The Kayton Library and Archives

This year we have finally felt that things are returning to normal. We are glad to be providing our full service again and are not sorry to see the end of quarantining books and the constant hand-sanitising that went with it. The return of in-person teaching has meant we have been able to share our collections with pupils again.

We are also delighted to be able to host our exhibitions again. Our Treasures event of the autumn term let us highlight the astonishing collection of material associated with Field Marshall Montgomery (OP) including his school records and his return to the school in 1944 to plan the beach landings at Normandy. The event was held in the Montgomery Room, where visitors could see the famous D-Day map with the potential landing sites marked in red pen. Dan Snow (OP) returned with a sell-out talk about Monty and his connections to the school.

Our Spring event was the Written Word which allowed us to show our collections of letters from Samuel Pepys (OP), the Duke of Wellington, and George III. We also showed Erasmus’s inscription in our copy of his Paraphrasis, and Terentius’ book which is covered in hand-drawn manicules. The Juniors Librarian, Miss Dixon, enjoyed helping people experience writing with quills.

The Archivist received over 120 enquiries this year: a PhD researcher interested in our Oxyrhynchus papyri; a travel company interested in the school and its links to a manga series Candy Candy; Blenheim Palace researching the Duke of Marlborough, plus the usual family history research. The community have also contributed a number of new additions to the Archive including an historic Foundationer’s Fish and the founding documents of the African Caribbean Society.

The Library saw book circulation largely return to pre-pandemic levels. There was s huge spike in lending as we went into lockdown, the flat-lining during the closures and the return to a more normal pattern this year.

The Library has added over 1,100 books this year, creating a much-expanded fiction collection and modernizing some of our non-fiction subject areas.

The Predict the Booker Prize event ran true to form with our 100% record of predicting it incorrectly being maintained. The event was held online and the readers, Suleyman Ansari, Zac West, Joseph O’Keefe, Thomas Salter and Federico Nanni, coped brilliantly with the unfamiliar set up and some technical issues at the start. Enyu Hu took the voting on the night with his very eloquent discussion of Bewilderment by Richard Powers.

At spring’s Feast Service the Old Pauline Club generously donated a copy of Whisky Galore by OP Compton Mackenzie. They also, in a break from tradition, funded the conservation of The History Of The Rise, Progress And Accomplishment Of The Abolition Of The African Slave-Trade By The British Parliament by OP Thomas Clarkson. This book from 1808 is used frequently as it contains the famous image of the Brookes slave ship, and has become very fragile. The conservation will allow it’s continued use in the future.

Finally, we are sad to lose our wonderful Archivist Ginny Dawe-Woodings. Her professionalism, expertise and enthusiasm have been a great addition to the team. She has made an enormous difference during her time with us and we wish her well in her future career.

Hilary Cummings

Librarian

Ginny Dawe-Woodings

Archivist ❚