Look at us: proud to be the 1st and 2nd women in 600 years elected as the University Librarian
@Cambridge_Uni
.
My predecessor Anne Jarvis, in front of her portrait
@theUL
, on a fabulous visit yesterday to explore collaborations between
@theUL
and
@PrincetonLib
.
Thank you to our
@theUL
team who gave me the privilege of the closing words on the Library tannoy at 5pm. My voice broke. Library Services are now open online. But we have had to close the University Library doors for now.
#coronavirus
Left outside my office
@theUL
this morning (you’ve got to love the humour and resilience of librarians). Seriously thank you so much everyone for sharing such a tremendous sense of joy yesterday when we announced the safe return of the Darwin notebooks.
#LoveLibraryWorkers
Now I like to think of myself as a fairly outgoing librarian, but sometimes the old school kitsch of ‘shhhh’ and ‘tweed’ is irresistible. Proud to be
@CamUniLibrarian
@theUL
Hundreds of years of British history through 1000s of books stacked high into the sky; a glimpse of the secrets of Cambridge University Library tower as a prelude to our new exhibition.
@theUL
@Cambridge_Uni
What a joy to hear author Matt Haig on R4 on the importance of libraries ‘as public spaces where we are liked more as people than consumers’.
Sending a warm smile back to
@matthaig1
for the love of libraries as profoundly people places.
Happiness is being greeted at Cambridge University Library by vast posters for
#GhostWords
, our latest exhibition featuring all things palimpsest.
Beautifully lit, exceptional curation, with stories of discovery made possible by cutting edge digital humanities research.
@theUL
It’s time.
The long walk through the stacks to transfer my home office (kitchen table) to work office
@theUL
. I’ve been coming in regularly for months, but this is the psychological shift to my being primarily based back here. My library home, and it fits me just right.
Extraordinary quietness walking in to
@theUL
this morning, with a sense of the world muffled by the mist. Peaceful, and we all need a bit of that. Breathe deep library folk. We will get to the other side.
OTD 2020 I had a lump in my throat broadcasting across
@theUL
Tannoy that we were closing the libraries (physically) until further notice.
Well, it’s been quite a year... 1/3
Are book cakes a thing? They should be!
A lovely celebration today
@theUL
so all the library staff could share in the success of the Darwin Correspondence Project’s completion of all 30 volumes (yes, 30) of letters to and from Charles Darwin. Raise a glass to all
@MyDearDarwin
!
Happiness is... being in a library.
So proud of all Cambridge library staff for being ready for new and returning students. Great emphasis on online and remote delivery, blended with COVID-secure in-person services where appropriate. Thank you Cam libraries! You are amazing!
Hello and huge good luck today for the first readers to return to
@theUL
today since 18 March. We’re so pleased to be welcoming you back! A library is made by its readers and we (and the books) have missed you.
#BookAVisit
@theUL
#WearAMask
We’re hiring! Come work with the amazing staff and students of
@Cambridge_Uni
.
The search is on for the next Deputy University Librarian for Cambridge University Libraries, based
@theUL
.
It’s an amazing community. Come help shape our future.
This is not ok. Locally and nationally libraries are essential for social inclusion and economic growth. They help build communities, connect people to each other and to knowledge, and they help drive innovation.
This is me wearing my ‘Women at Cambridge’ badge under my lapel as a superpower. Inspired by Professor Lisa Jardine, who gave them to women students in the 1980s to help them raise their voices and be heard. Featured in our forthcoming exhibition
#RisingTide
@theUL
from 14 Oct.
I must have taken this picture 100s of times on my walk to work. Each time it lifts me, as does arriving moments later
@theUL
.
The sun is out. The peregrine falcons are screeching round the library book tower. And here I am in my library home smiling at all things possible.
News like this is what makes my job, as Cambridge University Librarian, one of the best in the world. Proud. Excited. And delighted that this news will surprise many. Great libraries should be challenging and thought-provoking and sometimes do the unexpected.
We are thrilled to share with you the news today that the
#SpittingImage
archive is coming on deposit to
@theUL
! Yesterday we were joined by co-creator Roger Law and archivist Deidre Amsden as they deposited the first items:
#SpittingArchives
And so it opens: ‘Darwin: A Life in Letters’ now showing at New York Public Library
@nypl
- a partnership exhibition with Cambridge University Library
@theUL
.
This is the best. Ever.
With huge thanks to the Hawking Estate
@HawkingFound
and the Acceptance-in-Lieu scheme, run by Arts Council
@ace_national
for DCMS.
So proud and pleased for
@theUL
- and those inspired by Stephen Hawking everywhere.
Look at this exquisite box of miniatures made as special retirement gift for
@JimBloxam
the
@theUL
’s amazing Head of Conservation. The these tiny objects - each about 5cm max - all represent moments in the team’s work together. Such skill and creativity. We’ll miss you Jim!
.
@theUL
at night. Always one of my favourite sights. Grand, imposing, but glorious. And what a team. Through such extraordinary times, my heartfelt thanks to all libraries in Cambridge.
So what does it take behind the scenes to restart the physical library? It should be easy, right? Well... it’s complicated, because we are doing everything in a new way to protect you and us
@theUL
. Whilst also keeping on expanding services online throughout. A thread... 1/10
My first time celebrating and conferring degrees as one of the Deputy Vice Chancellors for ceremonial affairs.
These students have worked so hard - in a pandemic - to fulfil their academic dreams. What an achievement!
It’s a really lovely feeling to take part.
@Cambridge_Uni
A slow run with lots of stops for crocus-peeping. This perfect carpet in front of
@TrinCollCam
takes your breath away. Up close they look like speckled chocolate eggs, and just as sweet and edible.
Fabulous
@FitzMuseum_UK
Hockney show! The museum like you’ve never seen it… feels like you are exploring again for the first time.
Congratulations to our wonderful
@Cambridge_Uni
Fitz colleagues!
This morning that unmistakable sense of early autumn, with the scent of woodsmoke drifting with the river mist. And me, smiling, while pedalling into the sunrise, with the sky turning orange and a heron flying past.
First day back using my office
@theUL
properly today, albeit still connecting for meetings through the power of zoom. The sun streamed in, and the peregrines were keening round the tower just as they should, to the terror of pigeons everywhere. Happy library home.
One of those buoyant evenings walking home from
@theUL
when Cambridge looks so pretty in the falling light and your mood just lifts up towards the half-moon.
One of those mornings when coming into the library feels like coming home.
It’s such a special place to so many readers and staff, and a joy to see more researchers, writers and students returning with the need to book ahead lifted.
This year’s giant
@theUL
tree does not disappoint!
It looks and smells like Christmas and everyone is stopping to smile and have a picture.
Festive hats off to my colleagues who wrestled the tree into the library out-of-hours and decorated it so prettily.
Just as well
@guardian
changed the headline but let’s set the record straight:
Libraries are open. Yes, the ‘how’ has shifted to put more online. Yes, we’ve adapted, innovated and grafted to keep students and staff safe.
And yes, we are here to help.
Last of the cherry blossoms
@theUL
. Lovely morning showing
@Selwyn1882
friends and family round my favourite library spots. Books abound. And a blanket of exam revision quiet.
Woke up grumpy and fog-headed, but not now. Not after a furious pedal into the green, leaving the city behind. Herons, cygnets, cormorants, moorhens on the water, crows overhead and blackbirds singing in the day. Big smile to libraries of twitter. The only way out is through.
After the week that was, I slept for 8 hours straight then 2 more today. Now it’s time to dig, get muddy, and plant these beauties to invoke spring and delight the bees. The libraries are open online - we did everything we could - and summer will come. Stay well all
@theUL
.
One year ago today I walked up nervous as the new girl to my post as Cambridge University Librarian... Huge thanks to my wonderful colleagues across the libraries at Cambridge community for all the welcome and support. And joyous to have bluebells out again to mark time passing.
Happy birthday
@bodleianlibs
! Excited to be ‘here’ for the kick off of
#OxfordLibrary700
with the great
@richove
. Very proud to be one of tomorrow’s speakers on behalf of
@theUL
. Improvised podium at home looks precarious, but I promise my talk’s foundations are much stronger!
What a lovely Friday treat: a small scale and responsibly socially distanced site visit inside the much loved
@theUL
as part of our recovery planning. Such a privilege to work here, with our amazing library teams across Cambridge.
Just getting ready for my talk on the return of the
#Darwin
notebooks tonight
@theUL
chaired by
@rogermosey
@Selwyn1882
. Always nervous until I begin to speak… but this one does tell itself… Cracking story.
Cambridge University Library celebrates LGBT History Month: rainbow flag flies from our iconic tower to show our city and university are places where people can be themselves without fear of discrimination.
Congratulations to our amazing library teams from across
@Cambridge_Uni
who swept the board in this year’s Professional Services Recognition Awards. Here’s Louise Williams from
@theUL
winning the Jonathon Nichols Rising Star Award (just brilliant)… (a thread 1/8)
Did you go to state school? Join our campaign and help inspire young people by sharing a video or a tweet about your journey from school to now.
#IWentToStateSchool
#nowrongpath
Walking home from
@theUL
with the sky just pinking, the gang of Trinity College Canada Geese making themselves loudly known (attention-to-me-please) and the day still light and warm and long enough to keep smiling.
Totally non-digital joy: somehow the return of these beauties to Midsummer Common is an utterly uplifting sign of normality and spring in Cambridge. And no, I can’t make a Library link to justify a video of cows. But I hope some of you like them too. Moos hello without shame.
An early morning run along the Cam, when the frost is still on the grass, and I’m rewarded by a heron. Now the trick is to carry that still moment, and the birdsong, through the day spent inside. Deep breathe to take in the green. We can do this.
Possibly the very best working day in weeks - back
@theUL
- and a chance to say thank you thank you thank you to the front line Click and Collect and Scan and Deliver Teams - and everyone else at the libraries too. 👏
It’s here!
@theUL
Christmas tree at a whopping 4.5 metres tall. Less sure about the slightly sinister Father Christmas but... we are definitely getting in festive cheer.
One year on, and we’re pulling out of lockdown 3 with a sense of new possibility for our libraries beyond the pandemic.
And the bulbs we planted in autumn to bring spring hope?
They are coming up lovely, too. 3/3
‘You can have a library without a university, but you can’t have a university without a library’: LSE’s Julia Black gives fantastic keynote address asking research libraries to reflect on our core shared ‘values’ not just our ‘value’.
#RLUK18
Too dark for the meadows, but today a morning run ‘home’ to
@theUL
via the gingerbread Jerwood Library, leaning prettily in to the river. Deep breath, and a wish on the Library book sculpture for luck, then back to the kitchen desk. Waves to library folk for the week ahead.
Very moving standing quietly listening to Ukrainian staff and student speakers at the
@Cambridge_Uni
vigil at this evening in solidarity with Ukraine. Senate House and King’s College both illuminated in colours of the Ukraine flag. 🇺🇦
Well here’s a pretty pickle.
We may not know what’s ahead, but we do know that libraries are experts in agility and in supporting each other and our communities. Huge warmth and shared help together for all the library folk of Twitter!
Walked out this morning across the Grantchester Meadows. Stunning in the frost and low sun. And hats off (not literally, too darn cold) to the hardy kayaker on the Cam.
What a treat to listen to David Pearson, Librarian, Book Historian, and Sandars Lectures for this year. His research on Cambridge Bookbinding 1450-1770 is now published by The Legacy Press and his ‘data’ (images, metadata) freely online
@theUL
.
First day back
@theUL
after a much needed break.
Feels fabulous to be back at Cambridge University Library. And to see recent planting (lavender) thriving, covered in bees (from our hive?) and competing with the wild poppies, back in abundance this year.
#LoveLibraries
It’s Spring
@theUL
picnic garden and I’m loitering, enjoying the birdsong and daffodils before heading inside...
Turns out that walking to work through Cambridge on a blue-skied morning with classic Kate Bush (‘Cloudbusting’) in your ears is very good for the soul.
There can be no better way to start the day than opening Richard Ovenden’s compelling new work, ‘Burning the Books’, and reading the Coda on ‘Why We Will Always Need Libraries and Archives’. A book that is truth, warning, and a manifesto for our profession. THANK YOU
@richove
!
My English degree
@UniversityLeeds
taught me skills I use in my working life everyday: critical thinking, argument, drafting, creativity, analysis...
It also led me to a career I love - and which I believe has utility to society.
#LoveHumanities
Snow!! A proper childish glee for first snowfall, thick and fast in Cambridge. Plucking the lantern from out of today’s advent window, and pulling snow boots on to make first footprints in the garden dark.
Hope it lasts for the walk to
@theUL
for sight of its tall snowy tower.
Happy Holidays, Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone in the Collegiate Cambridge library and archive community! Thank you for your amazing contribution this year to education, research, and public engagement. Being a part of this community is a source of inspiration!
Thankfully the sun was out in
@theUL
picnic garden today for us to say a huge thank you and farewell to our colleague Deputy University Librarian Patricia Killiard. In true library tradition there was A LOT of cake (and a forever
@theUL
library card so she keeps in touch).
Today’s run takes me back three years ago to the day I arrived
@theUL
as University Librarian. This thread is a thank you to everyone in the libraries of Cambridge, for all we’ve achieved together in that time. Proud to be part of this amazing community
@Cambridge_Uni
. 1/12
I could not be prouder of Cambridge library staff right now. Honestly. You make me speechless, in an utterly good way. We are Cambridge University Libraries.
We anticipate that by July 6,
@theUL
will begin to provide limited services for students & staff to pick up books ordered online.
In the meantime we're expanding our online services to bring the library to you. Please have a read of the below for more:
There are definitely worse ways to end the working week than sitting in the garden, and just about catching the WiFi as I work on the next stage of
@theUL
Covid-19 recovery plans. Hope all library folk find their place in the sunshine for a well-deserved weekend break.
I will never get tired of the walk to
@theUL
, and today I had a real spring in my step. So proud of Cambridge University Libraries for staying open on-site and online to help keep students learning, with well-established Covid-secure protocols fully in place. Thank you everyone!
I feel we need a flying cyclist somewhere in the books stacks
@theUL
. A piece of magic from a day walking the city in Lisbon, on a mid-term runaway weekend.
Tis the season…
@theUL
Christmas Tree this year is both beautiful and vast! Almost to the top of the double height ceiling.
Thanks to our Facilities and Reader Services teams for getting the star on top!
Arriving at
@theUL
Cambridge University Library for more media interviews on our acquisition
@Cambridge_Uni
of the Stephen Hawking Archive (see full story below).
Of course the sun is finally out along with our good news!
#StephenHawking
#LoveLibraries
A room with a view… doesn’t do it justice but the light across the trees from my
@theUL
4th floor office window is just joyous this afternoon.
Big bite of fresh air to drink it in, before diving back to Zoom.
Guess where?
Here tonight for the preview of
@theUL
and
@nypl
partnership exhibition, Darwin: A Life in Letters.
Over the moon (or should that be Library Lion?).
The UL are excited to announce the launch of the University Library Research Institute.
#ULRI
We will collaborate with others to set the agenda for collections-led
#research
and generate opportunities across and beyond disciplines.
Read more here:
Thick mist rising along the river this morning makes the early push up and out of sleep a kind of joy. Company is a chattering of rooks, moor hens and the ever persistent Crow. A deep still breath. Then home, to warm and breakfast tea, and a new day.
Slept deep and late for first time this week, and somehow managed a plodding run in the freezing fog. Can I say thank you to all the library staff of Cambridge for pulling together once more to plan for online and zero-contact services to support staff and students at this time?
This Father’s Day I want to praise the work of the MND Association in my memory of my lovely dad, Arthur. Who read to me, taught me to think laterally, told me I could be or do anything, cooked the best suppers, and planted 100s of native British trees.