Tim Sprattler, Interim School Archivist and Assistant Director of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, wants to make historical Andover documents available to the public. Following the retirement of former School Archivist Ruth Quattlebaum last spring, Sprattler has been serving as the Interim School Archivist while the school “reviews the position and [discusses] how to make the position exist,” he said. In order to publicize Andover-related materials, Sprattler uses Internet Archive, a free database available to anyone in Massachusetts. The Internet Archive has complete digital copies of books, and “is a way to access the book without taking [it] off a shelf,” Sprattler said. So far, Sprattler has scanned and enlarged “The Lord’s Prayer,” the smallest book in the OWHL, making it legible to the eye. He has also digitized a glass light collection as well as photographs of a former faculty’s trip to the Himalayas. Sprattler has also uploaded historical photographs including a picture of Bulfinch Hall, back from when it was called the Brick Academy, and a picture of the Abbot Academy’s annual ski trip to Intervale, New Hampshire. By posting the Abbot Academy class picture online, Sprattler hopes that alumni will recognize unidentified students over the Internet. Sprattler also has prior experience working in the archives. In addition to taking archives as a course in library school, Sprattler worked with immigrant city archives in Lawrence during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Moreover, for the past decade, Sprattler has served as a substitute for Quattlebaum whenever she was on vacation. As a rare book librarian, Sprattler discovered that most of the rare books and archives are “hidden up and locked away,” he said. “Just out of curiosity, I started going through and found [the archives] very interesting,” said Sprattler. “It was a matter of curiosity and time on my hands.” “Digital access makes reference service very different. Using [books such as] world almanacs and dictionaries online is quicker and is really more accessible,” said Sprattler. Another one of Sprattler’s projects is “catching up with the organization system.” “There was a formal structure and an informal structure when the archives was first established many many years ago, it was a formal numbering system given to a majority of the files,” said Sprattler. “But with the establishment of the vertical files, the system became less formal,” he added. The vertical files refer to a system in which newspaper clippings are organized in filing cabinets. In addition to reorganizing, Sprattler will be relocating various artifacts, which are currently scattered throughout the McLean Gallery, the fifth floor stacks and the attic of the OWHL, in addition to Abbot Campus. “Some [places] are very crowded and we have to [reconfigure] the ways in which the items are stored,” said Sprattler. Sprattler first decided to become a librarian after reading a book. While Sprattler worked at a bank, he read “What Color Is Your Parachute?” The book, Sprattler said, “was supposed to help you decide what you wanted to do with your life based upon things you like.” “After finishing all the extremely interesting exercises in that book, it turned out I should be a librarian instead of a banker,” said Sprattler. Sprattler then got his start working at the Lawrence Public Library and then at the library of Walter E. Fernald State School in Waltham, MA, an institution for children with developmental disabilities. From the Fernald State School, Sprattler began working as a night proctor at the OWHL twenty-five years ago. While working as a proctor, Sprattler applied for a vacant reference librarian position and was hired. Sprattler’s current duties include serving as the rare book librarian and head of technical services, in which he catalogs the books. The rare book collection consists of books that cost over $200 or books that do not have many available copies.
