Meanwhile in Newcastle and East Lothian.....

Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 6:02PM

It has been a busy week indeed. I must confess that it is nice to be home and today has been a very lazy day. I really should have been out in the garden, cutting the grass and doing some weeding but instead I’ve faffed about most of the afternoon. Now, I have to warn you, folks, this is a long posting.

The feedback from conference has been very positive and I am thrilled about that. I think we had two very good days indeed. Michael Charlton has provided a really good account of the sessions on his blog so if you weren’t there his posting will give you a really good flavour of the conference. On Wednesday morning, I drove from Dundee down to Newcastle. I stopped off in Alnwick – which is, quite possibly, my favourite town – and called into Barter Books for a quick look. How I love that shop and how I could spend serious money in there if I were being irresponsible. Unfortunately, I didn’t have nearly long enough as I had promised to be at Northumbria University around one o’clock.

So it was back in the car and onwards to Newcastle. Now, if Alnwick is one of my favourite towns, then Newcastle is surely one of my favourite cities. It always has a real buzz about, the people are all so friendly, the late Georgian and Regency architecture around Eldon Square and down Grey Street is beautiful (and how I love Earl Grey perched on his column; he rivals Nelson). Over in Gateshead is the wonderful Sage and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. And, of course, Newcastle has a splendid new central library which I will be visiting again in September.

The purpose of my visit was as external examiner for the librarianship Masters course at Northumbria University and the afternoon was spent reviewing coursework. In the evening some of the staff of the school took me and the other externals out for a meal. By coincidence, two of the other externals (for the engineering courses, library and information sits within the School of Computer, Engineering and Information Science) are retired RGU people, Jim Penman, formerly our Vice Principal and Norman Deans, formerly head of the School of Engineering. And, the third examiner, Danny Gorman, used to work at RGU too. So it was an RGU take-over.

The following morning it was back to do more reviewing of work and then the Assessment Board itself. After that, my great friends the wonderful Ali Pickard and the equally wonderful Julie McLeod took me for lunch at the Biscuit Factory which is, actually, a contemporary arts and craft gallery. Again, I could have spent serious money there. The three of us had a really good chat and put the world well and truly in order. Of course, in spheres less exalted than higher education, this would have been described as a good gossip ;o) But, in reality, it was incredibly productive as it is so important for the library schools to stick together and keep in touch with developments.

I spent the afternoon out in Newcastle before returning to the hotel where I composed a suitable quote for Gary in Orkney who had emailed me to say he was preparing a press release on his Golden Book Stamp Award. Then in the evening Ali and I went for a meal. Ali Pickard is just one of those life-enhancing people and to spend time in her company is a always the greatest of pleasures. Ali is academically superb and is really student-focused but is a great and active researcher too.

Friday morning saw me drive up to East Lothian to visit the super new library in Dunbar and the John Gray Centre in Haddington. Dunbar was my first stop where I was met by Alison Hunter and Thomas Connelly who had very kindly organised my visit. The new library in Dunbar is in the Bleaching Fields Community Centre. It is a lovely piece of design and the library is bright and airy, a terrific space with lots of wood and glass. The curved passage way as you enter from the atrium of the community centre is painted wonderful Massey Ferguson red. I love this library; it’s a great space and so welcoming. It was very busy too with all the PCs being used, by users right across the age spectrum; I noticed one lady was creating a poster for the Methodist Church coffee morning. Lots of children were in the kids area, running about, making a noise and choosing books. And not a sssshhhhh in the place.

Of course, needless to say, there are several former RGU students in East Lothian libraries including Rachel Dykes who completed the distance learning course a couple of years ago. However, you should have seen the look on my face when I saw Grant McDougall who studied at RGU but who was also at high school the same time as me. East Lothian Council’s cabinet member for Community Wellbeing, Councillor Tim Day, was there too and the new audio ebooks download facility was launched. So the Presidential Chain got another outing and might well end up in the East Lothian Courier. Dunbar Library is fantastic.

Then it was on to the John Gray Centre in Haddington which I had awarded a Golden Book Stamp at the Conference Dinner on Monday. Now, dear readers, the John Gray Centre is a must-see venue. I want bus and train loads of you going to Haddington. The building has been renovated fantastically and the glass atrium is juxtaposed beautifully against the original listed buildings. This is co-location of services at its very best and is certainly an exemplar, a model for how to combine library, archives, local studies and museum. The library is a wonderful space; it was full of people and I overheard one young mum saying to another “I’m in the library all the time”. Cool. One thing I really loved in the library is that the end of the shelving units have really great images of the East Lothian landscape.

Then it was upstairs to museum. Alison, Thomas and I were joined by Alex Fitzgerald, the council’s Records Manager. We toured the museum and I am completely bowled over by it. The mixture of artefacts and interpretation is just right; the layout is superb; the graphics and branding are excellent (as they are throughout the building). I am particularly impressed by the engagement with the community that is obvious throughout the displays; schoolchildren have created a fantastic ceramic-tile map of East Lothian, a walking group for people with anxiety and depression have taken super photos of various local scenes and some members of the community have their chosen topics explored in displays. This is as good an example of a local museum as I’ve seen. Then it was on to the archive and local studies. As you can imagine I was in my element. Again, a great space and the archive repository upstairs is incredibly impressive.

So East Lothian. I think your libraries are just fantastic. Loads of people happily busying themselves in them; wonderful, smiling enthusiastic staff; and the John Gray Centre, well what can I say? Absolutely stunning in every respect. This is a model for the rest of the country. Enriching society? Go and look at East Lothian libraries.

And, I will be back. Poor Thomas will have the family historian from hell when I turn up to find out about some of my ancestors who lived for a time in Prestonpans in the eighteenth century.