flimsy and were produced quickly in large quantities. As a result, the older books are able to withstand the conditions of the library much better than the more modern books. Sarah's job is very demanding considering that she not only controls the environment of the books, but she also checks the condition of the thousands of books in the library. Although her job is demanding she finds it extremely rewarding to see the conditions of the books improve as a result of her work.

My first week as a CHILI intern was great and I look forward to the next two weeks.