A 19th century NZ library

It was a great privilege to see Lydia Wevers give her inaugural professorial lecture at VUW last week.

Lydia wears many hats, and is well-known to many of us in the library community through her research into New Zealand literature and history, and her work with the Stout Centre and as Chair of the Guardians Kaitiaki of the Turnbull Library.

Lydia's lecture was about the Brancepeth Station Library, now held as part of the special collections at the J.C. Beaglehole Room in the VUW Library.

Lydia's presentation featured stunning images of the library like the one below, as well as details gleaned from the library itself and the extensive archives of the station. Lydia's wide-ranging talk included analysis of the genres in the 2000-volume collection (mostly popular fiction and reference works), marginalia (including the word "Rot!" on the title page of a book promoting temperance), the value of newspapers, and the borrowing patterns amongst the various groups of staff that worked on the station.

Lydia is writing a book about the library, which will hopefully be available soon, as her account of the role of the library in the social and intellectual life of the station was fascinating.

The Brancepeth Station Library c.1966. Image credit: Edward Beetham.

Lydia's standing in the academic and wider community was obvious from the large numbers attending the lecure. The lecture venue was changed at late notice for a larger room, and even then, it was standing room only, with several hundred people crammed into the lecture hall.

As Lydia herself noted at the start of her lecture, it was gratifying to see so many people turn out on a cold Wellington night for a lecture about books and reading. Congratulations to Lydia on a very successful lecture - I look forward to reading her book when it is published.