Tales of One City

Scotland versus England in pictures and programmes

edinburghcitylibraries — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:55:57 +0000

As well as being National Libraries Day, Saturday also sees the start of this year’s RBS Six Nations rugby championship. Scotland’s first match sees Murrayfield play host to a visit from the ‘auld enemy’, who ran out victors when the sides last met at the 2011 World Cup.

Central Library’s Edinburgh and Scottish Collection is home to books, photographs and programmes which document the history of international rugby’s oldest fixture. Some of these items make up part of a display which is currently on show in the library.

The slideshow below features the teams from the first match between the countries, which took place at Raeburn Place on the afternoon of Monday 27th March 1871. Each team had 20 players and each half lasted 50 minutes. The match was won, somewhat controversially, by the home side.

Click to view slideshow.

The slideshow also includes a couple of items from our collection of programmes, including the cover of the programme for the 100th match between the sides, which took place in 1984. Despite the efforts of England’s splendidly named Dusty Hare, Scotland won this game on their way to a rare grand slam.

If you’re interested in finding out more about our collection of rugby material speak to a member of staff or drop us a line at central.edinburghandscottish.library@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Drumbrae Library Hub makes history

edinburghcitylibraries — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:42:43 +0000

The newest public library in the United Kingdom welcomed its first book lovers today.

The public opening of the Drumbrae Library Hub in West Edinburgh brought to fruition more than two decades of campaigning among local people for a library in their area.

Click to view slideshow.

But this striking new building is not just a magnet for avid readers – as a Hub, it is designed to work as a ‘one-stop shop’, offering a range of services such as adult day care, a cafe and the opportunity to report local issues, pay Council bills and so on. It is also the new home to the Council’s West Neighbourhood Office and the Drumbrae and Gyle Police Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Council Leader Jenny Dawe said: “This is a very special day for the local community, who have waited many decades to see their dreams of a local library realised. I am extremely proud to have been able to deliver the library together with many additional services and facilities that will benefit local residents. I am certain that the Drumbrae Library Hub will quickly become the focal point for the area.”

One of the first people to experience the new facility at first hand was Katie Campbell, from Clermiston. A recruitment consultant and mother-of-two, she brought her own mother and her two young children, Rory (3) and Isla (1) for their first look inside.

Katie said: “My family has been watching the development of the new library with excitement. We are so lucky to have this wonderful new resource at the end of our street, I am grateful for such a large investment in Drumbrae.

“We have lived in Clermiston for nearly four years, and one of the things we love is the sense of community. Our neighbours are a mixture of older people who have lived here since the houses were built, and young families like us. I think we will all find the Drumbrae Library Hub a valuable asset to our community.”

Supt David Carradice of Lothian and Borders Police said: “This new facility will enable us to locate the officers from our Drumbrae and Gyle Safer Neighbourhood Team in the heart of the community which they serve. We are delighted that it gives us the opportunity to work even more closely with our partners for the benefit of the public.

“This is not an operational police station but officers will be based there, will be able to respond to incidents in the area from there and deal with many of the issues that members of the public turn to us for assistance with.”

The opening day at Drumbrae Library Hub gave people the chance to take guided tours of their new local facility. Refreshments were provided throughout the day, while music was provided thanks to a special guest appearance by hotly tipped Queensferry band Bwani Junction.

The Drumbrae Library Hub was delivered by the hub South East Scotland Limited (hubCo) and built by Morrison Construction.

Come and hear the story of Edinburgh Zoo’s Giant Pandas

edinburghcitylibraries — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:18:07 +0000

Pandamania hits Central Library next month as Iain Valentine, Edinburgh Zoo’s Director of Animal Conservation and Research, will give a talk entitled:

Not just black and white: the story of Edinburgh Zoo’s Giant Pandas

This free event will take place in Central Library on Thursday 23rd February from 6.30 – 7.45pm. To book your place call 0131 242 8100 or email readerdevelopment@edinburgh.gov.uk.

We’re ready for National Libraries Day – are you?

edinburghcitylibraries — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:53:15 +0000

This coming Saturday people all over Britain will be holding events to mark National Libraries Day – and here in Edinburgh we’re no different. Here are just some of the highlights:

Leith Library will be going back in time to 1932 – the year the library opened. See how things have changed – and how some things haven’t!

At Craigmillar we’ll be looking backwards and forwards. We’ll have a video diary camera to record your memories of the current library and we’ll be asking what you would like to see in the new Craigmillar library.

Elsewhere Piershill and Currie Libraries will erect ‘why I love libraries’ walls and on the day before National Libraries Day visitors to Oxgangs Library will be able to take a tour behind the scenes of the mobile library service.

There are more tours, this time at Central Library, at 10.30 and 11.30 on the 4^th, and Saturday’s 11am storytime in the Central Children’s Library will be performed by the brilliant Lari Don, author of ‘Rocking horse war’, ‘The big bottom hunt’ and ‘First aid for fairies and other fabled beasts’.

Live guitar and fiddle music is the order of the day at Morningside Library, where you’ll also be able to meet local authors and be shown round the recently refurbished building.

And there’s more, lots more. Contact your local library to find out what’s happening.

Why are we doing all this? Well, we think National Libraries Day is a great opportunity to spread the word about libraries. We realise that many readers of this blog are passionate supporters of libraries and we’d love it if you took this opportunity to introduce a friend or relative to the library and show them what they’ve been missing.

Don’t keep quiet – spread the word about libraries!

Drumbrae – not long now!

edinburghcitylibraries — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:59:36 +0000

Last few days before the brand new Drumbrae Library and Community Hub opens on Tuesday 31st! The books are almost all on the shelves and we’re just sorting out the last few bits and pieces.

The Hub brings together lots of services under one roof: a new library for the area, access to Council services and the Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, a cafe area, community meetings rooms and a day care centre.

Come along and join us from 10am, meet the team, have a coffee, see round the library – and listen to local band Bwani Junction doing a gig for us in the morning!

We’ve got loads of other activities and events planned for the coming days and weeks – keep up to date with our facebook page, and do pop in and see us on Tuesday!

“Anne Frank’s Diary” a poem by Katie Turney

edinburghcitylibraries — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:50:51 +0000

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day here is the winning entry to the Ernest Levy Writing competition, written by Katie Turney.

Anne Frank’s Diary

As those years went by slowly

The days were not mine to hold

Somewhere else

Time stood still

In my silent mind

I was not that old

Closed from the outside beyond

And from the inside within me

Somewhere unfolding thoughts lay drifting

Where my mind wanders from this place

To somewhere I know

My life hung over like shadows of the moon in a dark night

I felt very much on the outside looking in

I was saved by you on that special day

You can imagine how I was afraid

I held you tight at night

Near to my heart

I kept you safe

In my little empty space

For the future one day

I began to write

A flicker of hope and light

It was too much to bear

I wished I could escape from

What I know

And open the safe door

And walk home into the light

Without any fear

Not venturing far from this room

Nowhere to hide and run

Not even shedding one tear

If only things were different

Back in those painful

Unforgiving years

By Katie Turney

Jazz recordings – can you help?

edinburghcitylibraries — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:05:39 +0000

Click to view slideshow.Edinburgh City Libraries have been entrusted with the care of an archive of Edinburgh-related jazz material, dating from the 1940s onwards. The core of the present collection was gathered by a group of enthusiasts based in Edinburgh, whose interest in jazz has been a lifelong passion. It therefore constitutes a unique part of Edinburgh’s musical history, and we are privileged to be its custodians.

We are in the process of cataloguing this donated material and, where possible, we will be digitising some of it in order to share the collection directly with a wider audience.

The collections includes original vinyl recordings of Edinburgh Jazz musicians (Sandy Brown, Al Fairweather, Archie Semple and Alex Welsh amongst others) books, cassettes of live sessions, posters, letters and other memorabilia.

There may be other jazz enthusiasts out there who have material which would augment this collection. Do you, or does someone you know, have material relevant to the Edinburgh Jazz scene, which you’d be happy to donate? We’re looking for LPs, CDs, EPs or cassettes. Photographs, DVDs and other memorabilia would also be welcome.

For more information please email the Central Music Library or call 0131 242 8054.

“The Cotter’s Saturday Night” in words and pictures

edinburghcitylibraries — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:26:59 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

These wonderful illustrations by John Faed vividly tell the story of Robert Burns’ poem, ‘The Cotter’s Saturday Night’. Burns wrote The Cotter’s Saturday Night over the winter of 1785 – 86 when he was 26 years old.

Life was hard for a cotter (sometimes spelt ‘cottar’) and his family. Cotters, or cottagers, were labourers within the farming community. Their daily objective was to provide food and shelter for their families.

Faed’s pictures bring Burns words to life and we can clearly see the story unfold. The cotter turns for home, tired at the end of a week’s work. It is Saturday evening and he is enthusiastically welcomed home by his small children. Once indoors beside the fireside and amongst his wife and family his worries are left behind. Gradually, the family’s older children arrive home and recount stories from their week at work.

Jenny, the eldest daughter, is embarrassed when a young man arrives at the cottage to see her. She is relieved though when her mother shows her approval of their guest and her father talks to him about farming. Interrupting the story, Burns takes one verse to write emotively about the joys of love and Faed imagines the young lovers spending time together in a romantic woodland glen.

Returning to his theme, Burns describes how once supper is over, the family sit together round the fireplace to hear the father solemnly read from the cherished family bible.

Visit Capital Collections, our online gallery, to read verses from the poem alongside their accompanying illustrations.

Join us for a literary walk

edinburghcitylibraries — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:22:56 +0000

If you’ve been enjoying “Birdsong” on the telly recently you might be interested a literary walk taking place next Tuesday (31st January). Meet outside Craiglockhart Community Centre at 10.30am for a stroll round Craiglockhart Pond followed by a visit to the War Poets Collection at Edinburgh Napier University. We should finish around noon.

Everyone’s welcome. To book your place contact Carol Marr on 0131 529 5547 or email oxgangs.library@edinburgh.gov.uk

Danny MacAskill Wheelies Down to the Library

edinburghcitylibraries — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:03:31 +0000

Anyone around Edinburgh Central Library last week was given a treat as street trials pro Danny MacAskill showed off a few tricks. Our photographer was on hand to capture this cheeky wee sequence.