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W
elcome to autumn. Rain, wind, dark evenings and Mediawatching. It also means that Halloween
is upon us, and where better to start than the Lansing State Journal’s run down of haunted places to visit (
https://tinyurl.com/ uvtn6yby).
So anyone looking for a spooky time in Michigan, this is specially for you! The Journal lists six sites that are supposedly haunted and within a short (by US standards) drive from Lansing County. Among those listed is the Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library, in the town of Belding, which was commissioned by Alvah N. Belding in 1917 to honour his parents Hiram Belding and Mary… Wilson. Apparently, the library is haunted by the spirit of a young girl, who can be heard laughing amongst the stacks – even when the library is empty!!!!! Whooooooooo!
Back to the UK for some other unwanted guests, this time in Essex County Libraries and a report on the BBC’s website (https://tinyurl. com/2xmmfdzu). Someone in the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service sent an FoI to the library service to find out how many people have been banned from their local library, and why. Unsurprisingly, the majority of those banned from libraries were for aggressive or intimidating behaviour towards staff or other users. But the two that really piqued the BBC’s sensationalist eye was one case where someone urinated in the corner, and one person who was banned for “viewing obscene content” on Valentine’s Day. With just 146 people have been banned over the last five years (some 20 million visits, in normal times), it shows not only that librarians have to deal with some difficult
October-November 2021
situations, but also that banning people really is a very rare occurrence. Speaking of reasons to be banned, Margaret Eccelstone has been in touch with some advice that could lead to, at least, a raised eyebrow. She writes: “On page 20 of today’s Feast supplement to The Guardian, a reader asks ‘What recipes are useful to know before going to university?’” (
https://tinyurl.com/3hdcfchd). A perfectly fair question for anyone wanting to prepare for their first time living away from home. The response suggests “chilli and bolognese are also great to batch cook, and you can use them in all sorts of ways – with rice, soured cream and coriander to take to the library, or on pasta or a jacket potato for dinner”. Margaret adds: “University librarians may wish to comment…”
Kate Egglestone has dropped us a line about a recent episode of Coronation Street, which seems to suggest that it is not just public and university librarians who need to keep an eye on their users. Kate caught the final lines in an exchange about one character’s university application, and she says: “When asked why she did not go to her school library in connection with her application form; the answer was ‘The school librarian has no discipline it’s like the last days of Rome in there’.”
Jim Vickery is next, helping us move from the glitz and glamour of Weatherfield to the drab and dowdy world of high fashion. Jim writes to say: “The Sunday Times’ Culture section of 29 August 2021 has a piece on the ubiquitous Sally Rooney. “It includes: ‘Her photoshoot for Vogue was might be called librarian drab: jumper, matronly skirt and church-appropriate shoes’. “The usual 1950s clichés being duly
Photo © The Royal Family
ticked off by a lazy journalist.” Finally, we turn to former Library Association President – perhaps better know to some for one of his other public roles. A recent BBC documentary on HRH The Prince Philip sees Mail Online’s (https://
tinyurl.com/4c35n53a) Monica Greep zooming in on his reading habits. The documentary, Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers features a glimpse into his private quarters including his library. The article features a series of freeze frames from the documentary, zoomed in to the max. And what revelations are uncovered? There are books on nature, politics, the Royal Family and some written by the Duke himself – but perhaps the biggest surprise is a collection of cookery books (
https://tinyurl.com/ kr376m5p).
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