In Volume 13 we speak with Hannah Wise from the University of Surrey.

Word of the Week

Pulchritudinous
I’ll help you out with the pronunciation, ‘pul-kruh-TOO-di-nuhs.’ 
Not really a word you can guess the meaning of, it is used exclusively to describe people of great physical beauty. How you go about delivering this compliment in casual conversation is another matter…

The Interview

What’s your role in the library?
Information Resources Advisor — making sure all our online content works.

Favourite book?
Can I have a top three? I’m going to take your silence as a yes and say — After Dark by Haruki Murakami, Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. The last one has a special place in my heart as it was the first book I read which made me realise classics weren’t impenetrable tomes but rather just really, really good stories.

Favourite magazine?
Olive — just beautiful, soothing pictures of food that I occasionally think about trying to cook.

If you could change one thing in the library world, what would it be?
Honestly, just to be funded and recognised properly. The Library is such a bedrock of society, universally known by everyone and yet it is often seen as the first place to make funding cuts. The contrast saddens me.

How do you think libraries are going to change in the next decade?
I think the trend of hosting content online will continue but I truly hope that the importance of working with physical, tactile objects will not be forgotten. Libraries can be a refuge of peace and serenity for some and I hope this vital role is continued.

If you weren’t a librarian, what would you do?
I’d love to work with animals.

Any hidden talents?
I can sing How Much is that Doggy in the Window backwards — but it doesn’t really come up that much.

Any questions for me?
If you had a daemon (from His Dark Materials trilogy) what animal form would it take? 
– Tough question! I’d like it to be a wolf or a crow… but in reality, I think it would be a house cat. I’m quite feline and enjoy nothing more than lounging around in a suntrap, reading a book.

Many thanks again to Hannah for taking part!

Would you like to participate or nominate a colleague?
As always, you can reach me at tom.rodenby@exacteditions.com