Memories from the Netherlands

 

Johan Stoffels (right) assists MP George Gair

I worked at the General Assembly Library from August 1983 until August 1986. First as deputy head of the reference section and later as head. I have since returned to the Netherlands and sadly enough will not be able to attend the reunion. This blog is wonderful alternative way of participating. I often wonder what has become of the wonderful colleagues during that period.

I look back upon this period with a lot of warmth. Not only in a professional sense did I learn a lot but for me as a a Dutchman there was no better way to get to the heart of what makes New Zealand such a fantastic country.

The late night sessions were exciting. Hearing the information you had just provided being used in the House is so rewarding. The chats with the MP’s when you were setting up an item from the Radio and Television service. Politicians whose names I would still hear about years later when back here in the Netherlands.

In that period we produced a Guide to services for Parliament. With for example photographs of Doug Graham or George Gair to illustrate some of the services. I still page through it now and then bringing back so many memories.

Not sure if it is still the case but on Fridays it was a great custom to go to the bar in the Beehive and mingle with journalists and other Parliamentary workers. Obviously we saw it as part of great PR for our services.

Remember the banned books in the office of the Chief Librarian behind the curtain? Always fascinated me. “Forward base”, the upstairs stacks I could go on for hours so many fond memories of a wonderful building. Some years ago I did return to New Zealand but it was no longer possible to just walk in and visit. I had to peep through various windows.

I hope more people will post information.

Johan, Amsterdam June 2008

Processing the news

As a 17-year old straight from school I joined the staff in 1954 under W.S Wauchop, the Parliamentary Librarian of the time. My first job was entering news items on index cards from the “Evening Post” and “Dominion” newspapers … now, with the advantage of computerisation, the mind boggles at the inefficiency of such a system. I remember quaking when Jim Wilson [Chief Librarian from 1955] came looking for something on the index cards and hoping I had made a sensible choice as to where to enter it so it could be easily retrieved. I always remember feeling very proud to work in such a handsome building and it was a pleasure to walk through the swing doors each day. (JD)

 

The newspaper card index was vital to the library’s reference service. Established from 1926 for Wellington papers it was over time expanded to other major centres. Staff spent much time laboriously noting entries by hand for a myriad of subjects; the catalogue grew to fill many catalogue cabinets. In 1989 the cards were replaced by an electronic index but the cards are still preserved for reference purposes and form an extremely valuable historical resource.

The infernal machine

Reading room, early 1980s

As a youngish researcher in the early 1980s I remember coming into the General Assembly Library. Upstairs, having ordered newspapers two days in advance, you could not take them downstairs to the photocopier – but salvation was at hand, if only you could master the infernal machine, an ancient portable device akin to a clothes press in a laundry. As far as I remember none of the staff would go near it – and wished you the best of luck! First you positioned the newspaper page on a pad, fed special heat-sensitive paper into the machine, brought down the heating pad which was on a spring-loaded shaft, held it down with steady pressure, and set the timer by guesswork. If 1 minute produced a dark brown to black mess you set the timer to 45 seconds and so on. Once you got the gist of the machine and it warmed up you got into a rhythm and the results were semi-legible. In those days any reproduction, however poor, was a considerable advance on endless taking of notes and I learned to appreciate its idiosyncracies. Does anyone else remember dealing with this particular device? (JM)

Open or Closed to browsers?

I wonder if someone can answer this one: Currently the only areas of the Library in which clients can freely browse are the Reference and Reading Rooms, but this wasn’t always the case. Exactly when and why did the other collections become closed access?

View from the top

I worked in Database Section in the early to mid 90s. We were stationed in Bowen House for most of that time. A highlight for our team was having a corner room with glass from floor to ceiling and uninterrupted views out to the snowcapped (in winter) Tararuas. Serials and Acquisitions may like to challenge this next assertion, but I think we were the social hub of the library. We didn’t have a formal social committee and definitely no funding, but we organised quite a few midwinter and Christmas functions – cramming everyone into the small 6th floor tearoom. I parked my bike in the basement of the Beehive and several times had early morning collisions with a severe pink leisure suit clad Ruth Richardson, fresh from her workout. (SW)

 

 

 

Mail

The receiving, recording, circulating and posting of mail is something some people have spent a lot of time doing especially in the Serials / Acquisitions Section. It could be challenging when boxes and boxes of United States documents arrived or pleasant when materials wrapped sweet smelling cloth from India were received. Being the first to unwrap the new books received under copyright was always a bonus. Do you have any stories or memories of opening, circulating or posting the mail?