From Centre Librarian in one Further Education college, I moved on to the post of Campus Learning Resources Manager (LRM) in a bigger college further into London. As one of three Campus Managers under a Head of Learning Resources, I supervised three sites around the Moorgate-Old Street area while functioning as Site Librarian to one … Continue reading Moving On (librarywise)
Author: Cathy Cade
After a career in libraries, I began writing in retirement and have had writing published in Best of British, Scribble and Flash Fiction Magazine, as well as in the anthologies "To Hull and Back 2018 Short Stories," "Where the Wild Winds Blow", and "A Following Wind". My verse, "The Year Before Christmas", recounting the story of Emmie the Elf, is available from Amazon and Smashwords.
I plan to publish a collection of short stories later in 2019. Watch this space...
I live in the Cambridgeshire Fens most of the time, surrounded by flat but ever-changing fields. Other times I live across a garden fence from London’s historic Epping Forest.
Libraries in UK Further Education: 1990s
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com From the Sixth Form Centre, I moved further afield into an East London Further Education (FE) college. Back then, FE colleges were engaged in merging many small local sites into larger, centralised colleges. I was Centre Librarian on a site that served A-level courses to students aged 16+ as well … Continue reading Libraries in UK Further Education: 1990s
Library Networking
I was appointed librarian to a new Sixth Form Centre. It took Sixth Form students (aged 16-18) from two of the borough's secondary schools. The contract was for two years, while the schools in question expanded to accomodate their growing Sixth forms. The library boasted six networked RM Nimbus computers. My computing experience was limited … Continue reading Library Networking
The Dawn of Library Automation
I started work at a private school at the beginning of an Autumn term. My new position as Girls' School Librarian was more about keeping an eye on the pupils than developing the collection. The library was located in the girls' school building, but it served boys and girls in both primary and secondary schools … Continue reading The Dawn of Library Automation
Between Libraries
Between jobs.
Brunch with the Small Dog
Loved this one. It reminds me so much of our Pickle’s ‘feed me’ eyes.
The Carrot Ranch is currently running a flash fiction contest in honour of Sue Vincent’s decade of blogging and support for fellow writers. Learn more at https://carrotranch.com/2021/02/01/the-sue-vincent-rodeo-classic/
Me and the dog had a sandwich for brunch
(Well, for me it was breakfast, for her it was lunch.)
She follows me into the kitchen like glue
Just in case I might rustle up something to chew.
You don’t eat alone with a small dog in tow
And if you forget she will whine so you know
That she’s starving to death, hasn’t eaten in weeks…
Just so you’ll believe her she’ll suck in her cheeks
And manages somehow to look so pathetic,
With puppy-dog eyes that are purely cosmetic,
That there’s no way you’re eating that sandwich alone
Not unless in your breast beats a heart made of stone.
Now that’s bad enough but there’s worse on the menu
The kitchen, of course, is a wonderful venue
For practising how to look thin and appealing
While keeping an eye out for something worth stealing.
She sits there observing…
View original post 134 more words
Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #6
A personal history Moving On In the new post, I was back with my old team, albeit in a more exalted role. The branch was now operating out of a couple of portacabins on a patch of wasteland while a new civic complex was under construction on the old site. As well as a much … Continue reading Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #6
Cyberspace, Post-Covid
I've read posts prophecying that the Covid experience has changed society forever to be more caring and outward-looking. Call me an old cynic; I have yet to be convinced. Wishful thinking aside, I can forsee some benefits from our year, or more, living in cyberspace. Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com Older people, many of … Continue reading Cyberspace, Post-Covid
Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #5
A personal history Qualified Success Library school was part of a technical college which has since been promoted to a University along with a swathe of others in the 1990’s. To get there from the parental home, I drove through or around London, or was carried beneath it. All routes, including London Underground, took roughly … Continue reading Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #5
Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #4
A personal history Central Ops After Easter, someone remembered I was meant to be experiencing other library departments and I had a last-minute tour of Central Lending, Central Ref, Admin and Accessions, spending two weeks in each. Central lending library was located in a Victorian building which also housed the Town Hall. Administrative departments had … Continue reading Olden Days in UK Public Libraries – #4
