The College Record 2022

Reports and College Activities
Credit: John Cairsns
A YEAR IN THE LIBRARY
Dr Matthew Shaw
College Librarian
The year has been marked by a return to the usual patterns
of activity in the Library, despite the challenges of the Delta
and Omicron variants – from inductions and tours in
Michaelmas Term to the packed desks of Sixth and
Seventh Weeks as junior members prepare for exams.
While the Library has been able to operate almost as usual
during the pandemic, we finished Hilary Term with the
removal of social distancing limits on seating in the New
Library reading room, and with it the end of special
measures. We have retained some things, such as a
popular ‘click and collect’ service outside of the library for
busy students, intelligent use of Teams video calling and imaging for remote
researchers, and a better understanding of healthy ventilation and monitoring of air
quality in the reading rooms: there is now even less of an excuse to fall asleep at
one’s desk in the fug of an overwarm, under-oxygenated library.
The collections continue to grow. In part due to the donation of several collections
resulting from the changeover of some Fellows’ rooms, over 800 volumes have
been processed and added to the collections by our librarians. These have been
augmented by increased access to digital books and other online resources, working
in collaboration with other college libraries and the Bodleian Libraries. Circulation of
physical books among readers have also returned to pre-pandemic levels. Contributing
to the social life of the College, a small collection of board games, such as Mysterion,
can also be borrowed from the New Library, and the Library has investigated and
augmented its Ukrainian collections (some of which were on display in the Hall during
the coffee and cake morning in aid of the Red Cross Ukrainian appeal). Existing
collection items continue to give up their secrets, such as the provenance of a folio of
Piranesi engravings, or the prior ownership of several rare books by Robert Southey,
the poet laureate from 1813 to 1843 who, like the College, possesses a strong
connection to the Lake District. The discovery of an account of a College bicycle ride in
the Historical Society minute book from 1922 led to the ride’s centennial re-enactment
in June 2022 by Fellows, staff and Old Members. Sadly, the ferry at Bablock Hythe
exploited by the earlier cyclists was no longer running.
Books (and manuscripts) have also been out on display in the Upper Library.
In Michaelmas Term, the Library celebrated the work and career of Prince Akiki
Nyabongo: novelist, ethnologist, and Ugandan administrator who studied at Queen’s
in the 1930s. The exhibition featured on BBC South News, made use of photographs
provided by Nyabongo’s son, and it included a curatorial tour and discussions for the
JCR. In Hilary Term, we contributed to the College’s sustainable food initiative, with
a display on ‘Dining Right’, drawing on the Library’s collection of JCR suggestions
40 The Queen’s College | College Record 2022