Sarah and I were back to work last Sunday (yes, a Sunday!) to speak to the Friends of Tremough group about our Archive and Special Collections Service. The group was created about a year ago by members of the local community to try to forge more positive links between Tremough and the surrounding communities. Many of them had connections with the site from when there was a girl's convent school here. It was a very enjoyable afternoon and they were all very interested in what our Service has to offer.
Before they arrived, we set out some of our favourite items from the archive, such as beautiful sketchbooks from Tom Cross, notebooks with sketches and scribblings from Kneehigh Theatre, a volume of the Camborne School of Mines magazine and a student register, and a script written by Nick Darke for Morecomb and Wise. Of particular interest to some members of the Group was the original paperback book jacket design for Patrick Gale's 'Notes from an Exhibition'. Despite not having heard of the author before, one member of the group assured us that she would buy the book and pass it round her quilting class! We had also brought out a letter from Elizabeth Anderson, written to Gale, in which she describes her memories of Barbara Hepworth, who appears as a character in the book. Let's say she paints a less than flattering picture!
It was a really positive experience, and the group had lots of questions for us and were extremely interested in what we do. Some said they would even like to come back and spend a day in the reading room, going through some of our collections. Also as I have now only been working here for two months, I haven't yet become familiar with all the collections, particularly the Nick Darke and Patrick Gale archives, so it was useful for me to also get a general overview of all our holdings. Several proposals came out of the visit, as to how we can help them and vice versa, and we might hopefully get a spot in their newsletter. So I hope this will be the start of a very good relationship with some valuable members of the wider community.
Before they arrived, we set out some of our favourite items from the archive, such as beautiful sketchbooks from Tom Cross, notebooks with sketches and scribblings from Kneehigh Theatre, a volume of the Camborne School of Mines magazine and a student register, and a script written by Nick Darke for Morecomb and Wise. Of particular interest to some members of the Group was the original paperback book jacket design for Patrick Gale's 'Notes from an Exhibition'. Despite not having heard of the author before, one member of the group assured us that she would buy the book and pass it round her quilting class! We had also brought out a letter from Elizabeth Anderson, written to Gale, in which she describes her memories of Barbara Hepworth, who appears as a character in the book. Let's say she paints a less than flattering picture!
It was a really positive experience, and the group had lots of questions for us and were extremely interested in what we do. Some said they would even like to come back and spend a day in the reading room, going through some of our collections. Also as I have now only been working here for two months, I haven't yet become familiar with all the collections, particularly the Nick Darke and Patrick Gale archives, so it was useful for me to also get a general overview of all our holdings. Several proposals came out of the visit, as to how we can help them and vice versa, and we might hopefully get a spot in their newsletter. So I hope this will be the start of a very good relationship with some valuable members of the wider community.
No comments:
Post a Comment