Housekeeping Week 2017

Over the course of two weeks in October, the Library was closed to readers to enable staff to make more space for incoming books. The process was initiated by moving a section of books from the upper gallery to our East basement storage. In a domino effect, seven major sections of the Library were moved around and re-shelved in more capacious areas, with space left on each shelf for growth. At the same time, the books and the shelves were cleaned of their Piccadilly grime. This could not have been undertaken without the enthusiastic help from Linnean Society staff and volunteers, with new volunteers recruited on the promise of tea and cake.

These successful two weeks have enabled staff to start shelving books often generously donated by our Fellows, and which had been waiting in boxes or on cradles for lack of space on the shelves. A further closure of the Library is planned for the New Year to continue the process.

At the same time, archivist Liz McGow catalogued around 90 manuscripts, ahead of the launch of the archives catalogue Calm View at the end of the year.