The Mitchell Library
I had lunch with Fionna, then was shown a very good chunk of the rather enormous Mitchell Library by Alison then Dawn Vallance.
The Mitchell library is one of the great philanthropic products of the time, especially in the North. One can think also of the great buildings of Manchester or Liverpool that were created as libraries for the general public.
It is a fantastic library going through several time periods. The entrance is pretty modern with a cafe-brunch place and many comfortable seats. Then you venture in the seventies, then, clearly, in more Harry Potter times (with probably many ghosts included, but let's not go into that).
I was amazed at the inventiveness of the library staff. A partnership has been done with a cancer charity downstairs, upstairs, in the business department, librarians are happy to help anyone wanting to start a business, copyright/patent questions included. And upstairs, a Citizen Advice Bureau has been incorporated. In the waiting room there, a selection of new books are on shelves, marketing the library collections.
There is also a great database of songs, and all the help possible for building your family history with the city's archives.
Then, of course, I did ask Dawn to show me the language learning collection, which is, like all public libraries' collection, adapted to the public. I was amazed at the number of languages on offer and discovered some books I did not have in my own library! Dawn explained that there are more than 300 languages spoken in the Glasgow region, which is also due to the fact that many refugees were welcome here.
The Mitchell library is one of the great philanthropic products of the time, especially in the North. One can think also of the great buildings of Manchester or Liverpool that were created as libraries for the general public.
I was amazed at the inventiveness of the library staff. A partnership has been done with a cancer charity downstairs, upstairs, in the business department, librarians are happy to help anyone wanting to start a business, copyright/patent questions included. And upstairs, a Citizen Advice Bureau has been incorporated. In the waiting room there, a selection of new books are on shelves, marketing the library collections.
There is also a great database of songs, and all the help possible for building your family history with the city's archives.
Then, of course, I did ask Dawn to show me the language learning collection, which is, like all public libraries' collection, adapted to the public. I was amazed at the number of languages on offer and discovered some books I did not have in my own library! Dawn explained that there are more than 300 languages spoken in the Glasgow region, which is also due to the fact that many refugees were welcome here.
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