Bristol Zoo Gardens Library
Having a keen interest in research-based libraries, I was intrigued to learn about a library at Bristol Zoo Gardens. I imagined it to be similar to the medical library in which I work; lots of books and journals around animal medicine and physiology. Blimey, was I in for an interesting surprise!
The day started off with a talk from Dr Daphne Kerhoas, an expert and lecturer in conservation science. I was pleasantly surprised to hear about how she and others collaborated with people to ensure the conservation and survival of wildlife around the world. She also spoke about the different courses the Zoo offers in partnership with the University of Bristol, University of Western England (UWE) and SGS College. Being a keen animal lover, I was almost tempted, as the courses all sounded fascinating. You can check them out here!
10/10 library meme
Next came a quick talk from the Librarian at the zoo, Siobhan Klaus. She briefly detailed the workings of the library, and its rather unusual and unique cataloguing system, developed by volunteers back in the very early days of the library’s beginnings. The library contains around 4500 books, and some 2500 journals around zoological topics. The library is frequently used by UWE students, who also have access to UWE Library’s holdings.
We also got the opportunity to visit the library. It was a very pleasant space, with nice bright colours and the odd fabulous library meme to engage users. The seating was comfortable and well-placed, and there was a great view of a rather chilled-out capybara outside. The unique cataloguing system was apparent, with bright orange markers to distinguish the sections. I also noticed a great quote from the brilliant Carl Sagan (I’m a huge fan), which seemed to sum up the vibe of the library rather nicely: ‘I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture, and our concern for the future, can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.’
Is now the time for an hawkward bird pun?
In the afternoon, after a lunch and a quick look at some tree kangaroos (yes they really do exist – it blew my mind) we had the great pleasure of attending a talk by the Education Manager, Dave Naish. He spoke about how he engages young adults and children under the age of 18, and encourages them to respect animals.
With that in mind, he showed us a tank of giant burrowing cockroaches. They are very slow-moving, and cannot fly or cause harm to humans, and so they made a very good introduction to handling creepy critters. For those who were willing, he gave us each a cockroach to look at. Mine was probably a female, as it didn’t have a very pronounced scoop on its head. It felt rather heavy (more so than I was expecting!) and up close it looked rather beautiful. Its outer shell had many different shades of red and brown, no doubt to help it stay camouflaged while it traverses through dead leaves and plant matter. It had lots of little spiky ridges on its legs (perhaps as an aid to grip?) and its long antennae seemed to be checking out the skin on my palm. I felt quite privileged to hold such a cool cockroach, and I certainly learned a few new interesting things along the way!
We also got the opportunity to see a rainbow boa, a very beautiful snake with iridescent scales. We were shown how to stroke it; with the back of our hands, following the scales to avoid any discomfort to the snake. It felt very smooth and rather cold, but that’s because we’re warm-blooded mammals, so it’s because I was warm, rather than it being cold.
After the talks, we could spend time wandering the enclosures, to see the animals up close. They all seemed very happy and very interested in their habitats; I saw a cute little bird checking out a pumpkin one of the keepers had left for it!
Always good to end a post with a picture of a penguin: have an ice day!
CILIP South West Member Network 