tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post6213121974912308878..comments2024-03-17T11:17:53.826+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: I love libraries (Part One) by Cally Phillips Katherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-85257390397282703602013-10-04T17:27:33.656+01:002013-10-04T17:27:33.656+01:00we have the Lit and Phil subscription library here...we have the Lit and Phil subscription library here, you can go in for nothing but have to join to take out books. A wonderful building. Lots of lit events there too. Most of our council libraries have been shut or wound down, but for one big modern one in the city centre. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-75043061826710066472013-10-04T15:45:18.150+01:002013-10-04T15:45:18.150+01:00I recall the first time I worked in the Bodleian L...I recall the first time I worked in the Bodleian Library, and sat at an old wooden desk waiting for books (dusty, smelling of old paper) to come up from the stacks - and feeling that generations of students had worked here. It was hugely humbling at the time.<br /><br />It may be very different now (Dan would know!!)JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-3484427127372199112013-10-04T10:39:58.219+01:002013-10-04T10:39:58.219+01:00Oh Dennis, I wanted to love the BM. Marx and all t...Oh Dennis, I wanted to love the BM. Marx and all that. But the echo drove me to distraction. I need silence to work effectively. As for the rest, presumably the impatience of my youth showing through! <br />Jan... haven't they renamed them all 'learning centres' or sommat? Though sounds like not too much learning. I get onto University libraries in a later 'part' of this journey. I'm right with you on the iniquity of 'dumbing down' libraries though. When I visit the Uni library I try to go at times students are either asleep or in the pub. When I go to local libraries I try to avoid times that small children are running around weilding picture books. And I get in/out of local libraries like some well perfected guerrilla activity. They have my books lined up, I throw in the old ones, they stamp the new ones (don't even have to show my card!) and off I go (usually to the fish shop!) CallyPhillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481379296340077102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4277431155705614142013-10-04T10:06:38.712+01:002013-10-04T10:06:38.712+01:00sorry. knowledge with a capital nsorry. knowledge with a capital nJan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-56583875083842613822013-10-04T10:05:11.910+01:002013-10-04T10:05:11.910+01:00there are worse problems. manchester university li...there are worse problems. manchester university library, a handful of years ago, decided it had to be a young person friendly space, serving coffee and chat rather than knowledge with a capital k. to make the students feel involved and wanted etc. most of the chairs were replaced with beanbags (i'm not making this up), which very quickly became very popular with students looking for a comfortable place for public lurve-making. it's hardened up a bit now i'm told (ooh, sorry missus) but most post grads, staff members, and students with a serious side avoid it like the plague. the british library suffers from some of the same ethos problems. some days you can't move for teenagers studying fifty shades of greys anatomy.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35388885109632890102013-10-04T09:23:46.883+01:002013-10-04T09:23:46.883+01:00Funny. I used to LOVE working in the old BM readin...Funny. I used to LOVE working in the old BM reading room. so atmospheric, really redolent of Marx, Shaw etc. For a start, I thought the echo was marvellous, resonant in a good way. The indefinable slight smell still haunts my nose. I never found myself cursing the catalogue and don't remember being too inconvenienced by the wait. I was working in there the week before the new BL opened. The sight of all those empty shelves over the gallery was heartbreaking. The new BL, though they do good breakfasts, is boring and I never mastered the electronic catalogue, though that's no surprise. I let my ticket lapse and don't miss it t all, though some of the exhibitions are good.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.com