That was the theme of the Library stand at the Royal Welsh Show held 23-26 July. Our main message this year was family history that was displayed in the form of the family history of the Show’s President  John R Davies from Merthyr Cynog. Mr Davies’ family had connections with Llwynonn, Yscirfechan and Pentwyn farms in the parish going back to the middle of the eighteenth century. It was great to welcome not only the President and his wife Menna to the stand, but also his parents, siblings and cousins along with many local people that knew the family and to hear their stories.

The other part of the stand gave special attention to the photographs of P B Abery who worked as a photographer locally to the Show and also throughout Radnorshire. Some of the photographs from the collection were exhibited and once again a good response from visitors, many of them able to provide us with more information relating to some of the photographs.

Following a number of comments by our users about the lack of power sockets for the use of laptops in the North Reading Room, our electricians have been busy over the summer placing extra sockets under the main tables on the ground floor, and have also placed sockets on the first floor gallery, so that laptops can be used in this area as well. We hope that this will increase flexibility for our users.

The Library regularly receives students on work experience, and the Reader Services Department gives students the opportunity of working with our users, and also to see behind the scenes.

The students have the opportunity to shadow the staff who help our users at the enquiries desks. In the South Reading Room, they learn about the family history resources that are available to researchers, and they also learn about the manuscript, pictures and map collections available here at the National Library of Wales. This gives the students an opportunity to see and work with these unique collections.

In the North Reading Room, the students see other collections, but in printed form. These can be collections of old books through to modern books and journals received via the Copyright Act, as the National Library of Wales is one of the copyright libraries of the United Kingdom.

The students also have an opportunity to work with the Service Team, whose responsibility it is to fetch the items which have been ordered by our customers. This gives the students an opportunity to see where the collections are stored.

Finally, the students spend time with the Enquiries Team. This teal deals with enquiries received via letter, email, fax and telephone. This gives the student a chance to undertake research on our collections to find the necessary information to answer an enquiry and provide the enquirer with the information.

Therefore if you are interested in visiting the department for a period of work experience please contact the personnel department at the National Library of Wales for further information on 01970 632531

The Patent information centres, also known as Patent Libraries (PATLIBs), were created to provide users with local access to patent, trade mark, designs and copyright information.

The centres have qualified and experienced staff who offer practical assistance on a variety of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The PATLIB Wales Centre is located in the Welsh Government office in Llandudno Junction, but the National Library of Wales, working in partnership with the Welsh Government host clinics every two months at the National Library of Wales, where advisors can give information and advice on the above topics.

For further information, contact Dafydd Tudur at the National Library of Wales : dat@llgc.org.uk, 01970 632564

On the 4^th. October, 2012, the National Library of Wales will host a day for people who work from home, "Aberystwyth Jelly" – a day to work, chat and collaborate in a friendly relaxed environment and meet new and likeminded people.

During the “jelly” there will be the opportunity to book clinics with PATLIB Cymru who help make the most of Welsh ideas by providing access to Intellectual Property (IP) information.

To register for the day, visit www.inventorium.org/events

One of the nicest libraries in the world

The staff are always helpful, and so knowledgeable

Thoroughly enjoyed our visits, overwhelmed by the whole experience. Wonderful building to visit, very impressive. Keep up the good work!!