Seb Harris has been at the Library for the past week for work experience. Now he looks back on his week with us.
I chose Gladstone’s Library for my work experience for one specific reason: I love books. I knew that coming here would be a great experience as the books that are
kept here are not the usual books you’ll find at a school, university, or public library. By working in the library, you get the great experience to discover new titles and writers. It is also extremely fascinating to learn all about the library’s history and about William Gladstone’s life as well, and to see the handwritten notes that Gladstone made in some of his own books.
Being here on my first day was very confusing as the library system is completely different to that of any ‘normal’ library. We all have to follow Gladstone’s library system which just consists of a letter, a number, and another number just below that one. Trying to re-shelve a book on my first day was very confusing and took me a while to get my head round the system and in which specific spot the book should go in. But as the days went by, re-shelving a book became a lot easier and the system seemed to suddenly make sense to me. But luckily I had plenty of help if I was stuck with trying to find a section or a shelf.
Gladstone’s Library is bigger than most libraries in the area, so that means that there are plenty of sections and parts that all need memorizing. I was shown the library’s annex, which is where we put all the books which could no longer be in the library. The annex is split into two sections, one where all the normal type of books are kept, and the other is for oversized books which can no longer fit on the shelves. The annex is used a lot when re-shelving and requires quite a lot of strength when pulling the rolling stacks to reach the right shelf for a book. But, seeing all of these books that once stood in the nineteenth century is very interesting and it is also extremely interesting to see the handwritten notes that Gladstone made in some of his own books. The annex is truly a very interesting part of the library.
Also while here at the Gladstone Library, I had to mend a few books to make them readable again which was fun to do, I also had to circulate plenty of books to make sure that we knew which books were being used, and I had to do a lot of stock checking which gave me a chance to get my head round the libraries confusing system and see what kinds of books there were. But I think that the most fun was helping out with the libraries different displays to celebrate holidays such as Ramadan or big events such as the 4th July. This required quite a bit of research which taught me a lot about these holidays and events which, before, I did not know a lot about.
The library also features a case full of Gladstone’s artefacts, which includes his axe, clay pipe and quill.
Working at the Gladstone Library was a brilliant experience that I really enjoyed and I hope, that someday in the future, I will be able to do again. I can now return back to school with a head full of interesting facts about my home village and a lot about the famous man that once lived here in Hawarden 116 years ago.