A brief memoir by Rosalind Boyce, entitled `Gainsborough Library
remembered', appears in `Lincolnshire Past & Present' no. 37 (Autumn 1999)
pp. 5-6. The author was an assistant in this public library in
Lincolnshire in the 1960s. Interestingly, she was inspired to become a
librarian after reading that famous novel, `Molly Hilton, library
assistant'. Those of you who attended the Library History Group's meetings
at the UmbrelLA conference in Manchester last year will remember that this
epoch-making tome, which launched so many careers, also featured in the
paper presented by Evelyn Kerslake and Janine Liladhar. That paper will
(eventually) be published in `Library History'. In the meantime, they have
produced a related article entitled `"Jolly good reading" for girls:
discourses of library work and femininity in career novels' which appears
in `Women's History Review' vol. 8 no. 3 (1999) pp. 489-504.
C. Bull has published a history of Swanscombe branch library,
Kent, in `Dartford Historical & Antiquarian Society newsletter' no. 36
(1999) pp. 4-15. Life was obviously difficult in this small library,
especially during the last War, since it was housed in a fire station and
had no counter, no catalogue, no telephone, and no lavatory; but at least
the firemen were handy during the air raids.
For those interested in American matters, Greenwood Press has
announced Haynes McMullen's book, `American libraries before 1876' (June
2000), while Yale University Press publishes James Conaway's `America's
library: the story of the Library of Congress, 1800-2000' (May 2000).
K.A. Manley, Editor, `Library History'.
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