How did you become a librarian?
Mrs Jones: I am a Library Assistant – I started off in a 6th Form college where I did my NVQ in Library Services. I joined St Pauls in 2013.
Mrs Wilkinson: I have worked as a library assistant in different libraries over the years starting as a teenager as my Saturday job and at university.
Mrs Aslett: I have worked in libraries since passing my A Levels. I worked in a public library for a year prior to going to university in Manchester where I graduated and became a Chartered Librarian. I worked in three different schools prior to St Paul’s where I have worked for the past nineteen years, starting in January 1999. Back then, from a librarian’s point of view, the library appeared to me as I imagined ‘the black hole of Calcutta’ might have been – dark, very cramped and hard to study in. Following many meetings between the Library Committee, the bursar and the architects, the transformation came in Summer 2000.
(the Walker Library as it used to be: there was no mezzanine level and the spiral staircase led only to a locked door. Photos by Mrs Aslett)
What’s the best bit about being a librarian/working in a library?
Mrs Jones: I love books! It is great having access to both new and old books.
Mrs Wilkinson: It’s generally a quiet atmosphere in which to work.
Mrs Aslett: Working with staff and pupils to find the information or book which helps them with their assignments and recommending books to others which they enjoy or find valuable enough to recommend to others. Every day is different as we have very diverse information requests and generally different sets of people working in the library – so variety is fun. We do have a lot of regulars who are here at 07.45am when the library opens.
And the worst bit?
Mrs Jones: Having to tell boys several times to be quiet.
Mrs Wilkinson: Boys talking.
Mrs Aslett: One of worst bits is looking for a book and it is not where we expect to find it – sometimes pupils replace a book on the wrong shelf and it then becomes 'lost' which sometimes causes us to spend unnecessary time trying to find it ...
Which books were you reading when you were a teenager?
Mrs Jones: I loved Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie.
Mrs Wilkinson: I enjoyed American literature like John Steinbeck and Toni Morrison.
Mrs Aslett: As a teenager I visited the library every week and read mainly fiction. I discovered many of the classics - favourites being A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. My favourite for relaxation was the Chalet School series and detective novels.
What’s the most annoying thing Paulines do in the library?
Mrs Jones: Bring in food and drinks which are not allowed.
Mrs Wilkinson: Put books back on the wrong shelf - once a book is on the wrong shelf it is lost.
Mrs Aslett: Paulines have a tendency to forget that others have important work to do in the library and often we are continually reminding pupils to be considerate of others working in the library, especially at the moment when everyone has exams.
What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s ever done in the Walker Library?
Mrs Jones: A boy came in dressed as a banana for his year book picture and was photographed next to the 'No food or drinks in the library' sign.
Mrs Wilkinson: We have seen some very weird outfits in the library on mufti day.
Mrs Aslett: The weirdest thing is when we had a filming in the library as it was used as the location for a pupil’s drama work.
What’s the longest a book’s ever been overdue?
Mrs Jones: About 34 weeks! The boy lived abroad, borrowed the book in June before the holidays. It was due back the first day of term in September but he did not go back home until the Easter holidays the following year.
Mrs Wilkinson: Mrs Jones deals with the overdues - however I believe teachers are often the worst culprits.
Mrs Aslett: What is the longest a book has ever been overdue - 482 days from 11th November 2002 to March 2004.
Are there books nobody has ever borrowed?
Mrs Jones: Yes.
Mrs Wilkinson: We can really only see for sure from 1993 which is when the library was computerised. There certainly are some books that have not been borrowed.
Mrs Aslett: Books that nobody has ever borrowed….yes, the Reference Section and also some of the very old classics books. Historically the library was exclusively for academic staff and this only changed when the school moved to Barnes in 1968. The Boys’ Library was the 'lending library'.
Do you think people should be allowed to talk in the library?
Mrs Jones: No – a library should be a place where people can revise and study without distractions.
Mrs Wilkinson: Not really. The Library holds over 50 people and if we allowed those pupils to talk quietly, it would become distracting. On the whole, the pupils are good about keeping talking to a minimum and because of that the library is a good place to come to work without distraction.
Mrs Aslett: I think pupils should be allowed to talk but not so that it affects others working or us from working. Many pupils now use earphones which they often forget about and therefore raise their voices when having a conversation with a neighbour. Consideration is important.
What’s your favourite book in the library?
Mrs Jones: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I also love The Road by Cormac McCarthy and A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart, which I recently read. It was brilliant.
Mrs Wilkinson: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
Mrs Aslett: My favourite book in the library is in the Rare Books Room. It is the poet Robert Burns’s copy of John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
If you had to invite one author (living or dead) to do a reading in the library, who would it be and why?
Mrs Jones: P G Wodehouse. His books are funny. I think he would be great fun.
Mrs Wilkinson: J R R Tolkien because of his amazing imagination.
Mrs Aslett: The author I would invite would be to do a reading in the library would be Terry Pratchett, writer of the Discworld series…a wonderful imagination.
If you had to ban one author/book from the library shelves, which would it be?
Mrs Jones: I am not sure about banning but I didn’t like The Da Vinci Code. Although it was fiction, it had a lot of inaccuracies about the Catholic church.
Mrs Aslett: Ban one author …. Cannot decide on this as someone I would ban would be another person’s favourite author. Years ago I read Enid Blyton and really enjoyed them, but now they are considered 'awful'. I have never banned an author so far.
If the library was on fire, and you could only save one book, which would it be?
Mrs Jones: Any book from the Rare books Room.
Mrs Wilkinson: Anything from the Rare books room e.g. the 2nd century papyrus.
Mrs Aslett: If the library was on fire what would I save – John Gould's series The Birds of Great Britain, illustrated in 25 parts, in the Rare Books Room.
Who is your favourite author/what’s your favourite book?
Mrs Jones: John Steinbeck. I loved East of Eden.
Mrs Aslett: My favourite author has changed many times but my favourite author/book in the library is Leo Marks's Between Silk and Cyanide.
Why are there only three beanbags?
Mrs Jones: There are 4 and we only allow them in the Fiction section so there is not enough room for more.
Mrs Wilkinson: There are actually 4 beanbags for the fiction area and any more may get a bit crowded.
Mrs Aslett: When bean bags were introduced it was to encourage reading for relaxation. Initially there were 8 and they were to be kept in the Fiction Area. However, they began to wander and not return which then impeded access to the non-fiction shelves. Over time they lost their 'bounce' and we cannibalised them into 4. We had to replace the four during Summer 2016.
What’s the best aspect of the new library going to be?
Mrs Jones: I think having a view of the river will be quite nice if a little distracting.
Mrs Wilkinson: The view from the upstairs gallery overlooking the river especially in the winter when the trees won’t be in leaf.
Mrs Aslett: Best aspect of the new library will be the bigger space for the Rare Books Room and the Archives will be part of the library.
Is there anything that you’ll miss about the Walker Library?
Mrs Jones: I like the layout. It is easy to find where books are shelved.
Mrs Wilkinson:Yes definitely, it has a very warm atmosphere and is laid out very well.
Mrs Aslett: I will miss the cosy atmosphere and just generally working here in the heart of the school. It is a place that often staff and pupils pop into on the way to lessons, lunch etc. and sometimes are attracted in by seeing our displays through the windows.
Will the new library have the same art, or will there be new art?
Mrs Jones: As far as I know we will have the same art.
Mrs Wilkinson: Don’t know.
Mrs Aslett: The art has been moved and I am unsure which items will be in the new library.
If you could add an extra feature to the new library, what would it be?
Mrs Jones: A water feature!
Mrs Wilkinson: I’ll won’t be able to answer that until we’ve been in for a while. However I am looking forward to the new library, the design plan is great, the light will be good and it will be wonderful to be in this prime spot next to the river.
Mrs Aslett: Extra feature would probably be a water dispenser.
How long is it going to take to move all the books from the old library to the new one?
Mrs Jones: Probably about a week.
Mrs Wilkinson:Hopefully only a few days. Removal men who are used to moving libraries are going to be doing all the hard physical work.
Mrs Aslett: We are hiring a professional team to move the stock which we will supervise. Moving the library books will probably take about a week going from the old to the new. The Rare Books and Archive collections will take about a week due to their contents and physical nature.
The Book Blog is looking forward to seeing the new library when it opens in October: thanks once again to Mrs Jones, Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Aslett, for taking the time to answer all our questions, and good luck with the move!
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