03/10/2012
I'm starting by observing what happens in the library- the patterns of the day and the reasons why people
come in. After school was the busiest time today, between 3.15 and 4.30, when at one point there was a queue
of around 8 people at the desk. The homework club was taking place in the second room and all the computers
were in use. Otherwise, the quieter area with tables was filled with people reading books and newspapers.
The beeping sound of the scanner was constantly in the background, and the conversations at the desk would
drift through the space.
"I returned the book…" "…this is the book that was waiting for you…" "…would you like to come over…" "I
think someone said something about it, I can't remember what they said now…" "… have you a moment while I
have a quick look for you…" I also spoke to all the staff. One of them told me, "I started working here
because I love reading. I did think I would be discussing literature a bit more than I do."
04/10/2012
Extract from 'News from Islington', January 1983
With thanks to Islington Local History Archives
ISLINGTON OPENS A REAL CHILDREN'S LIBRARY
Councillor Alan Clinton said, "we are delighted to open a real children's library in Islington. We hope the
bright and attractive shopfront will encourage people who do not normally use libraries to come in for more
than just books. This is a family library, built at low cost - a people's library, and Islington believes in
the people."
06/10/2012
From 'The Old Original Archway' by Marie Doughty, in ISLIB Newsletter, 1981
With thanks to Islington Local History Archives
"After over thirty years, the old Archway branch has moved to new accommodation in Archway Mall. It is a
glossy purpose-built library, resplendent with a brilliant green exterior. When I see it, I am inevitably
reminded of the opening of the original branch at the end of 1946, at the beginning of one of the coldest
winters in living memory, when the whole country was short of money, desperately short of fuel and weary
after six years of war. The library was opened with the minimum of money and in great haste… We rented an
empty shop, and adapted it. We had no water, no toilet accommodation, no central heating, no telephone and a
counter which was hand-made from old tables from the Reference library. No-one thought this state of affairs
very strange; we had all been through years of shortages of every sort, and Health and Safety precautions
were a thing of the future. We just loved every minute of it… The public flocked in; it was as if a
floodgate had been opened to people who had been starved of reading matter for years. Our stock was being
issued faster than we could replace it, and some shelves were literally quite empty when we closed… With the
addition of the basement and telephone, Archway started to become just like any other branch, except to
those of us who were there in the early days, to whom it will always be something special."
10/10/2012
Thanks to Cuneyt Yilmaz, manager of Archway Library, for forwarding me this quote from Harriet
Lane
"My local library is located in the shadow of the Archway Tower, next to a pawnbroker, in an godawful
windswept piazza forever gusting with scraps of litter. Inside it’s badly lit, more than a little shopworn,
and not especially fragrant. But it’s usually busy: thronging with mothers and toddlers, people on their
lunch breaks, after-school teens, the odd vagrant making the most of the central heating. You can come here
to read newspapers or The Racing Post in its squashy chairs. You can hire a computer terminal for a
half-hour slot while your kids loll around in the children’s section. You can rent Bridesmaids or series
four of The Wire. And we haven’t even started on the books."
"This modest little building works. Over the years, it has given me endless treats, shocks and surprises.
I’ll always be grateful to it for — and this is just off the top of my head — The Haunting of Hill House,
The Grass is Singing, The Little Stranger, Legend of a Suicide, American Wife and Tony and Susan. As
politicians look around for austerity cuts, libraries may seem an easy target; and yet a good local library,
like mine, achieves something that the number-crunchers are barely able to fathom. It’s a portal to
thousands of other worlds, some of which may usefully illuminate your own."
12.10/2012
Fridays are busy in the library. Every table was taken and there was at least one person in each aisle. At
11am a class of school children came in, holding hands in pairs and being shushed by their teachers. They
went to the children's section and were read stories. A man came looking for a copy of Jailhouse Rock by
Elvis Presley, which had been sent back to another library, so instead he said "Can you give me some music?
I don't mind what, I just want some music." There were a few comments about the cold wind outside. "This
area here is very cold, by the tower." At one point 3 men all wearing similar flat caps came in one after
the other. "Oh I'm glad you're back, there has just been wave after wave of people. Someone came in to look
for some lost property. "It's ok, we're very honest here."
17/10/2012
Today I installed a post box in the library, labelled with the title I've decided on for the project: A
People's Library. This comes from the speech made at the opening of the new building in 1980. I've put slips
of paper around the library with what I hope are open-ended, interesting questions for people to answer and
put into the box. I was encouraged to see that two people posted their answers within the first hour,
including a security guard who seemed to be putting a lot of thought into what he was writing.
19/10/2012
It was good to meet the other Hostings artists last night and talk about our work at the 'Exchanges'
evening. They are all working in very different places but there are lots of nice crossovers and it's useful
to be able to discuss our projects with each other- something that artists don't always get the chance to do
enough.
24/10/2012
I arrived at the library to find a pile of responses to my questions in the post box. The most successful
question seemed to be 'What is a Library?' to which I received the most answers. "A little socialist
utopia!" was one of my favourites. I'm hoping for more responses this week.
02/11/2012
More responses were in the box today, including a lovely drawing by Victor Ortega, of a person sitting
reading with words floating around their head. What is a library? "Any place where you can forget your daily
problems and feel the pleasure of letters flying around you." It was quite busy in the library today,
probably due to half term and the cold weather outside. I looked in a book about the history of Islington
and found that the foundation stone of a new Archway was laid nearby on 31st October 1812, meaning that the
200th anniversary was just the other day. This is not the first anniversary I have discovered recently; when
I was looking in the archives I found out that the 30th anniversary of the Archway children's library will
be in January 2013, when the project will be drawing to a close.
07/11/2012
I started a new idea today in the library, of taking photographs over people's shoulders, just showing their
hands and whatever they are reading. I asked Germander to pose for me first, so that I've got something to
show people when I ask for their permission. I also got a list of the most borrowed books from Cuneyt, the
library manager, and found out that James Patterson is the most borrowed author in the library. Of the most
borrowed children's books, most were either about dinosaurs or astronomy, but there was one that stood out
as different: 'A Walk in London' by Salvatore Rubbino.
14/11/2012
The computers in the library were out of action today while the network was being upgraded, and so it was
much quieter than usual. The only visitors were looking for books or reading newspapers, and so it probably
cut down the number by about half. A man from the council was there doing some other odd jobs around the
place and talking about putting some 2-way film over some of the windows so that people couldn't stare in
from outside. I placed some slips of paper in some of the most borrowed books, asking people to note down
the different locations where they have been taken. While I was sitting at one of the tables, I flicked
through the copy of the Daily Mirror that was in front of me, and found a feature on the 'Guerilla' library
just up the road in Friern Barnet, which is being run by volunteers after the council closed it down. The 43
bus goes there from right outside the library, so I may take a trip one day. I also worked out the location
of the former library that opened in 1946 (see below)- it is now the gym next to the Methodist church across
the way. I showed a picture to Germander in Second Chance, and we asked one of the volunteers there, who
confirmed this was correct.
21/11/2012
This week it was very busy in the library, maybe because I went later in the day this time. I took several
photographs of what people were reading.
Thanks to Mick Gulginn from Islington TUC for the following which was posted in the dropbox this week:
" The opening line to the Manic Street Preachers song 'A Design for Life' is 'Libraries give us power'. They
took this inspiration from the entrance of Newport Library, Wales: 'All Knowledge is Power'. Newport has a
radical history and that sums up for me what a library is. It gives people a sense of knowledge, community
and has empowered many people. It is important to protect all libraries from cuts in services and jobs."
28/11/2012
Today I recorded some interviews with the library staff. I was told a story about someone who used to leave
women's shoes in the library, usually 'strappy, sparkly' ones. The details of who it was, and how many times
it happened, aren't quite clear. I also went across the road to the gym, which is in the building where the
library used to be until 1980. I spoke to Anthony, who was on the front desk, and he showed the owner a
photograph that Germander had borrowed from the vicar. There doesn't seem to be any sign that the library
was once there, but the owner did say he was aware of it. Later on, I was struck by the brightness of the
heater above the counter, which looked like a neon sign out of the corner of my eye.
05/12/2012
I've been extending my research to contacting librarians at other Islington libraries, who used to work at
Archway at one point or another. So as well as talking to more of the current Archway staff, I've been to
meet Michelle and Shari at Central Library. Shari pointed out to me that one of the young girls in the 1980
photos was in fact Frances, who still works at Archway. It turned out that Frances had worked at all 3 of
the buildings I'm looking at- the current one, the old one which is now the gym, as well as the Dick
Whittington children's library on Giesbach Road. Shari was also included in the mural at Archway, which now
doesn't exist any more. What is really nice is that so many of the people in the old photos carried on
working for Islington Libraries ever since- some of them have retired now but nearly all of them spent their
whole working lives there. It also turned out that Clara, who took the photos I've been using, was a
librarian who is now retired.
12/12/2012
I went to meet Julie at N4 library today, who was a Saturday worker in the 1980s. She had lots of old photos
of Christmas parties at Archway library, which was strange as later on I found that the current library
staff were all going out for their Christmas party tonight. I then went back to Archway to interview
Frances, who I had discovered last week was in one of the photos I got from the archives, and who had some
really interesting things to tell me. After this we had the Hostings exchange with the other artists, which
Germander and I hosted in the library staff room.
19/12/2012
My last day at the library before Christmas, and I interviewed Cuneyt, the manager, about his experience of
working at Archway. Like many of the other staff, he has worked for Islington Libraries for years, and is
very proud of that. Now I need to spend some time over Christmas transcribing all the interviews and
designing the newspapers ready for the launch in January.
07/01/2013
Today I went to Central Library to finally meet Clara St Paul, who was credited with taking the photographs
I found in the Local History Centre. In fact, she isn't sure that she took them all herself, and thinks that
there was a camera being used by several of the staff to document the move to the new building. I also went
to take away the post box from Archway, as I need to finish the newspapers so can't take any more
contributions.
16/01/2013
An exciting day for the Hostings project, for more than one reason. This morning I went to meet Shari again
at Central Library, and recorded her reading out the script I put together for the audio tour. She did
really well and I'm very pleased with the recording. Then I went and finished the newspaper designs. I've
spent quite a lot of the last month or so trying out different options, doing printed tests and getting
various people to check them over, but I finally made the PDFs today and uploaded them to the Newspaper Club
website. Fingers crossed!
31/01/2013
The launch event for the audio guide and newspapers was last night, and it was a lovely evening. Lots of
Archway librarians past and present came along and seemed to really enjoy the work. Shari's wonderful
reading on the audio guide seemed to go down well and the newspapers are in demand! The work will be in the
library until the newspapers run out, although the audio guides will be behind the desk after this too, and
I will look into binding some of the newspapers for a more permanent addition to the library. If anyone is
planning to go and see the work, please check the opening hours, as the library is closed on Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays. Details here
CREDITS
Interviewees: Islay Beesly, Michelle Gannon, Shari Green, Kim Hoffland, Frances McElvenny, Clara St Paul,
Julie Sparks, Cuneyt Yilmaz.
With thanks to: Ben Smith at Islington Local History Centre, Archway Library Manager Cuneyt Yilmaz and all
the library staff.
