Tuesday 20 March 2012

Visit to the Literary and Philosophical Society Library


Literary and Philosophical Society c. Blenky64 via Flickr

This week I visited the Literary and Philosophical Society's Library. The visit was arranged by my friend and colleague Jackie Dunn, Assistant Librarian at the Robinson Library. In a past life she worked at the Lit & Phil and has always been very enthusiastic about her former work place, so I was very interested to take the opportunity to see it for myself. Much to my shame I have never visited before, despite having lived in Newcastle all my life.

I thought it would be useful to visit another library from a professional point of view; I’ve worked in an academic library for the majority of my library career and never really seen inside a more ‘traditional’ library. It’s the largest independent library outside London, housing more than 150,000 books, including fiction and non-fiction as well as historical collections. Although the Society was founded in 1793 the library was not opened until 1825. Anyone interested in the history of the Lit & Phil can read more here

It’s another world compared to that of the modern Robinson Library which I’m used to. I was fascinated by the differences: our users are certainly not allowed (or supposed) to chat while working!  I was also intrigued to hear of the paranormal activity in the library, including tales of the ghosts of a witch finder and a former librarian. I certainly would not want to be left alone in the library on a dark night!

I found the visit interesting; having no previous knowledge of the Literary and Philosophical Society I think it gave me a good insight into its history. Thanks again to Jackie for organising the visit.