Exposition of Libraries Alliance from founder @richove.bsky.social in conversation with Rob Green @cilip.bsky.social - importance of technologically up-to-date library staff. Listen to the end for clear statement on what libraries mean to society.

📚 Two centuries of student life reveal a dynamic, changing London. To mark UCL’s 200th anniversary, Student London: A New History of Higher Education in the Capital is out today- free to read and download: bit.ly/3NcnXpi #StudentLondon #LondonHistory #HigherEducation #OpenAccess

MAGAZINE MONDAY | From fragile fragments to the digital world: Library conservators treat crumpled Egyptian papyrus texts and bring them to a global audience online. https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/january-february-2026/history-unfolded/?loclr=blsky

' Ronald Barnett describes the contemporary fascination with skills as a form of ‘bewitchment’ (others have put it more strongly elsewhere)....When individuals are defined in this way, they become more easily interchangeable in the labour market, increasing workers’ vulnerability.'

An uplifting photo of our crocus lawn. Every single bulb moved there from under the trees by resident squirrels over the years 🐿️ No yellow ones. I guess they eat those straightaway.

It’s never a good thing to dictate what other people’s children can read. School libraries are spaces for every child.

The joy of books!

Treated, yesterday, to a David Bowie themed tea at the newly made-over Cafe Royal. Taken fashionably with the tourists at 1.00pm, the glam rock fare was served in the glittering Oscar Wilde Room, where videoing content took precedence to eating. Good times!

I have favoured the all black, non-biz style of dressing for a long time. Perhaps it is universal rather than specific to Manchester. It seems to say “I can think for myself” and “I don’t need to look like the rest of you”. Also, of course, eminently practical; everything matches everything else.

Even while the UK Web Archive’s public site is offline, the work hasn’t stopped. Behind the scenes, teams are still collecting, preserving, and building new collections to safeguard the UK’s digital history. 💻 www.bl.uk/stories/blog... #WebArchiving #UKWebArchive #UKLegalDeposit

If current politics is getting you down, Paddington The Musical will restore your faith in liberal London 😎 paddingtonthemusical.com

Detailed organisation and understanding of works still requires human effort.

See #CILIP's response to the new #Libraries funding announcement from the Government⤵️

Marie Curie in the history of bibliographic control. New blog post theoccasionalinformationist.com/2026/01/20/t...

Sad news. Lovely clothes.

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

“Many academic leaders follow managerial paths rather than scholarly ones ..” (often with no competence, creativity or credibility)

On the first anniversary of the signing of a century-long partnership between the UK and Ukraine, @richove.bsky.social, Bodley's Librarian at @ox.ac.uk expresses the city and university's unwavering solidarity with Ukraine's librarians.

👀From 2024... "If you’re an academic who is still using X, I would gently suggest to you that it is time to let go. The platform will either fold ~ or complete its evolution into the central engine of a politics, that compromises your professional credibility through association." #X #AcademicSky

THE LIBRARIANS has made the BAFTA Longlist for Best Documentary! We’re thrilled that the film is resonating with UK and Irish audiences and that our Librarians Without Borders movement continues to gain momentum. Now streaming in the UK on via BBC Storyville’s iPlayer. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

More libraries to explore - v good.

This is a delightful instruction guide for librarians from 1926. Check out the questions posed after each summary and reading list.

Books are so successful we don’t even think of them as IT bigthink.com/books/books-...

The Guardian view on universities: Labour needs a clearer plan | The Guardian

Stark warning from the Education Secretary. The decline in literacy risks undermining British national security by leaving future generations more at risk from Russian disinformation, Bridget Phillipson argues www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Lava lamps are magic in a bottle. It is important to keep a spare bulb in, however, so that the supply of inner calm remains constant. 😎

I am very sad to learn that Dr Paul Ayris has died. He was internal examiner for my PhD at UCL and offered sound support which underpinned my early academic career. www.leru.org/news/in-memo...

UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme

Lovely post on the impact on London of Sir Thomas Gresham. Highly recommend this blog for those interested in London - @alondoninheritance.bsky.social

Gosh. What a treat! Read this early escapism a very long time ago and still have the books. Prescient google buns for tea as I recall. 😎 #TheEnchantedWood

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that provides funding for America's libraries, has announced it is reinstating all grants it had previously terminated, including those to libraries and library organizations across the U.S. Read more: https://bit.ly/4496W4V

New blog exploring the conservation of Oldknow SO 15/11, an 18th century textile sample book. The book was too fragile to open with pages fused by mould and textiles and paper eaten through by pests. Read the blog to learn how it was cleaned and repaired: rylandscollections.com/2025/12/02/c...

What could go wrong? #privacy

👀ICYMI: "[our findings] underscores the urgent need for libraries, archives, and information infrastructure providers to include scholarly blogs more systematically in their preservation strategies" @pampel.bsky.social & @catharinaochsner.bsky.social #ScholComm #Libraries #AcademicBlogs

Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told

A voice out of the dark of time; the once and future LIS discipline. New blog post by myself and @lynrobinson.bsky.social. theoccasionalinformationist.com/2025/11/25/a...

A US District Court Judge has issued a permanent injunction in the lawsuit brought by 21 state attorneys general against the Trump administration for dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This means the IMLS cannot be further harmed. bookriot.com/21-attorney-...

‘The earliest documented European text printed with movable type was not a two-volume Bible but a single-leaf, 31-line indulgence, printed on vellum by Gutenberg and Peter Schoeffer in 1454.’ Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social) on Gutenberg’s books. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...

The rise of the unrequited connection. Real life can sometimes be just too hard.

How much longer until this approach seeps into UK HE?

We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December. To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches. Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...

‘The British Library is our great national home of cultural workers. We go there to read and research, to learn and to grow, to write and to think, to inspire and create’.

In Praise of Librarians in Dangerous Times Sarah Weinman on the Awesome Responsibility of the Seekers and Keepers of Truth

I am here for this content.

My new series - Empire With David Olusoga - starts 9pm on BBC Two. Whole series on @bbciplayer.bsky.social from tonight.

A 900-Page Pre-Pantone Guide to Color from 1692: A Complete High-Resolution Digital Scan