Author and illustrator Sharon King Chai, helped launch the #Eurotoolbox 2021 at the Victoria Library Westminster and transfixed us with her immense creativity, praising the value of libraries in the promoting reading .

This special collection of literature for children and young adults in French, English, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish, carefully selected by the respective European Institutes’ librarians is FREE to borrow for any library in the UK.

This year, the selection is aiming to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of human rights, inclusion and representation in literature.

With the Eurotoolbox, you will have the resources at hand to work on various subjects, with 60 authentic and popular books.

More information: Eurolis

21st Century Fiction from Latin America 

El pasado 21 de Enero, Walter Oppenheimer, el corresponsal de El País en Londres,  publicó en su blog un artículo  muy interesante sobre la situación de las bibliotecas en Reino Unido, los recortes presupuestarios que les afectan y las posibles acciones a tomar para evitar el cierre de las mismas.

Se puede accecder al artículo completo desde aquí: Revolución en la biblioteca

We have pleasure in inviting you to join us for the Exhibition Launch at the Music Library, Barbican Centre.
Wed. 23^rd of June, 6:30 p.m.
Download invitation

Eurotoolbox on the road:
a travelling exhibition of Children and Youth literature from Europe

• Five specially chosen collections for children and youth literature from Europe on display
• Panel talk with Axel Scheffler (illustrator, Germany), Paloma Bordons (writer and illustrator, Spain) and John Lake (librarian, Barbican Library)
• Refreshments and snacks will be served

Wed. 23^rd of June, 6:30 p.m. Music Library, Barbican Centre. Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS Barbican

Who’s it for?
Public librarians (incl. children’s librarians); school librarians; ‘special’ librarians; any librarian who wants to know more about meeting users’ needs for material in western European languages. The books could be displayed in staff areas or in public areas, as you wish.

What’s in it?
Five specially chosen collections of children’s and youth literature from Europe, in the original language (French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish, between 12 and 15 books in each language). The authors and illustrators selected represent some of the very best in children’s book production in these languages.

How much does it cost?
The exhibition is free to borrow. You will need to organise transportation to the next borrower yourself. The exhibition is packed into 2 boxes, total weight about 30kg.

How can I borrow it?
You can borrow the exhibition for about 2 – 4 weeks at a time. To book a time slot, please contact David Carrión at the Instituto Cervantes from the 1st of June 2010.

For more details:

biblon(at)cervantes.es

Download the ppt presentation

Download full contents listing (PDF, 77 KB)

Download flyer (Doc, 32 KB)

In 1946, a journalist asked Professor Antonio Pastor about his favourite books. The Professor, who had recently been named Director of the Spanish Institute, answered with a great sense of humour, “My father’s chequebook and my mother’s recipe book”.

 The (pre)history of our library could start like this: in 1946 Franco’s Government, still ignored by the other foreign powers, decided to set up the Spanish Institute to thwart the influence of the Spanish Institute in London, directed by Pablo de Azcárate. Until the end of the Civil War, Pablo de Azcárate held the position of Spanish Ambassador to the UK in London. Once victory had been recognised by the British Government, it would then go on to be held by the Duke of Alba. 

Despite this recognition, in mid-May 1946 the opening of the Institute was coldly received by the British press. Professor Antonio Pastor, who stressed the nature of the Institute was cultural and non political, declared in the News Chronicle: “… this Institute will have the best Spanish library outside of Spain, with more than 8,000 books”. However, five days later the Daily Worker published a devastating cartoon in which the cultural activity of the Institute and the tragic bombing of Guernica were connected. In the picture, several youngsters introduced coffins inside “Franco’s Cultural Centre”. The caption was: “They are just a few historical records of Guernica”.

Since then, 64 years have passed. Today the library houses more than 30,000 items which are constantly being updated and which at the same time pay homage to all those who passed through here, contributing to our history. For example, Leopoldo Panero, cousin of Pablo de Azcárate, whose books and memoir can be found in our catalogue, was here as an Assistant Director.  Pablo Luis Cernuda, a good friend of the above, has also spent time here as has Salvador Madariaga, who have both left behind them not only a deep mark on London, but also their great work, which is magnificently represented in our collection. Anonymous donors also helped shape an important collection of books by British travellers in Spain, from the XVIII Century to the beginning of the XX Century, and also the librarians who have worked here, who have meticulously put together an interesting collection of documents about the Civil War. These few lines are also a great tribute to all of them. 

It is not surprising, due to its history and collections, in which it is important to highlight those that involve the history between Spain and Great Britain, that many researchers outside of the UK have contacted us for particular items. The majority of our users, however, are students and teachers of Spanish looking for manuals, grammar books, good literature, music, and of course Spanish and Latin American films. 

That project, which started in 1946, became the library of the Instituto Cervantes in London in 1991. Today the library is completely integrated into the city thanks, fundamentally, to its collaboration with ACLAIIR (Advisory Council on Latin American and Iberian Information Resources), and also with EUROLIS (group of librarians and members of the cultural institutes of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, and members of CILIP in London) with which the Library of the Instituto Cervantes of London organises and takes part in seminars, exhibitions and working meetings.

So in conclusion, maybe our library is not yet “the best Spanish library abroad”, but we are working on it. Maybe what we need is a good chequebook, or maybe just some good recipe books.

Happy birthday, Mrs. Library!

Text in Spanish (.pdf)

*The Story of a Modern Woman is also a novel written by English author Ella Hepworth Dixon. The novel was first published in 1894. The novel is an example of the «New Woman» genre of late-Victorian England  (From Wikipedia)

We would like to thank the Associated Newspapers Limited for their kindly having allowed us to publish the article from the News Chronicle which we reproduce (in the image) above.
 

Especialmente para estudiantes o profesionales españoles que deseen realizar prácticas o buscar trabajo en bibliotecas del Reino Unido, enviamos una serie de enlaces que quizás puedan ser útiles.

• Para profesionales o estudiantes interesados en trabajar en Reino Unido, casi toda la información se puede encontrar en:

 http://www.cilip.org.uk

CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) es la institución de referencia para los bibliotecarios británicos. En su página podemos encontrar una gran cantidad de recursos que están a disposición de sus miembros y de los que no lo son, porque a muchas de sus informaciones se puede acceder libremente.

Sobre trabajo e intercambios, por ejemplo, encontraremos:

1. El enlace a la página LISJOBNET, que ofrece alertas e información de ofertas de trabajo para bibliotecarios y profesionales de la información www.lisjobnet.com
2. El enlace a INFOMATCH, que es una agencia de trabajo para bibliotecarios y documentalistas integrada en CILIP http://www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers/infomatch
3. Y el enlace a LIBEX, que es la base de datos que sirve a los miembros de CILIP para INTERCAMBIAR trabajos con profesionales de las bibliotecas y de la información en todo el mundo.

Para acceder a la base de datos LIBEX hay que darse de alta. Los trabajadores de fuera de Reino Unido NO TIENEN QUE SER MIEMBROS de CILIP para darse de alta y hacerlo es gratis. Estos trabajadores (los extranjeros) solo pueden hacer intercambio con trabajadores del Reino Unido.

 Aquí se explica todo acerca de LIBEX: http://www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers/libex/

 Y aquí está el enlace para darte de alta: http://libex.camp7.org/Default.aspx?pageId=66837

En la página de CILIP se pueden encontrar muchas otras cosas interesantes, como por ejemplo una guía de salarios de bibliotecarios: http://www.cilip.org.uk/jobscareers/salaries

 o información sobre cursos: http://www.cilip.org.uk/training/training

 etc, etc, etc.

 OTROS RECURSOS

Oportunidades de voluntariado (en todas las áreas, también en bibliotecas o puntos de información) http://www.volunteering.org.uk/

 Aquí: http://www.do-it.org.uk/advanced.do , seleccionando por ejemplo London en el primer campo y Library en el último aparecen unas cuantas posibilidades.

 Más voluntariado a nivel internacional, de tipo general: http://www.idealist.org

Pensado fundamentalmente para estudiantes británicos que buscan un lugar en el que hacer sus prácticas, pero donde todo el mundo se puede registrar, PROSPECTS ofrece información sobre trabajo en prácticas para estudiantes y trabajo para graduados o licenciados.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Work_experience/p!eigaLjd

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/p!eLaXi

PROSPECTS Depende del NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR WORK EXPERIENCE:

 http://www.work-experience.org/ncwe.rd/index.jsp

 También con información sobre trabajos para bibliotecarios:

http://jobs.trovit.co.uk/jobs/work-experience-library-assistant

POR ÚLTIMO,  ofrecemos un listado de las bibliotecas académicas en Reino Unido con sección de español que pertenecen a WESLINE:

 http://www.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/wesline/contacts.asp?subject=Spa

 Y con sección de Latinoamérica:

 http://www.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/wesline/contacts.asp?subject=LatAm

 Veréis que varios contactos se repiten.

Podemos empezar por aquí, ¿por qué no? Será esta nuestra primera entrada en biblioteca transparente.

El pasado 22 de julio, visitamos la biblioteca de la Universidad de Cambridge gracias a la gentileza de Sonia Morcillo que nos preparó un programa verdaderamente interesante.

A nosotros, en el Instituto Cervantes, nos parecía que para los estudiantes de la UGR y de la UB que realizan prácticas en nuestra biblioteca en Londres y en otras bibliotecas de esta ciudad (BL, Canning House, LSE) podía ser buena experiencia para añadir al currículum.

En primer lugar, David Lowe, Sonia Morcillo y Clara Panozzo, realizaron una breve introduccion sobre la biblioteca y, en particular, sobre la metodología de trabajo en el departamento de «European Collections and Cataloguing» y en la seccion Hispánica. David Lowe es el jefe del departamento.

Después visitamos algunos de los depósitos de libros y salas de lectura.

22 de julio de 2009

Tras el almuerzo en la cantina de la biblioteca, visitamos el departamento de Mapas. Anne Taylor (jefa del departamento), nos mostró algunos mapas raros y curiosos, como el realizado por los espías rusos sobre la ciudad de Londres durante la guerra fría.

Más tarde, Sophie Defrance, del departamento de Rare Books, nos mostró algunas de las joyas de una de las colecciones de libros raros más interesantes: la colección Waddleton.

Finalmente, visitamos la biblioteca de la Faculty of Modern and Mediaeval Languages. Hélène Fernandes tuvo la amabilidad de expliarnos con detalle cómo trabajan en su biblioteca.

Ya fuera de programa, Julie Coimbra, de la biblioteca del Centro de estudios de América Latina, también nos mostró los fondos de la biblioteca que gestiona. Antes de llegar a este último punto, nos hicimos la foto.