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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.
