My first steps in Oxford

Hey Guys,

There happened a lot in this last two weeks. I slowly settled in Abingdon where I have my room to stay. I got introductions in the Magdalen College and of course I did lovely sightseeing with the other two interns.

In the first week my colleague showed me around the Magdalen College and their five Libraries. The main staff office is in the Longwall Library. The building is just two years old and the new Library was build inside the old building. It is also the main Library where all the students and academics borrow their books. The Old Library is also the original college library of the late fifteen century. The exhibition there opens once a week on Wednesday afternoon for two hours and can be visited by the public. I just helped twice to control if the visitors didn’t break something or touched the books. In the old Library are unique copies stored so the door is secured with an alarm. The other three libraries are a bit smaller. The Denning Law Library, MC Farlane Library and Daubeny Library.

The main archivist Charlotte showed me and Sully, another volunteer, around few archive rooms. She told us the history of the archive and presented the current project for the Wilson collection.

I also did a few things in the main Library. Some book moving on the ground floor and in the rolling stacks to get more space for new books. Also, I had my first little project with the Victorian history county reference books. I checked if they are catalogued correct, do they need a covering (to protect the books) and put the right labels on.

It is a pleasure and very exciting to work here in this for me magical place. And of course, I still want to learn more.

So, let’s see what happens in the next time!

Goodbye Anny