University College Oxford Record 2020

FROM THE
LIBRARIAN
Closing both of Univ’s libraries on
Friday of 9th week of Hilary term
would have been inconceivable
before the COVID-19 pandemic,
but on St Cuthbert’s Day 2020 we
ushered out the last students and locked
the doors behind them. While the Easter
vacation is usually the time when we prepare for
a busy Trinity, this year the Library team set up
home-working desks and prepared to support
the Univ community remotely. Weekly visits
to College to check on our special collections
allowed us to post out to students books that
were not available online. To fill any gaps, we
allocated a portion of our book-buying budget
to purchase electronic resources in collaboration
with the Bodleian Libraries.
One positive aspect to the temporary closure
of the Univ libraries is that we have found time to
start on some projects that had been on the back
burner for many years. Our Assistant Librarian,
Philip Burnett, has been compiling a document
recording everything we know about our
collection of manuscripts. Hannah Thompsett, our
new Library Assistant, has transcribed hundreds
of pages of letters in the Robert Ross Memorial
Collection. Finally, I’ve been going through the list
of titles in our 17th century Benefactors’ Book to
see which ones are still in our collections.
Hannah joined us at the beginning of
September 2019. Before starting at Univ,
she had worked in the Library at the British
School in Athens and completed a one-year
library traineeship at All Souls College. She is
now studying part-time, via distance-learning,
for an MA in Library and Information Services
Management at the University of Sheffield.
As part of an EU initiative, the Leonardo da
Vinci Mobility Project, the Library hosted two
Swiss interns, Paula Lindner
and Romane Martin, over the
past year. The project provides
scholarships to allow young Swiss
librarians to gain experience working
in libraries around Europe. Unfortunately,
Romane’s visit was cut short by the pandemic,
but both our interns were a pleasure to host. We
would also like to thank our graduate students
Alex Braslavsky and Oliver Hargrave for their
help with re-shelving books during Michaelmas
and Hilary terms.
In January, we were saddened to learn that
the Reverend Michael Brierley passed away in
October 2019. My predecessor, Christine Ritchie,
had been corresponding with Revd Brierley for
a number of years before I began working at
Univ in 2009, although memory does not relate
the circumstances that prompted his initial letter.
His queries, about a wide range of subjects but
mostly relating to the history of the Anglican
Church, arrived every few months, making him
one of our most prolific and longest standing
researchers. A succession of Assistant Librarians,
including me, Emily Green, and Jessica Woodward,
were very happy to be able to assist such a kindly
and studious man.
At the time of writing, the library doors are
still closed, but we’re looking forward to seeing
everyone back in College before long.
ELIZABETH ADAMS
44 University College Record | October 2020