Screen-printed poster of library stamps, mostly from books in St Peters House Library collection, © Jenny Maidment
Jenny Maidment, Head of Library Content & Discovery Systems, University of Brighton Libraries, reflects on her research into the library records found in the Brighton School of Art Archive.
I’ve been a librarian for over 30 years and have worked at the University of Brighton since 2016. Up until the end of July this year I was the manager of Falmer and St Peters House Libraries. In my spare time I’ve been learning how to screenprint and belong to Eastside Print studio in Kemp Town.
I’ve been visiting the Design Archives to research the history of the libraries in the colleges that have become part of what is now the University of Brighton.
My project started out purely as a screen printing project. When I started working at St Peters House Library I set myself a challenge to pick at random a book from the shelves (the older the better) and see what it was about. St Peters House Library supports the School of Art and Media and has a really interesting collection of books, some of which are quite old. Over time I noticed that some of the older books had different library ownership stamps in them, either a previous iteration of the Municipal School of Art or from public libraries. I created some screens from photos of some of the stamps and printed them up. I then started to wonder about all the different libraries that had existed in the history of the university and whether I could find a stamp for each of them. Once I started looking in a more methodical way, I found that there were stamps from lots of different colleges / libraries, which must have become part of the polytechnic / university over the years.
This led me to wanting to find out a bit more about the different libraries – where had they been? Were there any photos of them? When did the library move / change name?
I was pointed in the direction of the Design Archives by Annebella Pollen (professor in Visual & Material Culture). I emailed the archivists at the Design Archives, feeling a bit embarrassed about such a niche question, but was met with enthusiasm as they investigated whether there were any documents and photos in the collection that would be of use to me.
I started looking at the BSA archive (Brighton School of Art) which includes old prospectuses from the School of Art. I found that the prospectus has been a reliable source of information about the libraries in that institution – the library(ies) are usually mentioned – their location, opening hours, some officious rules in the early days, “No book may be removed from the College except during periods when the College is completely closed (but not during summer vacation) and then only after the official loan form has been completed and endorsed by the Vice-Principal or a Head of Department,” from Brighton College of Art & Crafts Prospectus 1961-62, p8.
From looking at the stamps and also Jonathan Woodham and Philippa Lyon’s book From Art School to University: Art & Design at Brighton 1859-2009 it was clear that the location of the library serving the arts had moved several times. The archive had just been donated the original plans of the 1960s Grand Parade building and it was possible to see where the library was for a time until it was moved to Circus Street and then on to St Peters House. The room numbering in Grand Parade reflects the original numbers so it was possible to find the space that had been the library when the building opened. I also found some photos of the library in Grand Parade and then in Circus Street.
It was very exciting to see a whole carousel of slides produced for a library induction circa 1967. This gives insight into what was covered in library inductions; what the library looked like; how the discovery and lending processes worked. A reminder of how complicated it was to use libraries 50 years ago. This is reinforced by the library guides and guides to using the microfiche (to search for books) that were produced in the 1980s. Researching in the Archives has been a strong reminder of how much the profession that I trained for at the end of the 1980s has changed. Students and most staff of today would be quite lost when confronted with the analogue interactions needed to find a book / journal article and then issue it.
Examples of leaflets from the 1980s explaining how to use the microfiche catalogue to search for books. Brighton School of Art Archive.
My first thought was just to create a zine of library stamps without explanation, which I will still do but I also want to expand what I’m doing to give an insight into the history of the libraries and how librarianship has changed over the years. I’d also love to put together an exhibition on this subject, including some the books from St Peters House Library, photos and copies of leaflets. I would like more people to know about the history of the libraries that have supported so many students across the years. It is a history that I am proud to be part of and want to celebrate.
The staff at the Design Archives have been incredibly helpful and enthusiastic about what I’m researching. You can find out more about the archive | University of Brighton Design Archives. It’s a closed collection so email the archivists at designarchives@brighton.ac.uk to book a time to visit. And a shout out for St Peters House Library – we have a really interesting collection of books about art and design and a special collection, which includes artists books and zines. St Peters House Library special collection gives more information; come and visit us or get in touch library@brighton.ac.uk
