Saying Goodbye to 2020/2021

Monday, 21st June 2021

It really has been quite a year for us all. As we count down the days to the end of term (4 – just 4 – left!), maybe now is a good time to reflect on the situation we now find ourselves in.

This time last year, the final blog before summer opened with –

“Good news. Library doors are about to reopen. No, not [LRC] doors. Summer term for us ends in a few days. This will be our last blog of the academic year and we will spend the next few weeks preparing for the huge welcome back to our students in September. The good news I was referring to is that public libraries are set to reopen.”

Public libraries did indeed reopen. For a little while at least. It wasn’t too long before they were debating whether they could align themselves with non-essential retail and remain open to offer a click & collect service as Lockdown #2 descended. Lockdown #3 swiftly followed as we welcomed 2021. Libraries are now open but the future is as murky as ever.

As for the LRC, our huge big welcome failed to materialise. Following the government Covid guidelines closely, the College decided that the LRC should remain out of bounds for staff and students and we were only allowed to offer a very limited in person service. It’s only since the easing of the last lockdown that we finally had students studying in the LRC.

It’s unfortunate that as we approach the end of this term, we haven’t a clear idea of what the situation will be this September and, as we don’t want to tempt fate for the second year in a row, we will not commit in writing to “preparing a huge welcome back” for our students and will quietly go about our business with our fingers crossed.

Windrush Day 22nd June
Windrush Day has been celebrated since 2018 and honours the British Caribbean community, especially the half million people who travelled to the UK after the second world war. This year the theme is ‘Celebrating Great Britain’s DNA’. More information on events being held can be found at Windrush Day 2021 | Celebrating Great Britain’s DNA.

Book Review
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
Rating: 5/5

In 2011, 19 year old Zoe Nolan, upset with her boyfriend, rushed away from an end of term Christmas party being held in her student flat. She was never seen again.

Author Evelyn Mitchell, intrigued by the many stories of young girls disappearing, decides to find out what happens once an initial quest for truth dies down. She uses Zoe’s story as her inspiration, and sets about meeting her family and close friends. After many interviews and some investigative work, she believes she’s found a possible answer to the mystery of what happened to Zoe. This book is the transcript of those interviews, interspersed with a series of emails where poignant questions are asked and various threads are tied together.

I loved the style of this book, the way it reflects the tone of current documentaries where interviews are chopped and rearranged to frame a narrative. Given the subject, it really works well, and an intriguing story has been created. The actual author of this work of fiction is Joseph Know who has woven an ingenious and highly original tale (and who has also cheekily given himself a role in the drama).

The physical book itself deserves a special mention. The sprayed edges of its pages are possibly the most vibrant shade of pink ever to grace a printed book.

I’m a little tight with giving out 5 stars but not today. Loved it.

– Alison

We love…

In a year that has lacked any notable sporting events, it’s hard to miss the opening football matches of the delayed Euro 2020. Three of the home nations are represented on the pitch and we probably know by now which, if any, of them have the chance to progress to the ‘Round of 16’ (at the time of writing, between the three teams there’s been one win, one draw and one loss).

The Euros this year are organised slightly differently than previous tournaments and it has nothing to do with Covid. To mark the 60th anniversary of the UEFA European Football Championship (to give the tournament it’s full title), UEFA announced that it would be held in multiple cities across Europe. A great idea in principle to have the opening matches played in different countries but there were financial reasons for this decision too. UEFA had expanded the number of countries taking part which would have placed a financial burden on any one host country.

As it turns out, the group matches are occasionally being played in the locations that under the old system would never even have been considered. Some countries simply don’t have the infrastructure needed or even an adequate number of football stadiums to play in. For Euro 2020, there will be some players representing their country in front of their fellow countrymen in a home stadium – something that under normal circumstances would not have happened.

Thirteen different cities were originally chosen, spread over thirteen different countries. There have been a few changes and by the start of the tournament thirteen had been reduced to eleven. London’s Wembley Stadium has the honour of hosting the quarter finals and the final. Fingers crossed one of the home UK nations will be still there.

Students

Book Loans
As we near the end of the academic year, the LRC would welcome the return of all outstanding books that are currently out on loan. Due to the pandemic and lockdowns, all fines have been waived for now. Please return books to the Library Desk by Thursday 24th June.

E-Book of the Week

For our final e-book of the academic year we are highlighting LGBT+ Issues, part of the series of books from Issues Online. This also seems a fitting way for the LRC to round off Pride month 2021..

If you are accessing offsite, you may be asked to login here. Click in the “Shibboleth”login box and select Brooklands College as your home institution. Log on with your college username and password.

Tip of the Week

Access our virtual library online
You can search for e-books on the library catalogue or directly through our e-book providers.. Click on the Shibboleth login if requested and select Brooklands College. If you have any problems please do not hesitate to contact us at library@brooklands.ac.uk.

Heritage Online | Proquest | VleBooks

LRC website
The LRC website contains links to our resources, our online catalogue and is full of information about LRC use, plus there are book reviews, links to our displays and other items of interest. It is only available to College members (sorry) and can be found through links on the LRC Google Classroom, and on the staff and student intranets.

LRC Google Classroom page
Tutors have been invited to join the Classroom and will be passing the joining code on to their students. It’s full of links to resources, and helpful advice and tips.

Please contact us at library@brooklands.ac.uk if you need support with e-books, e-resources or anything else.

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