Spotted something for Mediawatching? Email us at:
mediawatching@cilip.org.uk
W
HERE’S Where’s Wally? That is the cry from librarians in Cambridgeshire after it was revealed
that the popular children’s book series tops the list of its missing items.
The puzzle book, which invites readers to search its pages for the titular Wally and friends has been found to be missing in action – so to speak. A recent review of Cambridgeshire County Council’s library services found that more than 150 books from the series have disappeared from shelves. As reported by ITV news (http://tinyurl. com/262tk6xs), staff have now issued a plea to have them returned. And speaking of missing books, we have news of yet another late return – this time in North Essex, where a library user handed in a copy of Great Prime Ministers by John Whittle to staff at Manningtree Library. The book had been taken out in the summer of 1979, but failed to make its way back to the library – until 44 years later. A spokesman for Essex Library service told the East Anglian Daily Times (http://
tinyurl.com/58vt5xkf) that: “Despite it being more than four decades overdue, the book was in surprisingly good condition.”
He added that there were no hard feelings (or late fees applied), saying: “The customer was encouraged to rejoin and use the library again.” It is not known whether there has been an updated and reprinted version of the book that includes all the great Prime Ministers who have held office since 1979.
And not to be outdone (except in terms of length), a Maryland library has been re-united with an overdue CD. Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was handed back to the Laurel Branch of Prince George’s County Memorial Library 35 years after being loaned out. The Washington Post (
http://tinyurl.com/ mrxh68wk) reports that despite the good intentions to put things right, it came too late for users, as the library stopped stocking CDs in 2018.
To Scotland next, and an appeal to find any family members of Letitia McKell, a former resident of Wishaw who emigrated to the US in 1945. On
January-February 2024
Motherwell Library.
her death in Seattle in 2001, it emerged that upon her death at University of Washington Hospital, Seattle, it emerged that she had bequeathed a considerable amount of money to “Motherwell Public Library in East Kilbride”. However, as the BBC (http://
tinyurl.com/3zvn2s8z) report points out, this library has never actually existed, and instead North Lanarkshire Council, which runs Motherwell library, and South Lanarkshire Council, the home of East Kilbride library, agreed to split the money.
Library bosses in Motherwell were looking for any relations of Mrs McKell, so that they could be invited to a ceremony to mark the completion of a £188,000 refit of the library – which includes a makerspace and improved children’s library.
Councillor Jim Logue, the leader of North Lanarkshire Council, said: “We cannot thank Letitia enough for her kindness and generosity.
“It’s remarkable that someone who moved away from North Lanarkshire more than half a century ago never forgot where she came from and her love of Motherwell Library.
“We feel it’s important to that anyone related to her or who remembers her should attend the opening and share memories of her.” Finally, in this Mediawatching column
we head to Wales and the seaside town of Barry (or alternatively Bazza; Bazz; Barrybados will do, according to local librarian Gosia Buzzanca). Gosia has penned a Letter from Barry Library for the Nation Cymru website, in which she explains how and why she became a librarian.
In it she says: “I remember arriving in Barry and seeing the library for the first time, with its ceiling-high windows, embedded into an old building topped off with a clock tower, fronting a busy one way street in the centre of town. “I was four weeks away from giving birth to my second child and, remembering how helpful the Cardiff Central library branch had been to the first year of mothering to me, I decided to visit them as soon as possible.” Since that first visit, Gosia has gone from patron to employee saying: “It makes me smile still that I ended up working a similar job as my mother. She was also a librarian – a proper one, with a degree! – albeit in a primary school.
“It makes complete sense though, as someone who lives for books and lives in hope of finally finishing writing one, to end up with this job.”
The letter is a perfect reminder of what’s on offer in public libraries, and you can read it in full at http://tinyurl. com/44e7s2ch. IP
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
