Family and Local History outreach work
As part of the Library’s Outreach programme of events this year a Family and Local History Fair was held in Newtown on 15 October. It was a very successful day with the various societies that were present having an opportunity to make new connections not only with members of the public but also with the Library. The staff of People’s Collection Wales were very busy scanning archives and photographs of the area that came to light during the visit.
This is only one event in the Library’s calendar to promote family and local history. The South Reading Room staff will also be contributing to the Open Day on 28 January by preparing an exhibition of the Aberystwyth area and holding information sessions on family history throughout the day.
At the end of February a team from the Library will take part in Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012 at Olympia, London which claims to be the biggest family history event in the world! The Library has been attending since the very first show, where about 15,000 people attend over the three days. This is a great opportunity for us as an establishment to take advantage of a specialist audience to promote our services and collections. As part of the Show two presentations will be given, one on searching Welsh ancestors, the other relating to the Library’s probate collection. We take advantage of the opportunity to meet old and new users of the Library.
Reaching out to schools and universities
Following the continuing success of visiting universities in Wales we have also decided to concentrate on reaching out to some of Mid Wales’s comprehensive schools. We have been working in conjunction with the National Library of Wales’s Education Service in order to share resources and experience whilst visiting the local schools, and welcoming them here to Aberystwyth.
We have visited many schools during September and October 2011. During these visits the Education Service has focused on presenting information about the Library's resources, and in particular how these can be used as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification, while Reader Services has raised awareness of electronic resources, and registering pupils as readers.
We are also continuing our promotional work by attending the Aberystwyth University open days; this is a chance to meet prospective students and for them to learn about our resources and various collections. Many have even said they there were considering studying at Aberystwyth due to the fact that the National Library of Wales was also located here. This year we also attended the postgraduate fair at Bangor University to promote our online resources. These are available remotely for those students with an address in Wales or a Welsh postcode.
The National Library of Wales considers this outreach work as vitally important, as a means of reaching prospective users of the Library.
Information Leaflets
The Library is currently preparing a series of leaflets based on its collections, which it hopes will serve as a starting point for researchers in various fields.
The first leaflet, "Sources for the History of Houses" has just been published, and provides invaluable information for those wishing to research the history of their property.
North Reading Room
The North Reading room has had its busiest period ever since we have been keeping records of attendance. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of readers using the room since its refurbishment two years ago; and it seems that listening to our readers has borne fruit – we have managed to preserve the ambience of the original room, but have managed to modernise it at the same time by introducing wireless internet, study rooms, dedicated workstations and desks for laptop use.
The demand has exceeded our expectations, and in response to this we have allowed access to the first floor gallery which has additional tables for reading.
If you have any suggestions on how to improve the provision in the North Reading room please feel free to contact us with your suggestion.
Comments by users of the Library
As you may have noticed in this newsletter, the Library often asks you, the user, to tell us what you think of the Library, the staff and its facilities. We are pleased to say that most comments are positive, with the odd constructive criticism thrown in for good measure. If you wish to make a comment, or suggest how we could improve our facilities or services, please let us know.
You can speak with a member of staff, complete the comments books available in the Reading Rooms, or complete a questionnaire which can be found at all our service points. We welcome and value your comments and suggestions.
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