Day of DH: Morning at the Library

Senate HouseWorking in Bloomsbury we are spoilt for choice when it comes to research libraries: the Wellcome, the British Library, British Museum Libraries and, of course, UCL Main and Science Libraries are all neighbours. My library of choice is usually Senate House (pictured) partly because it houses the collection on which I’m working for my PhD, partly because of the helpful staff, and partly because of the architecture.

Today I found a whole new floor I hadn’t realised exists. Call me lazy (see previous post), but I’ve only been as far into the tower (pictured) as the lifts will take me. A catalogue search for a conference paper I’m writing on the role of praxis in vocational Masters took me to the 7th floor – “follow the signs to the stairs from the lift on the 6th floor”. A History of the University in Europe Volume 3 and stunning views of London ahoy.

I also made use of some of the reference collection, reading about the system of training Nicholson introduced at the Bodleian for boys in the late nineteenth century and the 1942 report on the public library system in the UK, which called for the entry-level education of those aspiring to be professional librarians to be raised from school-leaver to graduate.

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Image: Senate House this morning