SPEAKS VOLUMES - Volume 6 February 2017 - The Leeds Library
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SPEAKS
VOLUMES
Volume 6
February 2017
1
Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February 2017
Welcome to the sixth edition of Speaks Volumes...
Dear Members
We hope you all had an enjoyable festive period. Since the start of the New Year it has been a busy time
for the Library.
In January, we became a film set for a couple of days for a forthcoming British film called Funny Cow
starring Paddy Considine and Maxine Peake. The film, which follows the fortunes of a northern female
comic during the 1970s, will feature the library in a number of scenes and will be released in early 2018.
Earlier this month, we held an event to welcome New Members and introduce them to some gems from
our collection in The Librarians Office and the Basement and we also held a lunch time get-together for
our valued team of Volunteers.
At a Special General Meeting towards the end of January, Dr Kevin Grady, the recently retired CEO of
The Civic Trust and former Leeds Library Trustee, was voted in as our new President and the author and playwright Caryl Phillips was
voted in as a Patron of the Library. We look forward to working with Kevin and Caryl over the coming years in what will be a signifi-
cant period in our history.
We have continued our commitment to developing the Members Film Club with screenings now taking place on the first Saturday
(afternoon) and 3rd Wednesday (evening) of each month and we have also again been taking part in the Leeds Library fest hosting a
talk by our bookbinder Brian Cole, running a children’s Book Quest and screening the kids’ film classic Fantastic Mr Fox.
In the coming weeks, we are looking forward to a return visit by Simon Armitage (March 22), the hosting of two events for the Milim
Festival (1 and 15 March) and a number of talks on the Gems of the 1768 Collection led by our Research Committee. Full details of all
the events we run and host, can be found on our website which in late Spring, will have a new look as we are working with a designer
to renew the look of our website and its functions.
Finally, I would just like to thank everyone who completed our recent survey, details of which are in the Newsletter and for your con-
tinued support of the Library. It is appreciated, as is any feedback on the Newsletter, which we hope keeps you informed and up to
date with the Library and its work on behalf of the Members. It is anticipated that Newsletters will be issued bi-monthly from now on.
Carl
Staff: Consultant Bookbinder: Brian Cole of The
Castle Bindery
Chief Executive : Carl Hutton
President: Dr. Kevin Grady
Librarian: Jane Riley
Patron: Carryl Phillips
Senior Library Assistants: Anna Goodridge
and Helen Holdsworth
Library Assistants: Nichola Holmes Trustees:
and Aidan Thackray
Chair: Martin Staniforth
Administrator: Sarah West
Deputy Chair: Stuart Rawnsley
Finance Assistant: Liz Jones
Treasurer: Chris Holmes
IT/Communications Assistant: Claire
Chair of Books: Michael Meadowcroft
Buckley
Chair of House: Chris Webster
Caretaker/Cleaner: Phillip Robinson
Chair of Research: Stuart Rawnsley
2
Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
Book Reviews
The Leopard – by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
Reviewed by Roger Taylor
Written by Di Lampedusa in 1957, shortly before his early death, the novel tells the story of the
Prince, Don Fabrizio and how he and his family behave as the Risorgimento comes to Sicily from
mainland Italy.
It is fair to say that the Prince, a member of the Sicilian aristocracy, where behaviour and manners
matter more than making a success of an estate, or heaven forbid a business, is the undoing of the
Prince and his class, who often have to resort to the sale of some land here, or a building there, to
finance the continuation of the lifestyle that they and Sicily can no longer afford.
At the time of the novel, Sicilian society is very stratified. The peasants do the work, keeping farms
and estates going without being aware of modern methods of agriculture. A new rising class of as-
tute business and political people arises, taking advantages of the opportunities they see and take
up, to their advantage and not the Prince and his class. Don Calogero, the town Mayor, is one of
these men. His daughter marries into the Princes family, and she is welcome as she has the money
that can keep the family going, but not really the breeding.
The Prince is fully aware of the squalor of the local towns and villages, but as a Sicilian gentleman he
is protected by his wealth and the family’s own priest, unable to do anything about it, even if he
wanted to, which is unlikely as a “do nothing” attitude is how he has been brought up to behave. The Prince is appalled by Garibaldi
and his ideas, not seeing beyond the island of Sicily, but accepting that something must happen, but the Prince has little idea precise-
ly what.
It really is an excellent novel. Written in the fifties by an author who relies on his own life, the small town of Donnafagusta, where
the Prince and his family have their summer home, itself slowly decaying, being based on the authors childhood home. Some would
say the author is himself the Prince, showing an understanding of an inevitable decline of what was then “Society” in the widest
sense, with no one trying to stop it. The continued conflict between the generations, the declining influence of the church, the con-
flict of ideas, some of which are never fully understood, or indeed at all by the Prince or his family. Sicily falls more and more under
the influence of mainland Italy, to which they are more closely bound as the Risorgimento takes hold, but as they have been invaded
so many times, the Prince thinks it won’t really make any difference in the end, as such events never have in the past. There is a twist
at the end, well worth waiting for which allows the reader to see what happens to the family years later.
3
Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
Book Reviews
Les Parisiennes - How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in
the 1940s—by Anne Sebba
Reviewed by Michael Meadowcroft
I was attracted to this book by the enthusiastic reviews it received plus, I have to admit, the pro-
spect of some salacious anecdotes about Parisian women who were involved in “la collaboration
horizontale”!
It certainly lives up to its reviews and it is a formidably researched and well written history of the
draconian sufferings of Parisian women under the German occupation from 1940 to 1944. Like, I
suppose, most Brits who believe that they have an awareness of the privations of the French un-
der Occupation, I discovered the grim reality of a population barely surviving on the meagre ra-
tions allocated by the authorities. It was far worse than I imagined and goes a long way to under-
stand how that many of the women involved were catalysed to both extremes, either to become
collaborators or to be active resistance workers. Those who joined the Maquis took immense risks
and Anne Sebba sets out the details of the brave women, including a number sent to Paris from
Britain to carry out vital spying duties, who were caught, tortured and sent to Theresienstadt, the
Nazi concentration camp for women. Some of these women were summarily executed for spying.
Anne Sebba also sets out the extent of the complicity of the Petain regime in carrying out the
wishes of the German occupiers, including sometimes undertaking the presumed wishes of their occupiers even before their actual
demands. To a large extent the cynicism of the Petain regime in its willing compliance with the Germans in their harsh demands for
workers, produce, works of art and the general unpleasantness of the alien regime, explains the long bitterness against all those
known to have collaborated and even the travesty of the trial of Pierre Laval, Petain’s key henchman. Even though France had more
open anti-semites than other European countries, most Frenchmen and women were appalled at the harsh discriminatory measures
taken against Paris’ Jewish population, many of whom were deported, incarcerated and executed.
Out of the blue, towards the end of the book, I came across a connection with Leeds. In 1944, after the liberation of Paris but before
the end of the war, all the top fashion houses of Paris decided that, to mark the end of the years of rationing and of the lack of oppor-
tunities for fashion displays, they would work together to mount a great exhibition to demonstrate all their design skills. They com-
missioned a large set of one-third size mannequins and equipped them with several changes of every sort of clothes - including linge-
rie! This exhibition was an immense success, attracting 100,000 visitors over its opening days. Plans were put into operation to tour
the exhibition and it went to New York, San Francisco, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna, London - and Leeds! The city was in exalted
company with world capitals. Library member, Robert Dyson, believes that it may have been a consequence of his mother’s long as-
sociation with top Paris fashion houses which before the war supplied haute couture to her shop in Commercial Street, close to the
Library.
Anne Sebba is coming to Leeds in March to participate in the Leeds Jewish Literary “Milim” festival, some events of which are taking
place at the Library.
If you’d like to review a book for a future issue please contact Claire at the Leeds
Library at buckleyc@theleedslibrary.org.uk
4
Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
News & trivia
The world according to ... Claire
Which 3 books would you take to a desert island? Between us girls by Joe Orton, anything by Judy Blume
(adult or kids) and
Spider From Mars by Woody Woodmansey.
Claire Buckley
Who is your literary hero or heroine? Anna from This Life by Amy Jenkins. She embodies a couldn’t care
less attitude I admire.
What is the biggest misconception about librarians?
That we are quiet and mousy and read all the time.
What is your favourite film? Get Carter. I love its grittiness and Michael Caine is very handsome in it.
What was your favourite subject at school? Music, I used to play the violin, viola, piano and guitar and
love researching music generally.
Do you have any hobbies or interests?
Cross stitch and swimming when I get the chance.
Where were you born and do you have any siblings? ? I was born in Hereford and have a younger broth-
er.
Do you have a Kindle or other eReader? Neither, I prefer books although I have the Kindle app on my
tablet I don’t really use it.
What’s your favourite food? Anyone who knows me knows I like just about anything but I particularly
like cheese.
What would the title of your autobiography be? British like
baboons*
*explanations can be obtained through the usual channels!
The Leeds Library Strategic Vision 2017 to 2021
Over the last year the trustees and staff have been talking through how we would like the library to develop over
the next 5 years. The result of these discussions will be a strategic vision for the library which will enable every-
one to work towards ensuring that the Library not only marks its 250 th anniversary appropriately, but more im-
portantly builds a strong foundation with which to begin the next 250 years of our existence. We are hoping that
the strategic vision for the Library will be agreed at the April Trustees meeting.
To ensure that members have a voice in how the work of the library is taken forward over the next 5 years and
the development of the strategic vision it is intended for a member survey to be undertaken during March. The
survey will be made available both online and in the library itself and it would be really appreciated if as many
members as possible give their input on the work of the Library and its future direction. The findings of the sur-
vey will inform the development and completion of our strategic vision.
Questions will not just focus on our proposed vision as a thriving, individual library and much loved cultural in-
stitution of Leeds which is an inspiring and valued home and resource for lovers of books, writing and creativi-
ty, but also the key areas of the Library we would like to develop. These may include for example improving
how we engage with existing and new members, ensuring we are financially well managed, making sure we look
after and manage the library as a listed building and also which organisations and partners we would like to work
with in the future. We are also keen that our 250th anniversary properly represents the values and uniqueness
of the library as an institution and cultural centre in Leeds.
So please do take time to complete the survey, your views are important and as with the survey on the opening
hours for the Library will be considered and directly inform how we work.
5
Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
News & trivia
Booking on to our events
We have started using Eventbrite to manage bookings for events at the library.
You can now book and pay for tickets through Eventbrite for any event at the
Leeds Library. If you need any help using this site the staff here will be happy to
show you what to do. The events publicised on our website include the link to the
specified event but you can just search for the Leeds Library to see our events at
www.eventbrite.com
Please follow us on Twitter (@theleedslibrary) and Like our Facebook page to keep
up to date with all the news, trivia and events at the Leeds Library.
The Results from the Opening Hours Survey
By Carl Hutton, CEO
We would like to thank every member who completed the Opening Hours Survey during December.
Over 190 members completed the questionnaire which represents over 20% of the membership and it
is an exercise we are keen to repeat over the coming weeks and months.
With 80% of members completing the form stating that they would like the Library to open and close
later during the week, the intention is to work with staff and the Trustees to agree an amended opening
hours for the Library that will enable more members to use the Library on a more regular basis. We
will also be looking at our Saturday opening hours as it is becoming an increasingly popular day for
members to use the Library. As and when this is agreed we will let you know the arrangements which
will come into operation from May onwards.
In terms of all the feedback given on both our plans for the 250 th Anniversary and general operation of
the Library this has been talked through by both the staff and Trustees. The positive feedback towards
the Library was appreciated but we also appreciated the identifying of areas we can improve on and
these will be taken forward. The ideas for the 250th Anniversary will be discussed by the working group
in the not too distant future.
In the next few days we will put the results of the Survey on display in the Library so if anyone is inter-
ested in seeing the overall views of the members please pop in and take a look at the results. As men-
tioned on the Survey itself, all of the responses have been treated confidentially so whilst all views
given have been considered and discussed at no times have the name of the Member making a com-
ment or suggestion been identified as we are keen that members can be as upfront as possible with
their feedback to enable us to improve the service that we
provide.
6Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
Feature
Deweyfication By Bob Ducket, Volunteer
When Geoffrey Forster, then-librarian of the Leeds Library, shyly (or was
it slyly?) asked me if I would help to classify the books in the library, I
accepted with alacrity. Yes, I knew it would be a huge task – just to do
the ‘modern’ (post-1960) collection and Thoresby took me several years
working at the rate of one half day a week. And no, it was not just that,
newly retired, I had time on my hands – time to visit the library, read its
books, and be spotted by my fellow librarian! It was because, like the
many bewildered souls that came up to me asking how they could find
books on x, y, and z, I, too, was bewildered. ‘Ask the staff’ was not the
response I wanted to give!
My lifetime in libraryland told me that many, if not most, people were diffident about asking for help, exposing their ignorance, and
preferred to find things for themselves. As did I. Often, indeed, it is difficult to explain exactly what it was one wants, and just to be
in the right subject area is enough. And if Members of the Library had difficulty in finding books, maybe they will cease their
membership. And if the number of members declined, maybe the library would not survive. And if our marvellous library of which I
was proud, did not survive …? I had a mission.
As a one-time specialist versed in cataloguing codes, classification systems and filing codes, the task would be grist to my librarianly
mill. Although it was decades since I surfed the schedules and arranged facets, I would enjoy my reunion with Melville Dewey and
his classification scheme.
Not that ‘Class & Cat.’ Had stood still since my time as an Assistant Cataloguer in the late sixties. The 60s BC that is – Before
Computers! It was manual typewriters and 5” x 3” cards in those days. Fortunately, the IT skills needed for on-line cataloguing and
database management were not required of me. True, the Dewey Decimal Classification had grown from two volumes to four in my
absence: knowledge does not stand still, nor do attitudes, theories and philosophies. But the basic structure remains, as do the
skills needed to coax the multi-dimentional multiverse into a linear shelf order! Wisely, we opted for the one-volume abridged
edition – though I do occasionally go in search of the’ full monty’ when needed – for the schedules of the British counties, for
instance, and other subjects where our stock requires more detailed classification than the Abridged edition can offer.
Getting to grips with the stock of the Library was a joy. If any library users felt sorry for me dwarfed by piles of books, they had no
need. I became a librarian because I loved books – though it’s no longer wise to say so, we are ‘information professionals‘ these
days - and here I was surrounded by them! My biggest problem was not to read them! But one has to examine a book to
determine exactly what its subject is (never trust a title, or a publisher’s blurb) and to relate it to the classification scheme, and
sometimes that was difficult, impossible even. Where, for example, would you shelve The Great Stink of London? Subtitle: Sir
Basilgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis. With other books on environmental pollution at 363.72? Or civil
engineering at 628: Or London’s history at 942.1? What about Behind the Scenes at Time Time? Is it a book on archaeology or TV
production? 930.1 or 791.45? Or Rivers and the British Landscape? 333.73 (land), 577.6 (hydrology) or 914.1 (UK geography)? It so
much depends on the emphasis or focus of the book. Dewey classifies by the aspect of a subject. A book on slavery? The index to
the scheme sub-divides by ethics, law, politics, social group and trade. So where do you put a book on ‘slavery’ per se? That takes
some thinking about. There are guidelines: prefer subject to place; go for the specific rather than the general; but there are also
reasons to dissent, and even expert disagree. Sometimes I did take my work home with me – just to work out what a book was
about! Nothing exposes one’s ignorance than classifying a pile or three of books. In the course of the work, I did make notes for
others who follow, and so they can understand my logic – so I can understand my logic! A folder of notes is at the Counter should
anyone be interested. And I’ve produced an Index of Subjects to help other bewildered souls in search of wisdom!
The years pass quickly when one enjoys oneself! And nowhere quicker than in the Leeds Library.
7Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
2017
The Leeds Library Calendar : Winter/Spring 2017
Saturday 18 February Book Sale in the Leeds Library
10.00-14.00
All welcome. Prices from 20p
Saturday 18 February Library Fest Leeds: Watch Fantastic Mr Fox at the magical Leeds Library!
13.00-14.30
Visit the enchanting Leeds Library and watch Fantastic Mr Fox (PG). All welcome! £3 per person.
BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/watch-fantastic-mr-fox-at-the-magical-leeds-library-
tickets-29885731026
Tuesday 21 February Gems from 1768 – Farming and the Natural World: The horticulturai interests of the proprietors of
the Leeds Library in the 18th century by Stuart Rawnsley
12.30-13.30
BOOK HERE:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-leeds-library-gems-from-the-1768-collection-tickets-31061400485
Wednesday 1 March Milim Leeds Jewish Literary Festival Event
Writing Comedy - Ashley Blaker
12.30
Launching the festival, Ahley Blaker is the UK’s only Orthodox Jewish comedian. Described asa Haredi
Michael McIntyre, he will shortly be touring Israel and then performing an all-newUK tour in 2017. His
first stand-up tour Ungefiltered played to sell-out audiences. Ashley is also a comedy writer and pro-
ducer for radio and television and was responsible for first unleashing the comedy phenomenon Little
Britain on the nation. His company, Black Hat Productions, is currently making several new series for
BBC Radio 4. Admission £5.
BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ashley-blaker-writing-comedy-tickets-31119056937
Saturday 4th March Member Film Club: The Academy Award Winners Season
13.00-15.30
All the king’s men (1949) 105 min. £3.00 inc. a glass of wine
Broderick Crawford plays ambitious politician Willie Stark who finds popularity as a reformer, but as his
career takes off, he gradually becomes corrupted by his newly-acquired power.
BOOK HERE https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-leeds-library-members-film-club-tickets-30582572297
Tuesday 7 March Gems from 1768 – Persian Letters by Mollie Temple
12.30-13.30
BOOK HERE: Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-leeds-library-gems-from-the-1768-
collection-tickets-31063898958
8Speaks Volumes
Volume 6 February
2017
The Leeds Library Calendar : Winter/Spring 2017
Wednesday 15 March Milim Leeds Jewish Literary Festival Event
12.30
The Journey of a Play - Deborah Freeman
Deborah Freeman is a playwright and poet from Bristol and has lived in Leeds, Israel and Manchester
before settling in London. Her plays have been staged in several London fringe venues and her poems
have featured in Jewish Renaissance, Jewish Quarterly and Poetry Review. Following completion of her
new play, Deborah will be researching a collaborative theatre project with a play she hopes will be
performed partly in English and partly in Hebrew. Her talk today will mainly focus on her play The Song
Of Deborah been performed at several locations in the UK and was recently translated and performed
in Jerusalem. Admission: £5. BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/deborah-freeman-the-
journey-of-a-play-tickets-31092791376
Wednesday 15 March Member Film Club: The Academy Award Winners Season
18.00-20.30
Spotlight (2015) 129 min. £3.00 inc. a glass of wine
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-
up within the local Catholic Archdiocese. Starring Mark Ruffalo.
BOOK HERE:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-leeds-library-members-film-club-tickets-30981811432
Tuesday 21 March Gems from 1768 – Mr. Bayle’s Dictionary – ‘the arsenal of the Enlightenment’ by Jim Morgan
12.30-13.30
BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-leeds-library-gems-from-the-1768-collection-tickets-
31064122627
Wednesday 22 March Simon Armitage book event The Unaccompanied
To mark publication of The Unaccompanied his new collection of poetry, library member and award-
winning poet Simon Armitage will read from his new anthology. MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW!
Thursday 30 March Talk by Leeds Library member Brian Sanderson on the Yorkshire County Cricket Club archives and
playing and collecting memorabilia
12.30-13.30
Brian will discuss his own cricketing career and talk about the Yorkshire C.C.C. archive and collecting
cricketing memorabilia.
BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/collecting-yorkshire-county-cricket-memorabilia-and-the-
clubs-archives-tickets-31967468559
Please check our website, Twitter feed and Facebook page for an up to date
list of our events.
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