Smack Dab in the Middle Temple Law Library

Garden outside of Middle Temple Library

Another sunny day and another journey to a lovely library.
The Middle Temple Library, built in 1958, is a legal reference library but also holds a variety of other material that deal with biography, history, literature and a variety of other topics because the original purpose of the schools also provided "a generalist education".

Inside Middle Temple Law Library

According to their website is currently contains over 250,000 volumes covering the whole range of British, Irish, EU and US legal research resources, including law reports, journals, textbooks, loose-leafs, e-books and databases. As a part of its older collections it holds 9,000 early printed books, 300 manuscripts, is home to the Molyneux Globes, and a group of Prime Minister portraits dating from the 18th to 21st centuries.

Long ago, the library was faltering but a member of the Inn, Robert Ashley (1565-1641) bequeathed his large and varied personal library. The library continued to develop its collection through purchase and donation

Training and Development Librarian, Adam Woellhaf, told us that today, as a library serving the modern student of law, the library has:

ipads available for loan

database access

public access (by arrangement but at no charge)

textbooks organized by subject (whereas they were previously alphabetically arranged)
a two floors of basement storage for previous editions of textbooks
exhibition cases showcasing pieces form the rare book collections
an online catalogue (last updated in 2014)

Two prized items of the collection are the Molyneux Globes. Created by Emery Molyneux, the celestial and terrestrial globes are the first globes made in England, the only known surviving pair by this creator and the largest printed globes of this period. They originally date form 1592 and were presented to Queen Elizabeth I in July of that year and are referenced by Shakespeare in The Comedy of Errors.

Celestial Molyneux Globe

Observing and learning about the progression of this library shows how history can still be respected and referenced in a fully-functioning and forward thinking institution.

Comments

Bletchley Park : Information Safehold

After our class visit to The National Museum of Computing some of us ventured on to Bletchley Park . The location of the codebreakers and all of the vital and top secret work that was done there echoes the value of relocating collections for safekeeping during times of conflict. Heading towards the Mansion at Bletchley Park Due to London being such a target, and this new tactic of fighting a war through decoding of messages and information, removing such work to the country was imperative. The cultural and historical significance of the collections of museums, libraries, and archives that were moved to remote locations elsewhere in the UK mirrors this concept of removing what is deemed high-priority from high risk zones. Approaching the Mansion across the lawn The top secret nature of what went on at Bletchley Park during the war echoes how the stores of collections were kept secret so as to increase their safety in case of invasion. The Library and Archives at Ble

British Museum Archives

Entrance to the British Museum On a drizzly Tuesday morning we made our way to The British Museum where we were met by Archivist, Francesca Hillier. She gave us a very in-depth tour of a space that has not be open to the public for quite some time. Due to its standing as an historical building, no alterations can be made, therefore Ms. Hillier and her staff are focussed on working with the space in the most efficient and practical way possible. Shelves, desks, lighting, etc. must all remain as they are which may be somewhat frustrating but some aspects that must remain are really special. For example, there are hidden doorways disguised as books shelves as the entrance to stairs to get from the lower to upper level! Inside the British Museum Library and Archives which is closed to the public Fun Fact: The British Museum used to house The British Library before the 1990s. Recently, Ms. Hillier discovered mold in the lower levels of the storerooms of the archives so there

A Golden Afternoon: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers, Especially in the month of June..." "All In The Golden Afternoon" from Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland' After a journey on the train we all arrived at Kew 's Library, Art & Archives, housed just down the road from an entrance into the gardens. We were led by the Head of Library, Art & Archives, Fiona Ainsworth who informed us that the library itself is 165 years old and holds: over 185,000 monographs 150,000 pamphlets and reprints 5,000 periodicals over 20,000 maps 200,000 prints and drawings 7 million sheets of paper She went on to say she and her team of 20 are moving towards digitizing the collection to make it more accessible, which would be wonderful because the items she showed us were wonderful! Ms. Ainsworth explained how a single botanical illustration holds so much value because it contains all scientific aspects of a specimen through multiple stages of it

Rovings and Ramblings of V

Search This Blog