From the Library

Liz Osman

The ebb and flow of the academic year changes little on the surface from year to year in the Library. Books are purchased, freshers are inducted, study takes place, and, finally, revision takes hold. However, each year we strive to see how we can do a little more for our students.

Academic skills sessions are one way we try to engage the students and help them in navigating the vast array of resources on offer to them. Whilst they are fortunate to have so much available, navigating the volume of material doesn’t always prove easy. The Library delivered a session in November to assist freshers with basic skills, followed by a more advanced session in Lent term dealing with referencing, plagiarism and literature searching – all invaluable tools for those writing dissertations or projects.

Whilst we don’t provide any teaching in Easter term we are perhaps more engaged with the students at that point in the year than any other time bar their first induction to the Library. The pressure of exams sees nesting behaviour and long hours. Our squash and biscuits break each afternoon has now been in place for 3 years and continues to be popular with students and Library staff. The jigsaw and chess set were joined this year by colouring books, which saw some masterpieces adorning the walls around desks throughout May and June.

Alongside my role in the College Library I have been working on a University-wide project to replace the current Library Management System in use by the University. This is a large project which has led to my regular part-time secondment. I am extremely grateful to the College, and to Alys Butler for stepping in, for allowing this opportunity. I am confident that a product can be found that will improve student experience and allow Library staff to work with a system suited to the modern information world.

We have had a large number of books donated to the Library this year, predominantly swelling the shelves of the children’s literature collection. Our rare and noteworthy books now total over 900, from just 350 in 2011. This is wonderful progress, and in particular we are developing an fascinating snapshot of British childhoods from the 1920s–50s. Our thanks, as ever, are extended to all those who have made a donation to the Library in the past year.

But with donations comes the eternal need for more space. We have been fortunate in being able to acquire some cases from the University Library. These not only provided more storage space, but also added around a third extra in display case space.

This extra space was fortuitous, with Wonderland Week scheduled for September 2015. The Library, with generous assistance from collectors, curated an exhibition on ‘Alice through the Ages’, including first editions, foreign language material and an unusual (and suitably curious) array of ephemera.

This was the Library’s first full exhibition, and a real team effort. The result was well received by both casual visitors and Alice experts attending the academic conference. Whilst we do not have the resources to mount continuous exhibitions, I am keen that we build on the success of the Alice exhibition and the experience gained. If future building plans for the College include an exhibition space this would enable the Library to do more, and open exhibitions to the general public – something not easily achieved in a busy College Library at present.

So what for next year? Student life, and our support of it, will continue, as will the University-wide LMS project. We are working towards the first intake ofmedical students, taking advice and purchasing the materials they will need. We are also hoping to start work on cataloguing the large collection of

children’s annuals that we acquired in 2013.

This will be a big job, but a necessary one to

aid researchers and students access the full

riches and resources of Homerton’s unique

and expanding Library n