Fulham Library is getting a makeover!

As part of the refurbishment of Fulham Library, the reference library is getting a much-needed makeover.

As a listed building, the original fixtures and fittings will stay, but a splosh of paint and some new carpet will give a much needed facelift to this lovely reading room. The original chairs have been re-upholstered and will return to the reading room once we re-open.

We have had to close temporarily and the reference library should reopen, in all its glory, by the end of May.

Book held in the reference library will be unavailable while we’re closed, but the Quick Reference Directories, Education and Careers section is currently stored in an office on the ground floor and is available on application to a member of staff. Which? Reports are also stored in the same office.

The current issue of newspapers and periodicals are on display on the ground floor. Back issues of periodicals will not be available during the closure. However, using UK Newsstand you can access newspapers online. Using a library computer or your computer at home (you need a library card and PIN) you can search this extensive backfile of British newspapers. The database’s detailed indexing helps users quickly find the news information. Each issue of each newspaper is indexed thoroughly, so researchers have access to not only top news stories but also the information contained in the various sections of the papers. The indexing covers not only complete bibliographic information but also companies, people, products, etc.

We have a range of other Online Resources that can be used at home as well as in the library, including Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Times Digital Archive (a fully searchable facsimile archive of The Times stretching all the way from 1785 to 2009.)

The notice reads ‘PLEASE LEAVE THESE SHELVES CLEAR this office is to be decorated at some point’ – it was a good excuse for a clear out. Reference Librarians rarely throw anything away…

I even found an office diary from 1969! It’s before my time (I started in 1978) but no one has a first name. Even in my day, I was never addressed by my first name – it was always Miss Wale, even as a library assistant.

We have specialised in Religion for many years, but I’m not sure about exorcism…

My office being used as a paint store and is full of building materials, so until we re-open fully we can’t offer a fax service. Apologies to our customers who use this service.

      

We can’t access the reference library for books and back issues of newspapers, but we can answer your enquiries as usual from the lending library using our online resources and the internet.

I’m also looking forward to my office being decorated. All I need now is to go on Ten Years Younger and get my own makeover!

Debby Wale
Tri-Borough Reference Librarian, Fulham Library