There were emotional scenes yesterday as Katharine delivered a lecture on the history of DMU’s libraries with a focus on the creation and development of Kimberlin. Without too many spoilers (we don’t want to miss out on the anticipation of our potential publication for the 40 years anniversary in November), the talk brought back many memories for our longer-serving staff members in terms of original building layout, extensions, and obsolete technology and systems.
Most importantly, however, the images and promotional videos reminded all of earlier days and the people they used to work with. While many were able to share forgotten memories with their colleagues, we were also reminded of absent friends: those who have moved on to pastures new or those who have now passed away.
As with any trip down memory lane, there are always mixed feelings, but much fun was had looking at 80s hair-dos, big glasses, and trying to name the faces in our”unidentified” collection of staff images. It is even hoped we might hold an archives event to help match up names and faces.
The Special Collections team would like to say a big thank you to all who attended the event yesterday; we were honoured to put the talk together and we enjoyed watching your responses to it!