I've spent many happy hours at the state Cultural Center in the Archives reading room, and I have great interest in protecting our collection. Unfortunately, the handling of state archivist Fred Armstrong's dismissal has created an adversarial atmosphere between those who have proposed a gift shop and café and others.

It is my fervent hope that this can be overcome and that some compromise may be reached that is to the betterment of the facility.

On Jan. 14, Commissioner of Culture and History Randall Reid-Smith appeared before the Senate Government Organization Committee to give an update. He cited the Charters Café at the National Archives as an example of the successful combination of archival materials and food. He did not point out, however, that the café is in the basement, and the vaults where records are stored are on the 12th floor.

"Vaults" is the key word here, as the Cultural Center does not have them. Surely any money would be better spent on security updates to protect our collection rather than a café. This is especially true when one considers the $3.7 million cafeteria just completed in the Capitol basement. Hungry visitors will likely want to visit the Capitol building, if only to see the dazzling chandelier in the Rotunda. That sight is worth a few hundred yards of walking.

The initial plans included merging the Archives reading room with the Library Commission's lending library, and it is unclear if this is still being considered. This idea threatens the security of our archival documents.

I have communicated with Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, a preservation specialist with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, who wrote "Protecting Your Collections: A Manual of Archival Security." On Aug. 4, 2006, he was elected a fellow of the Society of American Archivists for coordinating efforts to salvage records and other cultural resources after Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita.

I believe this man when he states in a letter to me, "Even in public libraries where lending and customer service are paramount, the local history collections are usually always kept in a separate room that is locked most of the time." Such is the case at the South Charleston Public Library, where materials are in a glass-enclosed, locked room. Patrons must show their library card and sign in to enter, and materials from the room may not be checked out.

Mr. Trinkaus-Randall goes on to say, "Lending libraries and archives should not be merged. Therefore, I would strongly advise against this consolidation of the two functions."

His comments on the addition of a café indicate that it has been done successfully in a number of public libraries, but it is "crucial that EVERYONE know that the food and drink purchased in the café ONLY be consumed in the café and that this be strictly enforced. Otherwise, there will be a slow relaxing of rules and the food and drink will end up in peoples' offices and maybe eventually in the reading room. This is another reason NOT to merge the two reading rooms."

Commissioner Reid-Smith said that archivists have been consulted on the matter, but did not say who they were. He offered an alternative plan involving the addition of an atrium to the outside of the building to house the gift shop and café. My solution would be to put the gift shop in the basement at the end of the museum tour and scrap the café plans altogether.

Nothing in my resume makes me an expert on archival security and preservation, but I understand why archives and food and the heat, humidity and pests that follow food are not a good mix. I'm just a sixth generation West Virginian, descended from a surveyor, a tanner, a baker and postman, an innkeeper, a stagecoach agent, housewives, farmers, Rebels, Yankees and outlaws. I found all of them at the West Virginia State Archives.

Senate Bill 328 and House Bill 4126, aimed at protecting our state's irreplaceable historical documents, have been introduced. I hope that my fellow West Virginians go to the Legislature's Web site, www.

legis.state.wv.us, read the bills and contact Gov. Manchin and their legislators to let them know that they, too, recognize the value of our state's history.

Sodaro lives in South Charleston.

I've spent many happy hours at the state Cultural Center in the Archives reading room, and I have great interest in protecting our collection. Unfortunately, the handling of state archivist Fred Armstrong's dismissal has created an adversarial atmosphere between those who have proposed a gift shop and café and others.

It is my fervent hope that this can be overcome and that some compromise may be reached that is to the betterment of the facility.

On Jan. 14, Commissioner of Culture and History Randall Reid-Smith appeared before the Senate Government Organization Committee to give an update. He cited the Charters Café at the National Archives as an example of the successful combination of archival materials and food. He did not point out, however, that the café is in the basement, and the vaults where records are stored are on the 12th floor.

"Vaults" is the key word here, as the Cultural Center does not have them. Surely any money would be better spent on security updates to protect our collection rather than a café. This is especially true when one considers the $3.7 million cafeteria just completed in the Capitol basement. Hungry visitors will likely want to visit the Capitol building, if only to see the dazzling chandelier in the Rotunda. That sight is worth a few hundred yards of walking.

The initial plans included merging the Archives reading room with the Library Commission's lending library, and it is unclear if this is still being considered. This idea threatens the security of our archival documents.

I have communicated with Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, a preservation specialist with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, who wrote "Protecting Your Collections: A Manual of Archival Security." On Aug. 4, 2006, he was elected a fellow of the Society of American Archivists for coordinating efforts to salvage records and other cultural resources after Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita.

I believe this man when he states in a letter to me, "Even in public libraries where lending and customer service are paramount, the local history collections are usually always kept in a separate room that is locked most of the time." Such is the case at the South Charleston Public Library, where materials are in a glass-enclosed, locked room. Patrons must show their library card and sign in to enter, and materials from the room may not be checked out.

Mr. Trinkaus-Randall goes on to say, "Lending libraries and archives should not be merged. Therefore, I would strongly advise against this consolidation of the two functions."

His comments on the addition of a café indicate that it has been done successfully in a number of public libraries, but it is "crucial that EVERYONE know that the food and drink purchased in the café ONLY be consumed in the café and that this be strictly enforced. Otherwise, there will be a slow relaxing of rules and the food and drink will end up in peoples' offices and maybe eventually in the reading room. This is another reason NOT to merge the two reading rooms."

Commissioner Reid-Smith said that archivists have been consulted on the matter, but did not say who they were. He offered an alternative plan involving the addition of an atrium to the outside of the building to house the gift shop and café. My solution would be to put the gift shop in the basement at the end of the museum tour and scrap the café plans altogether.

Nothing in my resume makes me an expert on archival security and preservation, but I understand why archives and food and the heat, humidity and pests that follow food are not a good mix. I'm just a sixth generation West Virginian, descended from a surveyor, a tanner, a baker and postman, an innkeeper, a stagecoach agent, housewives, farmers, Rebels, Yankees and outlaws. I found all of them at the West Virginia State Archives.

Senate Bill 328 and House Bill 4126, aimed at protecting our state's irreplaceable historical documents, have been introduced. I hope that my fellow West Virginians go to the Legislature's Web site, www.

legis.state.wv.us, read the bills and contact Gov. Manchin and their legislators to let them know that they, too, recognize the value of our state's history.

Sodaro lives in South Charleston.