Who manages what, and whom.

How the departments are managed

Each of the fifteen departments is managed by its keeper, and each keeper answers only to the Porter. Keepers sit on Thursdays, admit or decline what is brought, write the note the same day, and never revise it. Registers are kept in plain hand; dust, where it settles, is recorded as measurement data.

No keeper may overrule another keeper, borrow another department’s chairs without a form, or pronounce another department’s words except on Thursdays and by invitation. Disputes between departments go to the Tribunal, whose holdings are final. Appeals are not permitted. Rematches are not scheduled.

How the Institute is managed

The Institute as a whole is managed by the Porter and the Secretary-General, in that order on Thursdays and the reverse on other days. The Porter opens and closes: if the door is open, the Institute is open; if it is not, it is not. The Secretary-General seals, appoints, reads the Charter aloud once yearly, and holds the spare key, which has never been needed and is checked monthly all the same.

The Charter may be amended only by unanimous vote of the keepers, the Porter, the Secretary-General, and the bench — the bench having the casting silence. The Institute is independent and unfunded, and is run by four people, none of them full time, plus fifteen keepers, one Porter, eleven pigeons (unpaid), and a Secretary-General.

The Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the International Institute is Eden Ludlam, founder of the collection, keeper of the shoeboxes of bus tickets (2008–2026 and ongoing, ineligible for display), and holder of the spare key. A fuller account is kept under the Secretary-General. The role carries three duties: to read the Charter aloud once yearly, slowly, in Room 5; to appoint keepers upon a vacancy, which has not yet occurred; and to lose gracefully at the annual general knowledge of the Institute, which has occurred yearly.

The Secretary-General receives no salary, no expenses, and no correspondence requiring an answer, as there is no keeper for correspondence. Decisions of the Secretary-General may be appealed to the bench, which answers with silence, which is final.

Of the election

Upon a vacancy, an election shall be called within the year. Nominations in writing; electorate comprising the keepers, the Porter, and the bench. The successful candidate shall be the one the bench does not object to, determined by a silence of at least one minute.

While Eden Ludlam lives, no other candidacy is valid. Nominations naming any other person will be filed under “premature,” returned unread, and entered in the minutes as correspondence requiring no answer. This arrangement was proposed by the Secretary-General, seconded by the Porter, and approved by the bench without a sound.