About
Mr. A.J. Hobson, M.A.
Years at the School: 1937-62; 1966-71
“...Nottingham High School a school with a fine record of academic and practical achievement, and Oxford had been his background when he came to the British School in 1937, with an Honours Degree in History and the Diploma in Education of that University.
In twenty-five years he has become the “Mr. Chips” of the School, loved by all, laughed at and with, but affection filtering the former laugh of unpleasantness and adding generosity to the latter. For it must be admitted that not all “Hobby’s” jokes were real laugh-raisers, though he enjoyed them immensely, chuckling away for minutes.
He had two great assets as a schoolmaster: he could be easily led into digressions much more interesting and perhaps more valuable than the lessons in hand, and he could bring into life the dullest piece of prose, poetry, drama, or history. A third and rarer virtue was his ability to put a lesson across a form-room apparently filled with noise and extraneous conversation.
In fact there are no secrets in the art of successful teaching. Sincerity, understanding, conscientiousness, a sense of humour, and the most cretinous pupil will eventually lick your hand. “Hobby” had these qualities in full measure and added to them a very real affection for those he taught.
The Library he has created in Carrasco is both his “magnum opus” and his monument. It has become the informative and leisure centre of the Upper School, and his infectious training in the proper use of books is an influence that is imponderable and incalculable in its value. But even though his creation of the Library may bring him warm thoughts of pleasure and success, it is he himself who will be remembered with warmth and affection by his generations of pupils. It will be a long time, if ever, before another “Hobby” is built into the human fabric of the School. P.S. SCHOR, HEADMASTER, 1962.
[1]
Source: “The Perficean” 1962.
“ “Hobby” or “Don Arturo” as he is affectionately known to us
[2]
has done far more than teach at the British School for 32 years, though this in itself represents an outstanding contribution to the life of School. For he has brought to the classroom a wide knowledge, quick mind and liberal outlook which have been appreciated by large numbers of students over a long period. he has almost single-handed built up the extracurricular intellectual life at the School, founding Library, Chess Club, Perficean Society, and the School magazine – and maintaining all of them at a first class level. In his position as Dean of Studies he has made a valuable contribution to the establishment of the International Baccalaureate project, and his example as a broadminded, creative and cultured teacher is not likely to be forgotten” P.B. STOYLE, Headmaster, 1971.
Source: “The Perficean” 1971
“The Library – Notes” is a grey exercise book with “THE BRITISH SCHOOL – JOSÉ B. LAMAS, 2835-45 – Montevideo” on the cover, covered in Hobby’s handwriting, dated 1954 and including the following sections:
The Aims of the School Library Scope of the Book Collection Principles of Book selection Library development (*) Classification of the Collection Catalogues Diagrams of filing cabinets, shelves, catalogue cards, borrower’s pockets, accession book pages.
Library Development states out the project for the beginning of the library as we know it today (a transcription follows):
“Basic minimum:
1. Accession book (order from Mosca) 2. Sufficient shelving for twice the number of books expected in first year. (1,500 books – hence at least 6 metres of shelving x 5 = 30 sq. metres 3. Books classified and marked with ink. 4. Shelf guides up. 5. Name catalogue of Fiction and classified catalogue of Non-Fiction – these two to serve as: 6. Shelf list for stocktaking 7. Subject index. 8. Loans system: graphic method.
[3]
9. Library prefects and monitors appointed and trained.
Second stage:
1. Chart of the 100 Dewey divisions. 2. New Books board. 3. System of simple repairs. 4. Some periodicals started.
Third stage:
1. More periodicals (folders to be made) 2. Picture file 3. Audio-visual material, records, etc. 4. Date slips 5. Book plates 6. Analytical entries and tracings. 7. Loose-leaf shelf list. 8. Author catalogue to include Non Fiction 9. Public Library system of charging adopted.
A contest was held for the design of the book plates: three original designs have been preserved (the finalists’?: A. Albanell, Gloria Lamas Maguire and Diana Leborgne), by . The winning one, an adaptation of which is still in use today
[4]
, is Diana Leborgne’s.
BOOK PLATE DESIGNS
Diana Leborgne
A. Albanell ........................... Gloria Lamas Maguire
Today’s design:
In “The Perficean” 1957, A.J.H. reports:
“Like every other department of the School, the library is suffering from all the disadvantages of cramped quarters. A School Library, for its proper functioning, needs to be spacious, comfortable, quiet, and attractive. To mention only one practical item, there is absolutely no room at the moment for all the reference books to be in one easily accessible place, and no space, either, for those useful tools, catalogue files of various types. However, the dream of a big new school seems about to come true, and within that dream of a smaller dream, that of a proper library which can play a fuller and more valuable part in the School’s life.”
“The Librarians for 1956 were: Ernestine Chatriot, Nelly Ross... ... and Ana María Davies. for 1957: Nelly Ross, J. Coubrough, Patricia Warren and Marilyn Brown.
AN ORIGINAL PLAN OF THE FIRST CARRASCO LIBRARY (DOWNSTAIRS)
[5]
1959
“THE PRESENT SITUATION”
A. Basic furniture and lighting. Owing to the efforts of the Board of Governors and the Parents-Teachers’ Association the Library at Carrasco now possesses enough space and shelving to meet its needs for at least five years. The capacity of the shelving is between 3000 and 3500 volumes. Expansion in the future would be possible by means of double shelves placed at right angles to the window in such a way as to form alcoves. this method, however, might seriously reduce reading space, and should be adopted with discretion.
The present shelving is installed in the Main Library Room. Eventually –at not too distant a date- shelving and cupboards will be needed for the Smaller Room (to be called the Reference Library) to house the larger Encyclopaedias and reference works and perhaps also films and gramophone records. This Smaller Room will also have to be used as the Librarian’s Work Room (for cataloguing, classifying, preparing and repairing of books, etc.) ... ...
As regards seating provision, there are at the moment three readers’ tables, with four chairs each (also provided by the P.T.A.), already installed, and the remaining twelve tables (including two smaller ones and one larger one), with a corresponding number of chairs, will be delivered by the end of August, 1959. ... ...
The artificial lighting, as installed with the building, is far from adequate. A system of reflected illumination is strongly recommended, and perhaps individual lamps for the readers’ tables.
... ... The Book stock. At the present moment the book stock stands at some 800 volumes, of which at least 300 are either in very poor condition or otherwise out-of-date or unsuitable for a School of our type and status, and deserve to be discarded when new stock comes in. This poverty of books is particularly marked in the fields of general fiction, junior “subject” books of an informal type, science, arts and crafts, and hobbies, but there is serious all-round weakness. “
Source: “A brief memorandum on: The British School Library and its needs – with special reference to the Senior School” mimeographed document dated 12/8/59.
Shelving, tables, librarian’s desk, filing cabinet, etc. Accession book No. 1 (already presented to School by P.T.A. --$84.00) Two rubber stamps marked “British School Library”, and ink pads; date stamp. Two pots of gum (non-brittle) 5000 book-plates of a design to be prepared and submitted Two bottles of copal varnish; and two of cellulose varnish. Scotch tape, narrow and broad. Two jars of white paste. Bottles of Indian ink (black) and white marking ink. Two 1 inch paste brushes. One small long-handled paste brush. Bottles of black and red ink. Six pens for white and black markings. One book-press. 10,000 date-due slips of a design to be prepared and submitted. 1000 borrowers’ tickets (pocket-type) of a design to be prepared and submitted. 1000 triangular card-pockets of a type to be prepared and submitted. 1000 book-cards of a type to be prepared and submitted. 5000 standard catalogue cards (ruled) 12.5 x 7.5 cm. (for filing cabinet) Two large loose-leaf note-books with supply of paper. 1000 (blank) guide cards for filing drawers. 100-division (Dewey Decimal headings) shelf-guides (clip-on type) 50 wooden book-ends or right-angle metal ones. Cloth dusters and leather ones. A supply of adhesive paper and of waxed paper. Paper-clips, rubber-bands, drawing-pins. A supply of millboard, binders’ tape, etc. Craft knives, steel rules, zinc plate, etc., for repairs and binding (in charge of Art Club or Crafts Class) One electric stencil-pen and gilt marking material (Eventually) Three wooden trays (filing cabinet size)
[6]
(Source: “INITIAL MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OPERATION OF THE SCHOOL LIBRARY SERVICE” (Replacements needed at intervals”) typed document)
Library assistants (“Assistant Librarians”) in early 1960 were all members of “The Perficean” Society who volunteered to work in the new library:
Librarian-Monitor: A. Beckwith Deputy Librarian Monitor P. Jenson
and
Assistants:
Bao, T. Castleton, J. Croninger, F. Graham Yool, A Holmes, F. Jones, R. McCormack, C. Rowan, C. Tovar, E. Van Riper, A. Wilde, D. Yriart, D. Zwilgmeyer, A.
But from the planning to the deed ...
1960
In a memo to all Form-teachers “Use of the Library: first term, 1960” A.J.H. reported that “In justice, it should be pointed out that a good many seniors, while not borrowing many books for home reading, have made considerable use of the reference section and the periodicals in school-time and the lunch hour. but they must be encouraged to tap the broader and more cultural resources of the Library, otherwise, we are limiting their education to the purely academic.”
Further on he says
[7]
: “since the library is bound eventually to expand and a large stock will need more complex arrangement and since the full exploitation of its resources can only be achieved by the use of technical aids. Frankly, this term, though I had intended to proceed with classification and marking of the Non-Fiction stock, I felt it more important because more urgent to foster an interest in the current Library –the actual use and enjoyment of books, etc., naturally having priority over organization per se. I found myself so busily engaged –at all sorts of moments—in answering the eager questions of teachers and pupils, etc., that I had little time left except for supervising the routine administration”..
Rules and regulations for the library dated 1960 include:
·
“Not more than two books may be in the possession of a borrower at any one time”
·
“School library books may be retained by borrowers for not more than one week, unless renewed.”
·
“Borrowers whose Library books are overdue for return will be fined as follows: (a) per book overdue for one period: $1.00; (b) per book overdue, for each subsequent period: $2.00”
·
“Reasonable quiet must be observed in the Library during borrowing-times and strict silence during study or reading times there.”
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“No games are allowed in the Library”
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“Chairs and tables must not be moved out of their proper places”
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“Users of the Library must see that their hands are clean before handling books or magazines”
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“No ink or paints or geometrical or cutting instruments must be brought into the Library”
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“The library is not to be used for the doing of homework, pre. or ordinary class work.”
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“The Library must not be used as a common-room for conversations”
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“Obey the orders of the Librarian Monitors and Assistants”
·
“Stop reading or study five minutes before the bell goes so that there is good time to replace books, etc.”
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“Clear up litter in your table and take away your note-books, etc., on leaving the Library.”
·
“TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR LIBRARY AND USE IT PROPERLY”
According to A.J.H.’s report in “The Perficean” 1960:
“In spite of all shortcomings, the library has really flourished this year and played a big part in School life. The most serious shortcoming is the lack of books in many sections”... He goes on to acknowledge several donations, including one by Sir Eugene Millington Drake, K.C.M.B. who gave “several books from his own library”.
... “Another shortcoming is the fact that the Non-Fiction stock has not yet been classified or catalogued ... ... it was postponed till the long holiday. Furthermore, a more efficient system of Book Issue must be adopted next year” .
[8]
But “The two best equipped sections of the Library are undoubtedly the General Reference section and the Periodicals section.” Periodicals listed as received regularly –mainly through donations- are:
Eagle Flying Geographical Magazine Girl Good Housekeeping history-today Illustrated London News John O’London’s Weekly Life National Geographic Punch Swift The Amateur Photographer The Economist The Listener The Manchester Guardian Weekly The New Scientist The Sunday Times The Times Time World Sports
“Hobby” proceeds to describe enthusiastically how : ... “the ordinary borrowing times, breaks on Tuesdays and Fridays, have regularly seen long queues of borrower-returnees in front of the Charging Desk, mainly in search of fiction and of books on their hobbies. What a satisfying sight!” and finally reports that “at the beginning of the year most Library Assistants had fun stencilling the spines of the Fiction stock with the new electric pencil.”
1961
In ““The Perficean”, 1961” the Senior Librarian reports that “four important tasks have been carried out: the non-fiction stock was classified according to the Dewey Decimal System; a new issue system was introduced which greatly facilitated borrowing and checking back; shelf-listing, essential for stock-taking is very nearly complete; and all the books were fitted with School Library labels, pockets, cards and date-slips. A fifth task –cataloguing- will not begin till the Library is closed in November.” “Most of the material required for the above developments is being financed from the Library Fund, which at the beginning of the year stood at $8,000.”
“Fines collected for overdue books amounted to $156 (as at 8th October); there is a moral there somewhere, but at least the money will provide seven good books, or pay for some rebinding”
“A new section of the Library formed this year was the Statistics Department, which recently produced an admirable analysis in public and diagrammatic form...”
Several more periodicals were added by kindness of the British Council and teachers:
Blackwood’s The Guide The Scout Plays and players Music and Musicians The Elizabethan Hobbies Weekly The Times Educational Supplement The New Statesman The Spectator The Times Literary Supplement
Library Assistants in 1961 were:
[9]
Joint Library Monitors: George Peña and Elaine Hobbins (Prefects)
Assistants:
Bao, T Beauvois, P. Boone, Stephanie Burke-Gill, B Burke-Gill, S Castleton, J Chu, M Collins, J Ferreiro, G. Fyans, Catherine Georgeoglou, P. Gordon-Firing, S Griffin, D Hammer, M. Hiatt, Pat Hobbins, Elaine Hobson, G. Johnson, A. Jones, S. McCormick, C. Miller, Elsibel Molloy, V. Peña, G. Pert, Caroline Pierce, Maureen Rowan, C Sagona, S Tovar, R. Viana, H Wilde, R. Yriart, D
1962
“The Perficean” 1962 reports that “The Library at Carrasco has certainly been a very busy place...” goes on to mention that “many pupils are very untidy in the Library and careless about handling and replacing books”. Amongst the causes of shortcomings he mentions “the unfortunate illness of the Senior Librarian which naturally diminished the efficiency of general Library control” and goes on to say: “The remedies are clear: first, it is the duty of parents to instil into their children at an early age a sense of care for property, one’s own and other people’s, and the duty of teachers to reinforce this care on every possible occasion”.
The same article states the library then housed nearly 2500 volumes, and more donations from “our good friend Sir Eugen Millington-Drake K.C.M.G.”
“In bidding farewell to the Library” says Hobby near the end of his report “I should like to say how greatly –in spite of my perfectionist grumbling- I have enjoyed my association with it. I wish my successor the best of fortune and joy in maintaining and extending this most rewarding work”.
The appointed successor was Mr. D. Burke-Gill, to whom Hobby submitted a “Memorandum on Library needs for 1963” of which a carbon copy exists. It includes headings such as: Rebinding; New Stock (worrying about the lack of stock in Spanish, except for the “Tesoro de la Juventud”
[10]
); Periodicals (recommending wooden-clasps) and the subscription to “good local newspapers, if possible of contrasting viewpoints.”; Use of Library; Cataloguing “absolutely essential, now Library is so large”; Stocktaking: “Work out % of loss. It is over 10%, “there’s something rotten in the state of Denmark...”
[11]
; Library Rules which “should certainly be revised, probably reduced in number. What is most important is that they should be insisted on continuously and strictly”; Co-operation of Form and other teachers, “perhaps the most important desideratum of all, and every attempt should be made to secure it” ... “No matter how vigilant and hard-working the Senior Librarian may be, if the teachers do not lend their whole-hearted co-operation and conscious pressure in aid of the Library, the Library will go down hill”
[12]
; Privileges (referred to right of entry out of hours, borrowing books at unofficial hours, acquisition of back numbers of magazines, etc.) Administration and staff which established a hierarchy of “at least one Library Monitor –who should be a Prefect- and possibly two (in which case one should be a girl, also a Prefect), then an experienced Chief Assistant in each department of Library work (Accessioning, Classifying, Labelling, Cataloguing, Charging system, Periodicals, Publicity), and a larger number of assistants under each chief.
Library assistants (“Library Officials”) in 1962 were fewer, according to a typed document signed by A.J.H on 18th April:
Chief Monitors: Sandy Sagona and A. Johnson (Prefects)
Assistants:
Boone, Stephanie Burke-Gill, Susan Chu, Michael Georgeoglou, P Gordon Firing, S Hammer, M. Milne, Susan Tovar, Elaine
“Hobby” lists himself as in charge of Classification “pro tempora”
Several typed out documents describing in detail the duties of Assistants have been preserved.
A letter from Hobby to the Headmaster dated 1st November, 1962 states: “ I think a very strong case can be made out for the appointment of a paid assistant in the Library, in the not too distant future. I once considered this absolutely essential when the book stock reaches 5000 volumes; now I am inclined to put 3000 as the turning point.” ... ... “Such an assistant might be found amongst the girls who have done the Uruguayan 2-year course in Librarianship; if we could find a bilingual Old Girl so much the better.
[13]
1963
A memo from D.V.D. Burke-Gill dated 24.7.63 and addressed to all teachers urged:
“I do appeal most earnestly to teachers to familiarise themselves with the contents of the shelves and recommend to their classes books which they could read, study or consult for their various courses. Only so can we ensure that proper use is made of the material available.” He also reports that “The card index files under Author & Title, Fiction and Non-Fiction near completion”
Library assistants in 1963, as at October 1st, were:
Head of Departments: Michael Chu Library Prefects: Susan Burke-Hill; Mercedes Christophersen; E. Hyland; A. Mendoza; M. Pierce. Library Monitors: Malcolm Best, Peter Gepp, Desmond Rowan, Anthony Shaw.
Assistants:
Cordery, A Decker, R. Miller, Anthony Wolf, Mark Breeze, Eric Castleton, Michael Leaman, John Sprigings, Jack Coates, Bruce Gibson, Nigel Fairless, Mark Acle, B Bellagamba, S. Clark, Sylvia Roper, Lucila Moulton, P Reyes, R. Wilson, D Conde, J. Nooter, T. Whittaker, R Carter, J. Holzhauer, Jan Pierce, Kenneth Fernández, A Griffin, Hugh Prevett, Chris Tarrab, A Yudin, Richard Coates, Kenneth Grigny, Alec
Probationers:
Bonavia, P. Brown, C Conde, R. De Baeremaecker, C Dighiero, A. Lyford-Pike, F. Morelli, J. Soto, R. Zuasnabar, J.
A short document entitled “The School Library”, dated 31.7.63 and signed by D.V.D. Burke-Gill seems to have taken the place of the old “Library Rules” and stated:
“The Library exists for the benefit of each and all of us. As a means towards knowledge and culture it deserves greater use, particularly by senior students, and the utmost respect and appreciation of us all.
There are approximately 3,500 volumes in stock now all classified: their replacement would cost more than $100.000.
Help the Librarians who serve you, yourself and everyone else to obtain the greatest possible benefit from the Library by the willing observance of these 8 simple rules:
1. Use the Library for the reading of and reference to its books. 2. Do not take ink, paint or geometrical instruments into the room. 3. Do not move chairs and tables. 4. Handle books and magazines with clean hands and great care; the bigger the book, the greater the care needed. 5. Do not talk, and be quiet in your movements. 6. Study and learn to understand the system of classification which is universal. 7. Return books (and magazines) to their correct places. 8. Leave the Room as tidy or tidier than you found it.
[14]
A memo from the Headmaster (A.W.R. Lodge, M.A. (Oxon) to the Librarian states “The Headmaster reserves the right to waylay books and periodicals destined for the Library which he thinks may be of pernicious nature”
1964
1964 brought a change in staffing:
A memo from the Headmaster to the Chairman of the Board of Governors dated January 17, 1964 states:
“In earlier discussions it was agreed that the School would engage a pensioner in 1964 to act as Senior School Librarian vice. Mr. D.V.D. Burke-Gill whose teaching load was light in 1963 because of his duties as Assistant headmaster and as Senior Librarian.
Mrs. S.W. Moulton who has agreed to oversee the library in the interim period has agreed to take over the Library in 1964 provided another member of staff can give some time as Mr. R.A. MacCormack did in 1963 (only this year in a more positive way) as Assistant Librarian.
In this case there will be no need to recruit a pensioner and since Mrs. Moulton will almost certainly give her services in a voluntary capacity and since a full-time member of staff can be given some teaching time to library work then the saving to the School could be considerable.
In the future a retiring member of staff might be offered work in the School in connection with the library and examination organisation. Older members of staff such as Mr. Knight or Mr. Ogston might well be considered for this in future years.”
On March 2, 1964, the following notice appeared in the School Notice Board:
1. The Senior School Librarian is: Mrs. S.W. Moulton 2. Mrs. W. Morrison and Mr. P. Knight have agreed to help Mrs. Moulton with the Library. 3. The Library will be closed during the first week of term except for the Librarians. 4. All librarians are asked to report to Room 11 at 1.15 on Monday 2nd. March.
Also in 1964 Mr. P.B. Stoyle was appointed Assistant Headmaster. He became Headmaster the following year.
On May 6, 1964 Mr. Lodge addressed a memo to the School Administrator, Mrs. L. Lichtenberger, stating: “In order that they may keep order in the Library and to give a little status in return for a good deal of hard work on the School’s behalf we propose to buy Librarian’s badges”.
[15]
In another memo addressed to the Assistant Headmaster about text and Library books he states “it would be ridiculous to be complacent about the text and library book situation. We have plugged some obvious gaps but there is still work to be done for we are still very short of both.
1965
There are no records at hand about what went on in the Library in 1965, although the records for the following years refer to it as the “interregnum”. One may infer that the day-to-day survival of the library was mostly in the hands of a group of loyal students.
1966
1966 saw Hobby’s comeback, and in February he was already interviewing candidates for the post of School Librarian, for which Susana Ibarburu, then just 19, was strongly recommended by Hobby There is a copy of a letter from him to the Headmaster, Sam Stoyle, dated 28/2/02). Hobby wrote “I strongly hope that the scheme will go through, as with such help (increasing, as it will surely be) and enthusiasm as Miss Ibarburu can bring to the job, I am sure we can really ‘go places’ with the library, and not only academically”.
A personal anecdote from Susana Ibarburu, who soon became known as “Petunia”.
“At the time I had finished the first of the two years of the Librarianship course at the University of the Republic. The Linguistics cathedra at Facultad de Humanidades was organising an International Congress in February, to take place at the recently built Facultad de Ingeniería in Parque Rodó. The School of Librarianship was asked to provide help in gathering together an running a library with all the sources on linguistics available in University libraries. Some student-members of the School’s government body offered to work there as volunteers. On a certain day, an linguist from Tucumán, Dr. Bravo was preparing his paper on “Quechua” and having trouble with an article in English on the use of carbon for ascertaining dates of ancient documents. I was around, and had passed my Proficiency exam only two years before, so I sat down with him to help. The Librarian in charge of the project, Lic. Elis Duarte, who was a teacher at the School saw me at it and said “Don’t you know, there is a sign up at the School asking for a Librarian who speaks English for the British Schools?. We haven’t been able to find anyone with that profile. Why don’t you go for an interview”, and I did. My father drove me to the School, past the empty fields of Carrasco where the Shopping Centre and LATU now stand, and I sat chatting with Hobby in the downstairs library for about an hour. I was then hired for a salary of $4.080 a month. I worked part time in the afternoons during 1966, since I had to finish my career, so I went to Library School in the mornings. In January 1967 I got my degree, and started working full time. By March we were moving the library provisionally to the Junior School Hall while the new upstairs section was built (what now comprises the upstairs offices (Headmaster & al.) and room 33), and moved back to the new library in May, two months before mi first child José Ernesto was born. For the first two years I also did part-time work with the Headmaster’s Secretary, Susie Abergo, who later became his wife.”
Library assistants during 1966 were
Head Assistant: Nigel Gibson
Assistants:
Fairless, Neil Fleischflesser, Ricardo Garges, Lark Hobbins, Fionna Hyland, Maureen Jones, Larry Joss, Robert Levy, Richard Papo, Roberto Pomeroy, Edward Sarkis, Christine Anne Simini, Franco Sims, Kathy Stanham, Pauline Trabal, Marta Yudin, Nicholas Yudin, Richard Zorrilla, A
Those who had held the fort and were there to help in the transition at the beginning of the year had by then left School:
Arbuckle, Ian Apolant, Steven Barkson, Joel Bieniartz, Peter Castleton, Michael Coates, Kenneth Denton, Danny Fox, Norman Gepp, Peter Gibson, Susan Griffin, Hugh Grigny, Alec Luisi, Héctor MacCarthy, Paul Pierce, Kenneth Pierce, Margaret Prevett, Christopher Wolf, Mark A Memorandum for Staff, Senior School “The library, 1966” issued on 14th March, 1966 and signed by both A.J.H. and Petunia states: Pupil assistants will still be welcome, but they will be specially selected, and will undertake only those tasks most suited to “amateur” helpers with limited time at their disposal” “... the librarian, being present in the Library at regular times, will be ready to proffer positive guidance about books and information to all enquirers.” ... “Yet the full benefits of a School Library, such as ours, no matter how well planned, run, and supplied, can never be enjoyed without the greatest possible co-operation between the Library staff, the pupils and the teachers. For this reason we appeal to every teacher to do his part in furthering the ends for which the Library exists.
Here are the chief ways in which you can help:
a) by yourself using the facilities of the Library and thus setting the pupils and example b) by recommending books in the Library to your pupils and encouraging them to read or consult them. c) by knowin and observing the Library rules yourself and reminding pupils when necessary of this duty. d) by being alert, when in the library room officially or unofficially, to see that its users are showing a proper respect for it and for other people e) by making suggestions for the improvement of the book-stock and of the Library services.”
[17]
The appointment of a (soon to be) qualified Librarian implied changing the then British tradition of a “Teacher Librarian”, moving towards an approach more favoured in the U.S.A. In a “MEMO ON THE STAFFING OF THE LIBRARY” Hobby came up with the following solution:
“The only solution is our system, that is to say, a teacher as Senior Librarian, with full responsibility allowance, to be in general supervision of the Library, to administrate its finances, to be responsible for book selection and acquisition, and to co-ordinate the relations of the Library with the rest of the School and its needs, etc. and a properly paid full-time professional Librarian to organise and administer the Library services from day to day and to direct the very useful work which unpaid pupil volunteers will be required to do. So much the better if the teacher Senior Librarian has a certificate of School Librarianship or at least a knowledge of its elements (which nowadays in any case is part of most teacher’s training courses); and so much the better if the trained Librarian has or gains some experience of teaching or dealing with children. Undoubtedly, there will be gaps of understanding on both sides here, but these can be easily bridged by mutual advice and consultations, and experience will do the rest.”
[18]
“The Perficean” 1966 reports: “The year 1966 has been one of change and growth for the Library in almost all departments. On the whole, I am satisfied that good progress has been made as a result and still more that the proper foundations have been laid for further progress at an increasing rate. In any case the motto of Librarians is always: “Excelsior!”
“I will begin with the most important step forward. This was the appointment of Miss Susan (sic) Ibarburu as Assistant Librarian on a three-quarter time basis. her coming has enabled the Library, after a kind of interregnum, to be re-organized and to a large extent revivified. The technical side of its administration is now ably managed by a professional. Not only so, but “Petunia” has most sympathetically helped and encouraged both pupils and teachers in the use of the Library...”
“A few statistics: --books borrowed to date 2245 (1658 Fiction, 587 Non-Fiction) --books borrowed per day: 25 (av.) --average attendance in the library: 107 pupils per day. Figures show that the Liceo forms, which were at first badly behind other forms, are now catching up and are reading more and more English books, especially in the more junior Liceo classes.”
“As to the book stock, this is steadily growing. The number of books listed in the Accession Book stands at 5,064, allowing for discards and losses, the figure is probably nearer to 4,700. The number of books accessioned this year was 684. The main acquisition was of $30,000 worth of reference books in Spanish for the special benefit of the Liceo forms and classes in Spanish” “Our periodical racks have been pretty full this year –and well used. We are now receiving regularly 24 titles”.
“A new feature this year ... ... has been the holding of exhibitions in the Library, the first one, which displayed new books and Library processes, being held on the PTA “Fly-on-the-wall” evening.”
“... we hope for the support of all those readers of this report who realise, with Plato, that “no one does a better work than he who helps to build up the young”. For this, and no less, is the aim of our Library.”
The new RULES FOR THE USE OF THE BRITISH SCHOOL SENIOR LIBRARY also show a change in emphasis:
“The library is not a place for pupils to be controlled but for them to be at leisure, they should all now very well how to behave in the best interest of the library and of themselves. Rules will serve only as a guide, but not as an instrument of discipline”. Fines were still applied, for not for long.
[19]
No more mention is made of geometrical instruments or moving furniture around.
A pink mimeographed School “News Bulletin” published in April-May 1967 includes under “SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS”
Library
Open as usual at lunch-time. We badly need bookshelves, filing cabinets and a typewriter. Please contact Mr. Hobson if you can help out.
A rather telling remark about the role of the Librarian appears in a memorandum from A.J.H. to the Headmaster on the Proper Use of the Library as at end of the first term 1966.:
“Susan (sic.) I, under training as a Librarian and not as a teacher, cannot be expected to either instil initial order amongst library users or maintain this order afterward. She is busy enough attending the technical side of the Library and helping and advising Library users, not to mention directing the labours of Library Assistants.”... ... “It would be wrong ... ... to make Susan responsible for discipline in the Library or arising out of the Library. I believe that, in the long end, she will earn the respect of our pupils more from her persistent kindly helpfulness to them than by a direct or marginal disciplinary attitude toward them.”
[20]
The library tables and chairs were all made of wood at the time, and had to be frequently polished. A crew of inmates from the “Cárcel Central” used to come and work on them after school, under the direction of Manuel Mira, the School Carpenter. The appearing of “carmica” in the market tempted Hobby to have surfaces that couldn’t be scratched on, so new ugly brown and uncomfortable carmica tables and chairs were our sitting facilities from 1967 until around 1995.
1967
“The Perficean” 1967 reports the library healthy enough to survive the move to the upper floor and Petunia’s first maternity leave
Library assistants then were:
Head: Hugh Griffin
Assistants:
Damback, Ian-Erik Ellis, Chris Evans, Margaret, Fairless, Neil Furth, Alex Garges, Lark Gruber, Julie Mullen, Michael Perry, Marianne Pierce, Margaret Pomeroy, Edward Simini, Bruno Simini, Franco Skelton, Julie Tarrab, Raquel Yudin, Nicholas 1968 – 69
“The Perficean” 1968-69 reports:
“During 1968 we gave out a questionnaire to pupils on different aspects of the Library, and we obtained some very useful things and ideas (e.g., apparently half the people in the school want silence in the Library, whilst the other half want to be allowed to talk more freely.” ... ... “the most important conclusion ... was the pupils of this school, in their great majority, know how to appreciate the fact that they have a library, and the advantages of reading and research in general. A very enthusiastic British teacher of English as a Second Language, Mr. E.G. Supple started a complete 2-year course in library user-training in the Upper-primary forms –which were then still in the Senior School- which we developed for several years, and which produced some very good projects on books and the Library. Particularly commended were those by Liliana Rodríguez, Michael Lana Sarrate, Sofía Herrán, Lourdes Arensberf, Javier Ferreira Ramos and Robert Wells. Some of these projects were shown at the Uruguayan University School of Librarianship, with whom we had as from August 1969 an agreement by which students of librarianship came to do their required practice in our Library. Through this system we had Alicia Arest and Mirtha Lanza in 1969, and later, up to 1971 Graciela Gargiullo, María Cristina Rodríguez and Graciela Pirotto
Library assistants in 1968-69 included a bunch of newcomers to the School who gave it a special aura, and many of whom have remained in touch: these were students from the Falkland Islands who came to complete their Secondary education in Montevideo.
The list of library assistants for these two years is as follows: Falklanders have been marked with an asterisk to show the extent to which they contributed to make the library what it is today, and the institution of “Library Assistants what it was while it lasted – shorter lunch hours, new technologies and different habits in students slowly made it fade away.
Head: Raquel Tarrab
Best, Valerie Bound, Graham * Carey, Coleen * Colombino, Beatriz Cooper, Robin Dalziel, W. De la Mare, George Draycott, John * Espiga, A Evans, Margaret Fairless, Neil Forbes, Dougie García, Hugo Gibson, Anthony Herrán, Sofía Hipp, Ann Jones, Larry La Brooy, B Lahey, Ellen Lahey, Muriel Lana Sarrate, Michael Oliva, O Pierce, Margaret Richmond, Sylvia Rodriguez, Lucia Sloggie, Allison * Sprigings, Carol Sprigings, Jennifer Trabal, Martha West, Emma 1970
“The Perficean” 1970 reports little news and the following list of library assistants:
Head: Neil Fairless
Alazia, Colleen * Barton, Leif * Bound, Graham * Carey, Coleen * De Veciana, Margaret Forbes, Dougie Forbes, Dru Hansen, Nicky * La Brooy, Joan Lahey, Ellen Lahey, Laura Raffaelli, M Reive, Nicola * Robaina, Sergio Sanchez, Alvaro Sandberg, Ian Erik. Sang Hu Chong Sloggie, Alison * Sloggie, Fiona * Sprigings, Jennifer Sprigings, Moira Stone, Kent West, Emma Wolnowicz, Roberto Yudin, Timothy
About the Falklanders the report says “Some people may be led to believe that Falkland Islanders have special qualities that make them better Librarians, but not really, (not in all cases, at least): it is only that they want to be librarians, and how can we say no? “ A comment next to Graham Bound’s name in the magazine article, incidentally, was “he will forget anything but not us”. This refers to his absentmindedness which once took him onto an airplane headed from London to Zurich, while the rest of the Falklanders were on their way back to Montevideo. Indeed, he has not forgotten us and has recently sent us his excellent book “Falkland Islanders at war”. His brother, Michael, who was the first Falklander at the school ever, is now a renowned marine archaeologist who often comes to Uruguay to work with sunken ships, he also remembers us with affection and gave us a copy of his book and three videos “Lost ships”. The report also gives special thanks to other students who helped even though they were not “librarians”: “Rafael Varela, Marta Trabal, A.M. Klein and especially Alan Breeze”
1971:
“The Perficean” 1971 reports:
“Our big job for this year is to be completing the catalogues, which means adding a fourth cabinet and finishing the cataloguing of all the old books
[21]
(the new ones are automatically catalogued)” ... “Our other big thing this year, though not a happy one, was the news of Mr. Hobson’s departure at the end of the year. He is not dwelling with us any longer now ... we were too noisy and he found a quieter place downstairs
[22]
, but he is still around in so many ways, his advice, his contributions, his guidance, his direction. He was the creative energy that made this library exist and he is its soul. However far he may go this library will always be a token of his spirit amongst us, the best possible one”.
After the departure of Mr. E.G. Supple the “library lessons” for Upper Primary students were taken over by Petunia. Library assistants in 1971 were
Head: Nicky Hansen (*)
Assistants:
Alazia, Colleen* Barton, Leif * Bound, Graham * Breeze, Alan Carey, Coleen* Draycott, John * Etchegaray, Bettina Fairless, Neil Ferreira Ramos, Javier Keenleyside, Nick * Macmillan, Gavin * Marban, Steve Reive, Nicky * Rowlands, Paul * Sloggie, Fiona * Sprigings, Jennifer Titus, Eliot Titus, Meg Wells, Robert The newly re-instated end-of year Library prizes went to Steven Marban and Bettina Etchegaray and certificates to Colleen Alazia and Nick Keenleyside.
1972:
“The Perficean” 1972 reports the library approaching 7.500 books, with Science being the most popular subject after Fiction.
Library assistants were:
Ames, Matthew Benvenuto, Virginia Carey, Coleen * Eakes, Carol Ferreira Ramos, Javier King, Alison King, Barbara * McMillan, Gavin Pepper, Rosanne Reive, Nicola * Rowlands, Paul * Wells, Robert The Library prize went to Matthew Ames, and a certificate to Gavin MacMillan *
1973
“The Perficean” 1973 for the first time printed library graphs, and reports that “the big step” was taken of separating Junior Fiction from Adult Fiction, with the foreseeable difficulty of placing many classics. The Primary grades were still in the Senior School. Library assistants were:
Head: Colleen Carey *
Assistants:
Alazia, Colleen * Albrecht, Christine Ames, Fritz Ames, Heidi Ames, Mathew Benvenuto, Virginia Cordery, Claude De Veciana, Margaret Eakes, Carolee Etchegaray, Bettina Ferreiro, Alma King, Alison * King, Barbara * Pepper, Rosanne Rathbone, Cathy Reive, Nicola * Stone, Kent Wells, Robert Library prizes went to Rosanne Pepper and Claude Cordery, with certificates for Alison King, Robert Wells and Kent Stone.
1974:
“The Perficean” 1974 reports more work and fun and librarians:
Head: Coleen Carey * Supervisors: Barbara King * Nicola Reive * and Colleen Alazia *
Assistants:
Beare, Michael Benvenuto, Virginia Blanco, María Celia DeVeciana, Teresa Ferreira Ramos, Javier Hicks, Sara King, Alison * Milburn, Tessie Morton, Patty Pepper, Rose Anne Pittaluga, Madelón Potts, Alexandra Rathbone, Cathy Stoyle, Philip Tenney, Phillip John Wallace, Fraser * Wells, Lilian Wells, Robert Widd, Kay Wolnowicz, Virginia Claude Cordery, Nick Keenleyside *, Kent Stone, Gavin McMillan *, Alejandro Peinado, John Draycott *, Graham Bound * and Alma Ferreiro * are mentioned as “Senior Friends”. Library prizes were awarded to Alison King and Rosanne Pepper, with certificates for Patty Morton, Sara Hicks and Robert Wells.
1975:
There was no “Perficean” in 1975, and no news about the Library in 1976, but other records show that in 1975 Library Assistants were:
Head: Nicola Reive * and Colleen Alazia* Supervisors: Javier Ferreira Ramos, Rosanne Pepper, Virginia Benvenuto and Robert Wells
Blanco, María Luisa Carulla, Mariela Hicks, Sara King, Alison * Morton, Patty Picardi, Desiré Pierce, Liz Piñeyro, Graciela Rathbone, Brenda Vázquez, Rosina Wallace, Fraser * Wells, Robert Widd, Kay Wolnowicz, Ginny Yunger, Andrea
The Library Prize went to Kay Widd, and certificates to María Luisa Blanco and Rosina Vázquez.
1976:
In 1976 library assistants were:
Barea, Ma. Fernanda Bello, Eliana Ferreira Ramos, Javier Hicks, Sara Morton, Patty Newsam, Judy Pierce, Liz Piñeyro, Graciela Potts, Alexandra Rathbone, Brenda Stoyle, Philip Trabal, Elisa Wallace, Fraser * Wells, Robert Widd, Kay Yuzbasic, Dragitza The prize went to Fraser Wallace, and a certificate to Kay Widd
Memos of the time point to a crisis in shelving space – new shelves began to be built after 1976, and the need for more audio-visual and vertical file materials, as well as new filing cabinet, as the shelf list was being kept in “4 chalk boxes plus assorted rubber bands”.
1974:
In “The Perficean” 1977 Petunia quoted Edward Blishen saying “it is not enough that the school librarian should be an official advocate of reading and have schemes for it, he needs to be an opportunist. The most important work he will do will arise from the fact that he is a reading person himself” and went on to say herself “It is my function to connect, to weave and cast nets of communications
[23]
between books and readers, which must not only enclose the children but mainly the teachers.”
Library assistants 1977 were:
Barea, María Fernanda, Ferreira Ramos, Javier Menéndez, Rafael Cortón, Patty Pels, Jaqueline Piñeyro, Graciela, Potts, Alexandra Spalter, Clara Spann, Kathy Stoyle, Philip Widd, Kay No prize or certificates were awarded.
1978-1979
By 1978 andd 1979 the signed register of library assistants only shows the signatures of Javier Ferreira Ramos, Graciela Piñeyro, Clara Spalter, Robert Wells, María F. Barea, Patricia Langmead and Kay Widd – and again, no prizes.
“The Perficean” 1978-1979 includes an ambiguously prophetic article by Petunia under the title of “Petunia’s Plight”, from which we excerpt:
“Some time ago, a friend who studies Computer Engineering asked my advice on how to plan a computerized library service. The idea was to work out all the possible questions an X reader could ask in order to obtain different items of information about the library” ... “My friend was very pleased with the scheme we devised, but I was left with a feeling of inadequate before the immense potential of a computer in this respect: the time it selves, the tirelessness, the entire availability. Compared to this, a human librarian is fickle, tiresome, prejudiced, ugly, lazy, quarrelsome and irritatingly slow ... what’s worse: inaccurate...” Then she imagines different real-life situations with students asking questions no computer will ever be able to answer, and ends: “Of course it has taken me 14 years to get every single book properly tied down to its shelf, to the cards that represent it, to the teacher who always uses it, to the students who borrow it, to my own memory ... even to my emotions” ... ... “Even so, there are still some books which are loose and tend to float away or get lost on the wrong shelf...” ... “A computer would not allow anything like this. She would be perfect. Would I beat her on the grounds of extra-sensorial perception? I don’t even believe in it, and calling it “human warmth” would be rather corny. Perhaps our students are a little spoilt, and if they had a computer they would all become perfect x’s. Oh well, if I ever have to be replaced by one of those ... let me have a word with her first, please””
[24]
THE 80s: computers came to stay...
1980
Around 1980 when the School started its first “Computer” room, with 2 Apple computers and several Commodores, Mr. John Finnemore designed a programme for the Library in which the daily borrowing data were entered and overdue notices, lists and statistical data could be produced.
Petunia tried her hand at teaching IB English A and World Literature in 1980-81, so Ms. Sandy Wright then came to work part-time as Library assistant, and she wrote the 1980 Perficean article, where she puts special emphasis on the “delightful new library posters” – humorous watercolours by Mrs. Mutt Gordon-Firing, with headings such as “The Library is NOT a place where you collect in the Librarian’s Office” some of which are still available. They all include mice as extra characters.
Old Girl Patricia Langmead also came to work as an extra assistant in the mornings, and the short list of student assistants show María Fernanda Barea, Kay Widd, Monica “Punky” Pugh –who got the prize- and Ellen Singer.
early 80s
“The Perficean” 1981 reports nothing about the library, and there was no Perficean en 1982. Other records show that there must have been some student help going on –probably on a more informal basis- since prizes were awarded to Eliana Rodríguez and Carlos Helou in 1982,
“The Perficean” 1983 makes no mention of the library, though “Computer Studies” gets a double-page spread.
Elsewhere we find that Ana Helen Buschiazzo and Georgina Storey got prizes for helping in the Library in 1983.
The report in “The Perficean” 1985, the next and last one published under that title, is signed by Jane Artym, an old girl who was a devoted Library Assistant while in school, and came back to work part-time in 1984 and then full-time in 1985 and 1986, when she left for Britain with her family. Her report is very admonitorious “from a book –and- peace-loving person” about people who did not make very orthodox use of the library., ending: “Books are lovely! Books are fantastic! And books live especially in a library, so please come to the library to read, or use books, NOT to discuss Thomas’s party, or Nick’s good and bad qualities, or football, or when you’re going to have your hands ‘fixed’. Please take the library seriously. After all, it is a serious enterprise”.
Next, most of the news concern computers, and how they came to the Library to stay (rather than the Librarian going to the IT room to do There are two main ways in which IT relates to libraries, and our library has not been unaware of it. The first one is the incorporation of electronic sources of information as new resources; the second the use of information technology in the working of the library itself.
New information resources
Traditionally, apart from promoting reading for pleasure or as an intellectual practice, libraries worked with information that came in many shapes or physical bases: books, magazines, cuttings, encyclopaedias, maps, audiovisual materials, etc. Today the new multi-media have irrupted: CD ROMS and Internet. They are very potent instruments, in their capacity for linking subjects, integrated with graphics and sound, which in their turn also allow for presenting information in a most challenging way.
These new media address us all: students, teachers, librarians and citizens. We perceive now that the first, predictably confusing stage is over where some may have thought that some media would substitute others (the “death” of the book) and we seem to be heading towards the combination and complementing of different media for different needs, levels, and circumstances.
In day-to-day practice, this means some enquiries are more easily and rapidly answered by resorting to a book, and others by using a CD ROM encyclopaedia or Internet – sometimes they are different stages in one task. What is important, though, is that students get used to feeling comfortable using all the different media, in order to choose and design their own strategies for searching and evaluating.
Lbrary management
The emergence of Information Technology, and data bases in particular, are a real blessing for the kind of work a library does, involving the recording of all its resources (catalogue), issues and returns, book buying. Not so very long ago, in order to have a single list where a book could be found under its author, title or subject, we had to type out several cards for each book and file them in cabinets. Nowadays we input the data once in the database, and by using search tools we can ask any question we want.
This is its turn takes much shorter time than the old method, and therefore it allows us, on the one hand, more in-depth catalogue (analytic entries, magazine articles, etc.) and on the other, devote more time for the guidance and training of users in searching for information. We are here in fact also talking about information sources, in this case secondary ones, i.e. catalogues and bibliographies that can also be prepared with little effort on the basis of the data bases.
THE 90s - our library goes all in for ICT
Around 1990, one of the Apple computers came to the Library and a DOS version of WORKS was used for starting a data base to deal with book issue and return, overdue notices, and statistics.
An important break-through came in 1992, when the decision was made to use the UNESCO DOS MICROISIS data base software (version 2.3 later updated to 3.07) and to transfer all the data held in typewritten cards, corresponding to approximately 20.000 books, to the database, a process that was done gradually and finished in 1998.
As from 1995 we moved over to Windows, when an IBM computer came to the library with enough capacity, and the book-issue data base was transferred to Microsoft Access format.
Access is also being used now for other data-bases – With the coming of a net of 2 new even more capacious computers, it is now possible to transfer MICROISIS records to an Access data base quite easily, therefore the full catalogue is accessible from the public computer in the Library room, as well as now on the Web page. There are also data bases for magazine articles, recommended web pages, audiovisual materials, etc.
In 1998 we went through the ritual ceremony of getting rid of most of the thousands of cardboard catalogue cards that had accumulated over 30 years, as the culmination of the process started over 10 years earlier.
In 1999 we added a tool that made the searches easier, more user-friendly, for younger and not so young users. This was made possible thanks to Diego Aguerre, who was then doing his I.B. Information Technology project, and made produced for us a Search Engine called Biblio, which offered an easier interphase with the user to search the catalogue database.
During the second half of 1999 courses in the use of our BIBLIO engine were implemented for the 1st. and 3rd. years as part of their IT regular courses
The Library also went through significant physical changes in the early years or the decade, more specifically during 1993 and 1994. With the redefinition of the I.B. CAS programme a group worked under Petunia’s supervision in several book-related tasks, and helped move the Library office to where it is now from the corner where it was, which then became the IB special collection room. This group included:
De Baeremaecker, Alfonso Duarte, Guillermo Giambruno, Mauro Hays, Henry O’Toole, Nikki Pica, Rafael
In 1995, under the supervision of Ms. Susana Richero, a group of girls including Alessandra Avonto, Catriona Hays and Sung Hi Chong went a long way towards making the library a more attractive place: they painted bookshelves, built the big notice-board, moved books and shelves into the new Reference room, decorated it with plants and posters, and put up shelf-labels to help users find their way round the library
The new millennium:
As from 2001 new computers connected to Internet were incorporated, and Diego had already left school. In spite of his good will, it was not possible to adapt BIBLIO to Windows NT, and at the moment what users do is consult the Access data-bases directly, with guidance from the librarian when needed.
Since 2000 we have wanted to have our own place in the School’s Web Page and ... here we are.
[1] In 1962 “Hobby” left for Britain, but he obviously missed school and/or country and came back in 1966. He then stayed until 1971, when he went back to Britain for good. [2] Many of his students equally affectionately used to call him “Pocholo” [3] A copy has been preserved of a 1960 “School Library Charging book”, with the names of “Assistant Librarians”: J. Castleton and C. McCormack (Tuesdays); T. Bao & A. Van Riper (Fridays). To all appearances, it includes form lists (from grade V (a, b1 and b2), Remove S & E, VI a & b, and Liceo 1o to 4o (one group each), and records of books (the accession number was written down) borrowed by each students in each form on Tuesdays and Friday throughout the year, including fines charged for overdue books. The youngest students by far borrowed the most books. [4] although we now print them from the computer, and then they had to be ordered from a print shop. [5] where the present Rooms 13, 14 and 16 are. [6] some of these are still familiar: clips, scotch tape... Glue has obviously undergone changes. Leather dusters? Craft knives? I did live to see and use the smelly white paste, the Indian Ink and the electric stencil-pen and gilt material for the backs of books, and not one but two accession books, plus a third one with a more modern loose-leaf design, which are still there for anyone to see. Some of the old handwritten catalogue cards are still part of our only printed card file, the so-called shelf list. All the rest is now ICT databases. Of the “one book press” – no traces. [7] prophetically. SI [8] so much for the impressive “School Library Charging Book” [9] and volunteers were still required to serve in the “Cataloguing and Periodicals Section” [10] elsewhere, in a minute from the Headmaster (Mr. A.W. Lodge) to the Secretary of the Board of Governors dated August 22, 1962 asking for funds to pay the cost of 1639 Uruguayan pesos for this encyclopaedia. [11] Don’t worry, dear Hobby, we have always kept it way below that. [12] It hasn’t so far, so they must be co-operating, mustn’t they? [13] Eventually, it was a bi-lingual young girl –not an Old Girl- who had up to then only done the first of the 2-year Uruguayan course in Librarianship who was hired in 1966, when Hobby came back for his second term in the school, and there were almost 4000 books on the library shelves. [14] I wonder if the shorter version got better return. The reasoning behind the rules about geometrical instruments, tables and chairs still escapes me. I refuse to think of a green-clad boy (it had to be a boy) trying to pierce someone else’s eyeball with a pair of compasses and using a chair as a shield. SI [15] When I arrived in 1966 the badges were still in use, but we soon ran out of them. [16] To all of them (all boys!), and to Nigel Gibson who stood by Hobby and me till the end of the year, my heartfelt thanks –they bravely handled with the stubborn outsider and some of them even sang Beatles songs with her in the corridors. It was Hugh Griffin who threatened with nicknaming me “Petunia” if I did something he didn’t like and I have forgotten, and Peter Bieniartz who loudly spread the name around thereafter so successfully that shortly the Headmaster was calling me “Petunia” in public, and newcomers began to take it for my real name and still do. [17] I would still subscribe this. [18] It worked fine. I even wrote an article for the British Magazine “The School Librarian” about our experience. When Hobby left for Britain, I remained in charge of the Library. I still wonder whether I actually became a “Teacher Librarian”, the other way round. [19] It is my firm belief that the charging of fines is not only perceived as unfair by students who are all too aware of how much their parents pay in school fees, but would further encourage adolescents either not to read or to take the books with them without recording the loan. [20] Thanks, Hobby, perhaps this is what I have earned, and even their affection, but they are still a rowdy lot. [21] including subject-heading cataloguing, which was started in 1967. [22] as Dean of Studies, where he devoted himself, together with the Headmaster, P.B. Stoyle to the introduction of the I.B. and its first examination session. [23] a pioneer of the now fashionable networking, as you can see!! SI [24] So far, it is still a partnership. |
