{"id":4317,"date":"2023-06-07T09:46:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/?p=4317"},"modified":"2023-06-07T12:45:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T16:45:18","slug":"jazz-dogs-and-dense-lit-a-conversation-with-matt-mccoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/2023\/06\/jazz-dogs-and-dense-lit-a-conversation-with-matt-mccoy","title":{"rendered":"Jazz, Dogs, and Dense Lit: A Conversation with Matt McCoy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently had the privilege of sitting down for a talk with the newest member of the lab staff, Matt McCoy. Matt is a CPHL employee who comes to us from…well, I\u2019ll just let him tell it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

[edited for clarity<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyacinth<\/strong>: Alright, so first off, how did you come to be here in the lab?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt<\/strong>: I became aware of the lab at an open house; I think it was 2017 or 2018. I was working in Materials Retrieval downtown. I did the tour here, and I knew Cat [Catarina Figueirinhas, Assistant Conservator in the lab<\/em>] because she used to work in my department. My boss picked a couple of people to go to the open house, and I got to check it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was really cool, and I thought, \u2018this would be a cool place to work someday.\u2019 At the time, libraries were sort of just a side job for me. They\u2019ve become more of a focus, especially over the pandemic. I started an MLIS but decided not to continue with it after getting a taste for the public librarianship. I guess I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019ll never pick it back up again, but who knows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always kept an eye on job postings, and I saw this one, I think it was over winter break. At that pont I had been working as a customer service substitute for CHPL for about a year. <\/strong>Then I saw the job posting and it just it sort of was like they have an opening there; I feel like that was the first time I had ever seen an opening pop up when I was here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Yeah, it doesn’t happen often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: So I was like, you know what, I’m just going to apply for that. I was a little worried I’d missed my shot because I think it had been posted for a month or so. I had a friend who was staying with me over the holidays, and I applied for it the first day he was out, just kind of on a whim. Things just sort of fell into place from there, and here I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Well, you’ve been with us for nearly three weeks [at the time of the interview.<\/em>] How are you liking it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M: <\/strong>I love it so far. Even just the general collection stuff I’m doing so far, it\u2019s very interesting. There are hand skills, but since I\u2019m starting on general collections, it hasn\u2019t been super stressful. The days fly by really quickly. I really like improving skill sets, so just getting to go through the training and practice different things and assessing how\u2019d it go, what can I do better or what do I need more work on, that\u2019s been fun and satisfying to do. I\u2019m really liking that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You guys have all been great so far, real good staff to have around. Everybody\u2019s been really helpful and friendly. I\u2019ve felt very welcomed here from the start and it\u2019s been cool just getting to see all the stuff you guys have been working on, both at the open house but also the\u2026I guess the pre-return meeting? That\u2019s what it was, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Yeah. [nods<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, that was really cool to see too, and just get a feel for how things work with the special collection stuff, and how the process goes from an item first arriving, to you guys doing treatment on it, and then sending it on its way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: It’s a whole thing. We have a flow chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: [laughs<\/em>] I\u2019ve noticed that a couple of times, as I\u2019ve been leaving for the day, and think that I need to read that and then forget, and then I\u2019ll walk by it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: It\u2019s a lot of flow chart. I mean, you get the hang of it, but it\u2019s a lot of flow chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: And the flow of my life has been really nice since starting this job. It\u2019s a short commute, and the fact that the days go by quick. I feel like I never have enough time to\u2026I\u2019ll get into something and then I\u2019ll hear the [closing] announcements go on. I\u2019m like, \u2018shoot, I was just getting into this!\u2019 I was also a little worried, I wondered how much energy I\u2019d have at the end of the day, to work on music and whatnot, but it hasn\u2019t really been an issue so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s cool being on a college campus too. It\u2019s sort of lively. I know it\u2019s going to get more lively as we go along, but it\u2019s a lively place to work. And I like being around people, so that\u2019s been cool. It\u2019s also nice that it\u2019s not the place where I went to college. I don\u2019t feel like \u2018oh, shoot, back here again.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: So what\u2019s the most fun or interesting or fascinating thing you\u2019ve done in your training so far. I know it\u2019s going along really quick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I really like the \u2013 and I feel like it\u2019s probably the thing I\u2019ve had to work at the most \u2013 I like the hinge-in, doing hinge repairs. They\u2019re just very satisfying. It\u2019s either, you know, pages have fallen out of a book, or it\u2019s structurally compromised and then all of a sudden, oh look how nice! It\u2019s all nice and sturdy now, putting it back together, so I really like those. I enjoy any sewing I\u2019ve done so far too. Once it\u2019s all nice and tight and looking prim and proper, that\u2019s been pretty gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: It is very gratifying. And Jessica [Ebert, Sr. Conservation Specialist<\/em>] is a good person to learn it from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Absolutely! She\u2019s been a great teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Her sewing is fantastic. You\u2019ll never be as fast as her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: She really does just fly by!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Even I\u2019m not as fast as she is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah! And then I also like the tear repairs too. Those are nice, once everything\u2019s all dry and put together, it\u2019s like there we go, that looks nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: What are you looking forward to learning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Definitely down the road, but I\u2019m looking forward to getting into some of the special collection stuff. Getting to have a project. I mean, I have had a couple of projects that I\u2019ll start and finish up the next day, but I haven\u2019t had any long-term things. And I\u2019m sure it\u2019s different for every item, like I\u2019m not sure how long each of you spends on a particular treatment, but I\u2019m sure that there\u2019s some where there\u2019s a lot of different steps, seeing something throughout the whole process on a broad scale, that sort of thing. I think it\u2019d be neat to work on something like pieces of artwork or maps. I\u2019m also excited to get into any kind of bookbinding stuff, like the models you guys have made of different types of books. The more complex things like making a cover or something like\u2026I forget what it was, the sermon that Jessica worked on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: The split-board binding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I think that looks really cool, yeah. I always enjoy a well put-together book and that is a nice one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Well, I have found that there are two kinds of library people. There\u2019s the kind that\u2019s born and raised in the stacks \u2013 that was me, my family was into libraries from the time I was really little \u2013 or people who kind of stumble in one day and realize that it\u2019s great, and then they just never leave. Which kind are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I did go a little bit as a kid, sort of here and there. I remember would do summer reading. But then I got into my teenage years and early adulthood and didn\u2019t really utilize them that much. I think it was later in college that I started going to the downtown library because they had \u2013 this was before I got into the streaming music services \u2013 they had such a good jazz CD collection. I think it had been donated by a radio station that used to play a lot of jazz stuff, the Oscar Treadwell jazz collection. That\u2019s what got me into it. Then I thought this might be a cool place to work, and that\u2019s what led me here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: What sort of things do you like to read, and what are you reading right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Mostly fiction. Although I\u2019d like to read more nonfiction, I think sometimes reading is a nice sort of escape from reality. So I like reading fictional stories. I\u2019m reading this Cormac McCarthy book right now. It\u2019s the third part of a trilogy he has called the Border Trilogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Cormac McCarthy is so bleak!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Oh I know, that was the exact same reaction Holly [Prochaska, Preservation Librarian<\/em>] had!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Oh he\u2019s a wonderful writer. Just bleak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, he\u2019s great, one of my favorites. His prose is so beautiful, but the actual contents of the story is so dark and depressing sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: You read it and you gotta take a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, so I\u2019ve been chipping away at this one and afterward I\u2019m going to take a break. I\u2019ve also gone through phases where I\u2019m really into science fiction and kind of fantasy stuff sometimes. I think maybe when I get done with [the Cormac McCarthy], I\u2019ve been wanting to maybe start Dune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: I\u2019ve tried Dune like three times. It\u2019s so dense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: That\u2019s what I hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: It has a glossary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>:  I’m wondering if I can get into it or not because I was really into Tolkien. I did The Silmarillion a few years ago, and that was the only book where I\u2019ve had a little sheet that just had notes on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Then you\u2019ll probably be fine. I had an ex who read it. He loved it, but it was a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Some other favorite authors\u2026I like [Kazuo] Ishiguro a lot, probably one of my favorites, and Vonnegut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Vonnegut\u2019s great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I really like his sense of humor, it\u2019s very much up my alley. I also don\u2019t think I mentioned the name of the book that I\u2019m reading, the McCarthy one, it\u2019s called Cities of the Plain. The most famous of the trilogy is the first one, All the Pretty Horses, and then The Crossing, and this is the third one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Do you have a favorite book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Let me think\u2026I really love the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I could pick out a favorite of the movies, but not the books. I also liked Blood Meridian; I read Song of Solomon, a beautifully written book. I also enjoyed Never Let Me Go. That was Ishiguro, a really sad one, very beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: That was adapted into a film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I haven\u2019t seen the movie yet, and I think I started it one night but then\u2026I think I got worried. The story has such a high place in my head, it might live up to it. Sometimes for that reason if there\u2019s a movie version I\u2019ll watch it first and then read the book. But yes, those are a few of my favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: So you are a jazz musician. What led you to that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: That’s a good question and kind of similar to what you’re saying about how there’s like kind of two types of people who get led into libraries. I found there’s sort of like two kinds of a paths that lead people into jazz, and I was kind of in the middle of it. It’s usually either band kids in high school \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: [raises hand<\/em>] I was a band kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: – they get into it, but then also it’s also people that like the hippie Grateful Dead sort of jam bands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: I like those too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: That\u2019s how they get into it, more improvised music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: It\u2019s very technical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, so that kind of start it for me. I started playing electric bass when I was probably 14 or 15. I got really into it, I wanted to learn everything I could about it. And then I started learning about all these jazz musicians and hearing some good bass players. You check a record out and that led me down that path. I had a lesson teacher, and he pitched the idea of going to school for music. There\u2019s a couple of programs where you can do what they call commercial music, if you want to study music in college, a jazz or classical degree. I thought, \u2018Oh yeah, I wouldn\u2019t mind going to school for a jazz degree\u2019. Through that I got really immersed in the jazz world and fell in love with it and have been doing that ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: So not the Miles Davis route, starting with classical and hanging out in jazz clubs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of people who do that, it\u2019s funny. I feel like a lot of the famous acts were classical musicians who kind of got into jazz, which is also cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: What other musical genres do you listen to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: It\u2019s kind of all over the place. I like a lot of hip-hop, the current modern stuff and some more classic stuff too. I like folk music and I play in a folk band, although we\u2019re kind of losing momentum right now. Everybody in the band other than me keeps having kids, which make rehearsing a little difficult. But I grew up in the time where the pop punk emo thing was real big, so I will always have a soft spot for that in my catalog. Usually if I like something, I\u2019ll just save it. I was listening to Bob Marley recently; I mean, everybody knows he\u2019s great, but I couldn\u2019t remember the last time I just sat down and listened to him. So, a pretty wide range of stuff, but there\u2019s a few things I gravitate towards. I will end up listening to indie rock and folk more than other genres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Is there a piece of music that you\u2019re obsessed with at the moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: That\u2019s a good question. Let me look here and see if something stands out. [He flips through his phone briefly.<\/em>] There is a Gregory Allen song called Dark Dark Dark that I really like. I\u2019m going to go with that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Do you have any other hobbies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I like going to the gym, although I can sometimes kind of slack on that. I feel like lately my life has just been a lot of music stuff and this job and I haven’t been doing too much else, but I really do like being outside, just hiking and stuff. I want to go camping more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: We\u2019ve had good weather for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Absolutely! I also like traveling. I mean, everybody does, but you know, I like getting out to see stuff. Other than that, I\u2019m somewhat into movies, TV shows, nothing super wild at the moment though. I have a bunch of hobbies that I\u2019ve been meaning to get to, that I want to give a shot. I just never seem to find the time for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: I know you\u2019re a coffee guy, you come in with one every morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: [laughs<\/em>] Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: So instead, Coke or Pepsi?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I would say Coke over Pepsi. Not that I have anything against Pepsi! In terms of cherry cola I used to like Wild Cherry Pepsi better, although I feel like I never see it around anymore. But yeah, I would say Coke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Do you have a favorite movie or movie genre?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I really like science fiction movies. That’s maybe my favorite genre. And I\u2019m going to Cormac McCarthy again, but I really like No Country For Old Men. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, that Wes Anderson movie, that\u2019s up there. As far as sci-fi goes, I liked Arrival; it really stood out to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: What is your favorite time of year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Fall, especially living around here. We have all the leaves changing, and the temperature is nice and not too humid. You can still go outside and do stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Do you have any pets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I have a dog named Baby Redbone. He\u2019s a rescue. A significant other and I found him living on the street. We lived in Northside at the time and we used to take our other dogs out together. There was a school that has since been turned into apartment complex, it was abandoned at the time and we used to run with the dogs and wear them out real quick. One day he was just sort of back there. We initially weren\u2019t going to keep him. She mentioned that he was just a baby, so we were calling him Baby. We thought maybe he was a Redbone coonhound because he\u2019s got this real reddish coat, like he\u2019s definitely part pitbull. So the name just kind of stuck. When we parted ways, she kept the other dogs, and I kept him. We weren\u2019t having any luck finding anyone to take him from us. People don\u2019t like having dogs sprung on them! He\u2019s a decent-sized dog, 63 pounds or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Yeah, we have a pit\/rot mix and he\u2019s like 100 and he\u2019s so much dog, but just the sweetest thing I\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Oh goodness, yeah. They\u2019re so sweet. My theory is [pits] are very trainable and receptive to things, so if somebody has bad intentions with them, they can get them to be mean, and if someone has good intentions, they can get them to be sweet too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: I find that they often work best when they\u2019re mixed with something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: Yeah, totally. You\u2019ll have to show me pictures of your dog at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: And finally, can you leave us with a random fun fact about yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: I haven’t tried this in a while, but I feel like I could still do it, but  when I was in elementary school we had an after school program, a unicycle club where our gym teacher trained us all up to ride unicycles, and we rode in parades and stuff. So I guess my fun fact would be that I can ride a unicycle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: That is a very fun fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M<\/strong>: It’s been a little bit since I’ve tried it. Somebody had one at a party awhile ago and I tried. It still worked. I feel like my body would remember how to balance like just sort of like a bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>: Very cool. Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Matt as much as I did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyacinth Tucker [UCL] – Conservation Technician & Bindery Processor<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently had the privilege of sitting down for a talk with the newest member of the lab staff, Matt McCoy. Matt is a CPHL employee who comes to us from…well, I\u2019ll just let him tell it. [edited for clarity] Hyacinth: Alright, so first off, how did you come to be here in the lab? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[458,1],"tags":[59,156,649],"class_list":["post-4317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-outreach","category-uncategorized","tag-cincinnati-and-hamilton-county-public-library","tag-hyacinth-tucker","tag-new-staff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4321,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4317\/revisions\/4321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/thepreservationlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}