The chapter starts with a quote of definition “A hospital is a hospital. A library is a library. A rose is a rose.” and goes on to state that a museums is braoder encompassing. But from here I wonder, when is a library a museum? Or say, a section of MIT? In my hometown, the public library has on display artifacts from the history of technology developed at Bell Labs, such as a vintage phone booth and display cases of a phonograph. Just down the street is the old Nokia offices where I had a college interview that has the second-ever laser built in a display case in the lobby surrounded by other signals-related artifacts. A part of MIT has a small collection of naval models, often behind gates after hours.

Are museums about removal from the source? The chapter also dicusses ancient Greece and Rome having temples and libraries of objects used in daily life that we now put to display in museums and store in archival warehouses. It also struck me about the aspects of privilege and vanity in museum curations. Discussion of private collection as a “hoard” and the earnest accumulation to collect by the museums feels almost predatory. In the past, the people who would have these collections and contribute were the privilieged who could afford to have that space and pursue naturalist or collector endeavors. I took a short look into the Harvard Herbaria and related libraries for another class and it’s notable how many samples from before modern times came from Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard because that’s where the rich people went on vacation. Another discussed example is Benjamin Ives Gilman, secretary of the MFA, wanting interpreters for art museums rather than to leave it up to the patron. In some ways, this feels patronizing that the common public wouldn’t be able to enjoy a collection as it was “intended”. Understandable are the concerns for preservation for public consumption, but a central question to ask about museums is “who is this really for?”

(And maybe, would it really be so bad if museums were more attended than sporting events?)