Happy New Year everyone! Many thanks for the excellent farewell party on Dec 12 and for the very thoughtful gifts of a Kindle and some bubbly– both very good aids to seasonal relaxation. The Kindle has become a favourite possession in my (almost) bookless transition to the Channel Islands. The farewell card signed by so many is a great memento of my time at UC Library.
As you can imagine, life has been rather hectic with the move over here but I am gradually settling in. People are generally very friendly and helpful, and my new colleagues at the Société Jersiaise particularly so. The Library has a fascinating collection of materials with books and documents on Jersey going back to the 16th C. It has been very under-staffed over the last few years and is also a bit short of space (fancy that!) but now the funding has been sorted out. There is heaps to do and we are about to embark on an exciting digitisation project. We have a close relationship with the Jersey Museum just next door, and the geology & archaeological sections of the library’s are collection is held a few miles away at La Hougue Bie. Jersey is crammed full of history and pre-history: on my recent sunny Saturday morning walk I passed a Neolithic grave site, a medieval church, a Napoleonic round tower, some Victorian cottages and German WWII fortifications – all sprinkled along a stunning coastline. I must admit the weather here is often dramatic, with impressive winds and raging seas but it is not actually that cold. I have bought a bike which has just arrived on the ship from England. I am looking forward to riding along the country lanes, less so the very narrow main roads.
I imagine you all in the Canterbury summer (sigh!) and hope you enjoyed your holidays. I will be moving into a little country cottage in a couple of weeks. Do stay in touch – you can reach me on bronwyn.matthews@societe-jersiaise.org.
Do take time to see the current Rare Book display on in Central. Bound to Endure shows some of the beautiful and interesting bindings to be found in the Rare Books collection. The display has been curated by ARTS 395 intern Heather Sutton who has been working in MB this semester. As part of her library work, Heather has also designed and made a number of archival card boxes to protect these and other books. You can give Heather some feedback on her display by commenting on the Library News post.
The display is on Level 2 down near Room 210, and runs until 20 September.
Due to a room booking clash in Central 210, the staff development session ‘Books, Bindings and little grey boxes’ will now be held at MB in the Aotearoa Room (turn left after you enter the MB library). See you there!
Lydia has created MB’s Christmas tree from disposal books. We invite you not to add to it but to deconstruct it! Give a recycled Christmas present or just give a book a good home. If you don’t fancy one of these Latin classics we have lots of other random books on our trolleys. (A mix of cancelled Central titles, and superfluous donations). From Monday there will be a number of WWII books. Come and browse in the MB downstairs lobby.
Outside vistors may be coming to look at the KJ Bible exhibition because notification of it appeared in the Press. If asked, please direct these visitors to the LOUNGE area. (The exhibition was only temporarily behind the Central Help Desk last weeekend because of space requirements for a book launch).
Thanks, Bronwyn.
A Jolly Good Adventure: writing for young people 1880-1950 is an exhibition of material from the Central Library Special Collections children’s/young adult collections. It includes the work of well-known 19th and early 20th century writers such as G.A. Henty, Jules Verne, R.M.Ballantyne, L.T. Meade, Arthur Ransome, the Boys’ Own and Girls’ Own Papers. And Biggles is there too.. .
We are getting a steady trickle of engineering students wanting to consult theses. A gentle reminder to direct users to the PUBLIC door of the SC reading room, please, -ie the one immediately above Lending. If they are sent to Library Admin it makes work for Carole, and they end up trailing through a staff area. During the summer the SCR room is officially only open by appointment. If am there in the afternoon it is usually fine for users to pop in, but I tend to be busy elsewhere in the mornings.
So to summarise:
Morning enquiries : encourage email/phone contact – you can give them my business card
Afternoon enquiries: send them to the public SCR door. If I’m there they can come in, and if I’m not, there is a notice on the door that tells them the arrangements. If you wish, you can ring me to check on ext 4945.
thanks,
Bronwyn
MetroInfo have replaced all the bus timetables and route maps to reflect the new schedules. They are in the same place, under the online bus monitor near the doors of the Central Library.
The Central Library Level 2 pot plants require an assistant carer for six weeks while I am away on leave (25-May -3 July). They need watering twice a week: Kim does them once a week, so we need a carer for the other day . It takes about 15 mins. Please see Bronwyn or Kim if you can help.
If you log someone onto the Guest account (librc39) and they wish to print, please note that the default printer is at the Copy Centre and is called \\cantwp\ITBlackwhite. This is the only printer they can use in the Central Library. This account, being neither a student one nor a staff one, cannot locate the usual \\cantws0\LibCen printers.
Give a recycled Christmas present or just give a book a good home. If you don’t fancy one of these Latin classics we have lots of other random books on our trolleys. (A mix of cancelled Central titles, and superfluous donations). From Monday there will be a number of WWII books. Come and browse in the MB downstairs lobby.