In September we were delighted to welcome three new international researchers to the Library as part of our collaboration with Chevening, the UK government’s international professional development programme. With their year-long fellowships now well underway, in this blog post Akmal Bazarbaev (from Uzbekistan), Rihana Suliman (from Syria) and Sanja Stepanovic-Todorovic (from Serbia) look back on their first months at the Library (and in London) and tell us about their plans for 2019.

Meanwhile, we look forward to continuing our partnership with Chevening in the years ahead, with two more fellowships starting in September 2019 – one focused on digitised archival material from Latin America and the Caribbean, another looking at African-language printed books collections. These unique projects are a fantastic way for colleagues across the Library to both support and benefit from the professional development of international researchers, capitalising on the breadth and depth of our collection, resources and expertise.

Top image: our new Chevening Fellows, Sanja Stepanovic-Todorovic, Rihana Suliman and Akmal Bazarbaev. Above: Rihana and Sanja at work at the British Library. All photos by Sam Lane.

Akmal Bazarbaev

My Chevening fellowship project is on exploring and enhancing the British Library’s Turkic-language collections. By cataloguing and publicising Turkic materials in the Library’s collection, the project will add to our knowledge about the nature and extent of publishing in Turkic languages throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I’m working under the supervision of Michael Erdman, Turkish and Turkic Collections Curator.

I am interested in materials and sources concerning the Turkic world written in Turkic, Persian and Arabic languages. My Chevening Fellowship is a great way to explore this subject. By working with staff and researchers at the British Library, I am learning new ways to explore and enhance historical sources. At the same time, this fellowship is helping me to increase my academic network. It is a wonderful opportunity!

Before coming to the UK, I already knew that the British Library was one of biggest libraries in the world. Now I am seeing that it is even more than that. It is not just a place that passively keeps huge amounts of material; it is also a leading research institution in its own right and a vibrant cultural centre.

I have earned my Bachelor and Master’s degrees from Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies. Having worked at the National Library and Central State Archive of Uzbekistan, I have held different positions, such as librarian, senior archivist and senior researcher. My current post in Uzbekistan is as a researcher at the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences. I’m really excited about how the Chevening Fellowship will allow me to build on this experience over the months ahead.

 

Rihana Suliman

My fellowship is based within the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), which is co-ordinated and hosted by the British Library and supported by Arcadia. My project is focused on helping EAP to strengthen its activities in North Africa and the Middle East. I’ll be doing research into archival collections held in those regions, engaging with archival experts locally and internationally, and developing a targeted engagement strategy and outreach programme. All of which is incredibly exciting!

For me personally, one of the great things about this fellowship is the chance it gives me to belong to an active research community. I have most recently been working as an assistant professor at Damascus University in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics. The circumstances of the war in Syria have almost completely ruled out the possibility of conducting research, especially for academics of English literature and other foreign languages. So this fellowship is a particularly treasured opportunity. It will also allow me to benefit from the broad range of professional expertise in the Library and reflect on my professional, academic and personal growth.

The first months of my fellowship have been full of thought-provoking engagements within the Endangered Archives Programme, the British Library and London. I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Library’s photographic exhibition Beyond Timbuktu: Preserving the Manuscripts of Djenné, Mali – a digitisation project funded by EAP. I have also visited the Treasures of the British Library and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War exhibitions here, in addition to attending the recent V&A conference on Middle Eastern Crafts: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. This was a fantastic opportunity for me to meet and network with researchers from all over the world but more specifically from the Middle East and North Africa.

I would use words such as super productive, hugely inspiring and very exciting if I am to describe my first months here. But I should also use one more word: lucky. I am very lucky indeed to have the wonderful support and encouragement of my supervisor Jody Butterworth, the EAP curator, and other colleagues. I am looking forward to the many accomplishments to be made in the year ahead!

 

Sanja Stepanovic-Todorovic

I feel pleased and privileged to spend the 2018/2019 academic year in the British Library as a Chevening Fellow. I come from Serbia’s capital Belgrade, where I have been working in the Library of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

My project, Academy and Society in the Balkans: 1850-1950, covers 9 countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. It takes place within the Southeast European section of the Library’s European & Americas Collections team, under supervision of curator Milan Grba.

Our aim is to increase the visibility and accessibility of the Library’s collection of Balkan academic publications to both researchers and the wider public. Through a combination of bibliographic work and research, the project will throw fresh light on the publishing efforts of Balkan academic institutions since the second half of the 19th century.

So far I have spent many fruitful hours in the Library’s basements, physically surveying and identifying Balkan academic publications. It has been slightly mind-boggling to be amongst such a vast and diverse concentration of publications from all over the world! Looking ahead, I’m excited about starting work on the main outputs of this research – a new database and collection guide. I’ll also be liaising with conservators around any items that require additional preservation and conservation treatment. And rest assured I’ll be helping our curators to start filling any gaps that we identify in the most relevant series!

 

Interviews by James Perkins

Research & Postgraduate Development Manager

 

The Single Digital Presence is An Arts Council England and Carnegie UK Trust funded project, exploring what a national online platform for public libraries might look like. I’m currently working as researcher on the Single Digital Presence scoping project here at the British Library.

Working with public libraries across the UK, we’re lucky enough to have lots of inspiring conversations with inspiring librarians about libraries, their value and their future. One of the questions we get asked most frequently– and it is also a question we frequently ask ourselves – So what is a ‘Single Digital Presence’?

Well, as Liz introduced in our first blog, that really is the million-dollar question for this whole project. What does a national digital platform for public libraries look like, and how could we create a digital platform that reinvigorates, refreshes and rearticulates the values and purposes of the library in an information-rich society?

When I started my role with the project back in February, my first job was to look beyond the UK to see how other library services internationally have tackled this question. For someone who loves libraries, this was a pretty exciting task, and it didn’t disappoint. From shared catalogues, to intelligent discovery tools, centralised e-lending platforms to digital libraries, digital innovation has streamlined and enhanced users access to trusted and authoritative knowledge, as well as, we shouldn’t forget, the simple pleasures of a good read.

But while we were researching what digital innovation in libraries looks like, we’ve also had our eyes on how public libraries worldwide are changing. We’ve seen the library space evolving to facilitate different and diffuse types of activity and knowledge exchange. Libraries are increasingly used - and valued - as a safe, trusted and flexible civic space for work, study, debate, and creation that some traditional performance metrics (book issues, active memberships) fail to capture. Steady declines in physical borrowing and active memberships are an almost global phenomenon, however libraries are continuing to attract new users, as increasing physical visits statistics in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Denmark attest to, even as physical borrowing patterns change.

In our hyper-connected world, this evolving library space often involves a forward-thinking digital space or offer. One that reinvigorates the public libraries by communicating more effectively the services it provides, while also reflecting the changing needs of our users. A digital space that is flexible and personalised. One that responds to user needs, that promotes co-creation and connection without stipulating the form this takes, and a space that enables this both digitally and within the walls of the physical library space.

In what follows I’ve chosen a few examples of libraries and librarians tackling these challenges.

The City Space as Library: New York Public Library’s Digital experiments

Image at top of page and above: both copyright New York Public Library. See: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/06/08/subwaylibrary

For many of us who follow the work of the New York Public Library, we’re often left with considerable library envy. Two projects that caught my eye in particular were #subwaylibrary and Insta Novels. In both cases NYPL take the library offer and direct it towards the spaces a 21st century library users spend a lot of their time, namely the subway train and the social feed.

For #Subwaylibrary, the NYPL partnered with New York’s transport authority, to offer subway passengers free access to hundreds of e-books and short stories, appearing on the ‘splash page’ as soon as users’ login. To celebrate this, the Subway commissioned a ‘library train’, designed to resemble the NYPL’s main reading room, bringing the library literally outside its walls.

And if users want to read a book without even leaving Instagram, the NYPL now have this covered, with their exquisitely designed Insta novels series. Starting with Alice in Wonderland last month, the NYPL will release a full public domain each month through the Story feature.

NYPL's first Insta Novel, Alice in Wonderland. Image copyright: New York Public Library https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/08/22/instanovels

Both of these examples highlight the possibilities digital when combined with expert strategic thinking and beautiful user-centred design. NYPL have thought seriously about where the current library user is and how they want to access material. What I really like about these projects is that they are additive to NYPL’s core physical offer. They grab our attention, make us more likely to read a few pages on the subway, and visit a library to check out the rest of the book. What the NYPL shows us is how beautiful digital products and services can sit perfectly well within a wider library eco-system.

A Central Presence, Multiple Platforms: The Scandinavian Approach

Around 10 years ago, libraries in both Denmark and Finland began large-scale digital projects to radically overhaul their central infrastructure and improve the digital offer for all of their library users.

In 2012, the Danish Ministry of Culture established the ‘Danish Digital Library’, an arms-length governmental body and the lead agency in designing new digital services for library users. The DDL noticed very early on into their research that users had a strong preference towards their local library website, even when offered the choice of a highly functional, well designed national aggregator to find library materials.

'Litteratursiden': An online magazine ran by the Danish Digital Library, copyright: Danskerne Digitale Bibliotek

With this in mind they developed a shared website design with a core infrastructure, that is then adjustable for each local library authority. To get a good feel for this, I’d recommend you take a quick look at Copenhagen, Aarhus and Gentofte libraries’ website. As you can see, they share a basic design articulating a clear and uniform library brand and style that is national in scope. However, local libraries retain autonomy over their own content, and have a local digital space for a local physical space.

Finnish Public libraries are taking a similar approach, and over the next five years all libraries will use the ‘Finna’ interface, a highly intelligent and open-source search tool developed for the Finna digital library. Finna is as a central discovery tool and digital library, allowing access the holdings of all libraries, galleries and Museums in Finland, developed by the National Library of Finland. However, with libraries migrating over to the shared interface, users will retain a local digital experience, while accessing a clear and recognisable digital cultural brand.

Finna.fi, A digital library and national search tool, copyright: National Library of Finland

This Scandinavian approach is great because it recognises the great strengths of both the library (it’s local, and loved because it is local) and of digital (to work at scale and to forge both national and global digital communities).

In these instances, the local library website is powered by national clout and joined up thinking but remains the main gateway to the library for users who crave meaningful cultural experiences that are fundamentally local.

Transforming Collections in the Digital Age: AVA in Berlin

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to speak at Next Library in Berlin, a coming together of librarians to share ideas and stories from the front-line of library innovation and best practice.

Next Library Festival Berlin, ZLB/Copyright: Mike Auerbache

Here I heard about AVA, a library owned video streaming platform, granting users access to on-demand films both in the library and at home or on the move. What makes AVA unique is that it partners with Europe’s leading film-festivals (the Berlin Film Festival being their primary partner), to curate a selection of unique Audio-visual packages for users, showcasing some of the best independent filmmakers, as well as offering some content that is exclusive to the AVA platform.

For me, this is an audio-visual platform that doesn’t just mimic its commercial rivals, but offers something distinctively of the library, a platform for enjoyment yes, but also for research and inspiration, and a space that encourages connections to new cultures and cultural production. I’m particularly impressed at the partnerships AVA has forged, and it’s unsurprising that film festivals want to work with Public Libraries. In the conversations we’ve been having it’s clear that cultural institutions are eager to work more closely with libraries, and as AVA shows, digital platforms are well placed to build stronger connections between libraries, their collections, and beautiful, inspirational content from other arts organisations.

Get involved!

These are just three examples of some of the most exciting developments happening world-wide, everywhere we look there are committed libraries and librarians embracing digital to ensure the Public library remains at the heart of a thriving and vibrant civic culture. But we’re always on the lookout for more, so if you know of something happening in your local library, or your country, do get in touch. We see ourselves as part of a global conversation about the future of public libraries, and we’d love to hear your thoughts.

We are also running workshops with library users across the UK. Coming up we have two hour workshops in:

• Stratford upon Avon, 25 October
• Glasgow, 31 October

For more info and to sign up please email: [email protected]

Jacob Fredrickson

Research Officer, Single Digital Presence Project

 

Jacob Fredrickson is a Research Officer working on the Single Digital Presence Project at the British Library. He is also a M3C/AHRC Funded PhD Student at the University of Birmingham. When he’s not reading about libraries he’s probably reading a history book or riding a bike.

Get in touch with Jacob @ [email protected]

 

Claire Stone is Senior Creative Producer at Poet in the City, an arts organisation bringing poetry to life beyond books. In celebration of National Poetry Day, we caught up with Claire and shine a spotlight on Collections in Verse, which aims to take British Library exhibitions across the country through poetry.

Claire Stone, Senior Creative Producer, Poet in the City

Can you tell us more about Collections in Verse and what inspired this project?

Collections in Verse is a collaboration between the British Library, Poet in the City and public libraries in Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Reading and Exeter – all part of the Living Knowledge Network – to explore a new approach to touring exhibitions using poetry.

The partnership started in response to a challenge – the British Library has fantastic exhibitions but these are limited in the places they can tour due to the high levels of care the objects require – so how can we increase the reach of this amazing content, so that it can be enjoyed by more people?

Poet in the City had been using poetry commissions as a way to open up and explore heritage with a modern audience, with partners such as St Paul’s Cathedral and the Culture Mile. We find that poetry is an excellent medium for opening conversations – and wanted to know whether we could tour the content from British Library exhibitions through words and stories, rather than objects.

So for our first pilot with Leeds Libraries, we have commissioned three phenomenal poets of Caribbean heritage, living and working in Leeds to respond to the Windrush: Songs in a Strange Land exhibition currently on at the British Library, and help us create new poetry and events that tell the legacy of Windrush in Leeds today.

We would love to hear more about these poets.

Khadijah Ibrahiim, Malika Booker and Vahni Capildeo each bring a unique and beautiful style and approach to their work, which is a joy to work with. For example, Khadijah Ibrahiim is a fantastic community organiser and activity for her local city of Leeds, championing poetry and Caribbean culture in all its forms. Malika Booker and Vahni Capildeo have both been the Douglas Caster Fellow for Poetry at the University of Leeds, and bring their fantastic creative minds to bear on this project.

Collections in Verse poets Khadijah Ibrahiim, Malika Booker and Vahni Capildeo at the British Library's Poets Circle in St Pancras

Their research for this project takes them into the impact of Windrush women on the textiles industry in Yorkshire; our understanding of ‘Journeys’ – the everyday movements and relocations that make up our lives, and our senses of home; and music as a form of social commentary, from hymns and folk songs to Soundsystem culture.

Collections in Verse poet Khadijah Ibrahiim reading ROOTS RUNNIN II from her collection Another Crossing, honouring her great grandmother Tamar McLaren.

Windrush is a living and breathing part of their heritage, and we couldn’t ask for three better poets to have on board for this project – it’s a pleasure to work with each of them, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Collections in Verse poet Malika Booker reading SALTFISH from her collection Pepper Seed, inspired by her mother’s work as a nurse in the UK.

What's coming up next for Collections in Verse?

We have just completed our first wave of community engagement in Leeds, and over the next six months we will be developing an ambitious programme of events to celebrate the commissions, including a Leeds Central Library takeover and pop-up performances and installations at the branch libraries in March 2019.

Looking ahead we are looking forward to setting up the second year of Collections in Verse projects, with our library partners and poets in Sheffield and Newcastle – who are responding to upcoming exhibitions at the British Library such as Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War. We can’t wait to get started!

And just around the corner is our first sharing of our Leeds poets’ new material from their Windrush commissions at Ilkley Literature Festival on 10 October. We’re delighted to be sharing a platform with this fantastic festival of words in West Yorkshire.

How can people get involved in Collections in Verse?

Come to our events in Leeds! You can sign up to the Poet in the City mailing list to find out more about the project here; and we are always open to collaboration, so if you’d like to get in touch you are welcome to send me a message at [email protected] to carry on the conversation.

It’s important that we shift the perception of public libraries as ‘static’ spaces for books only, to ‘live’ cultural spaces where you can make and experience new work. The libraries we are working with as part of the Living Knowledge Network are incredible and active services for their communities, and we want to help bring people closer to their local libraries, the British Library and to poetry. We hope the people who engage with this project will feel that public collections belong to and represent them. And if we can make libraries a home for live poetry along the way, all the better!

Content and Community Team