A few months after I joined the staff of the National Library in 1995, I was walking through the foyer one day when the Keeper of Printed Books, Dr. Rhidian Griffiths, called me into his office. “Have you heard of the Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group?” he asked. “No” I replied. “Would you like to be its Secretary?” asked Rhidian. This probably isn’t the most conventional route to becoming an officer of any society, but after looking at the Group’s programmes and pondering the matter for a few days, I agreed (and was subsequently elected at an A.G.M., I should add).
The Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group was formed in 1970 “to foster a scholarly interest in printed books, manuscripts and maps”. Although it has no formal link with the National Library, there have always been close connexions. One of the founder members, Gwyn Walters, recalls that the idea for the Group was formed over coffee and cigarettes (!) in the old Library canteen. Our current Chairman, Dr. Lionel Madden, is a former Librarian, and many current and former members of the Library’s staff have spoken at its meetings. This year’s programme includes a lecture by a former Keeper of Manuscripts and Records, Daniel Huws, entitled A Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes. By a generous agreement with the Department of Public Services, the Group is allowed to hold up to three meetings a year in the Drwm or the Council Chamber.
In the forty years since its formation the Group has continued to thrive, while similar societies around the country have folded or struggled to achieve attendances in double figures. A visiting speaker from the British Library a few years ago was impressed by the size of his audience, and even more impressed when I told him that they included three former National Librarians! The Group’s enduring success reflects the vibrancy of the scholarly community in Aberystwyth, which includes the University, the National Library and other organisations such as the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, where both current and former members of staff are active in research and eager to share their results with an enthusiastic audience.
As well as an annual programme of five lectures, the Group has an outing each year to visit a historic library. In September this year we visited the library at Picton Castle, courtesy of the Chairman of the Trustees, Thomas Lloyd, a long-standing reader at the National Library. Our programme of meetings for 2010-11 began last week in the Drwm with a lecture by Nichola Court, Modern Records Archivist at the Royal Society – which celebrates its 350th anniversary this year – on The History of the Royal Society and its Library. Whether the Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group will last 350 years remains to be seen!