The Young Librarian

intro note.

In writing my father's biography I have been researching in each of the local archives where he worked and combined this with photographs stories and other documents from family sources. I am looking for a balance between his personal family life, his values and beliefs and his contribution to Librarianship and library development. There are specialists who have written of the technical side of his work but I want to look in a broader context. I am writing a number of such pieces as that posted here in an effort to get the balance right and to manage the research before it becomes an unmanageable mass. In this particular piece there will be much more to be said about his time and work in Penge, but I wanted to build in memories of my mother's take on this stage of their lives before they got lost in the grand sweep, so to speak of his developing career and philosophy. I would be very pleased to hear any comments on the piece and on the ideas mentioned.

The Young Librarian

The Librarian of the Urban District of Penge, Mr S.J. Clarke, applied for retirement from April 5Ih 1936. The Public Library Committee exercised its powers to retain his services from his desired date of departure until May 31^st to enable the recruitment of a suitable replacement. In the meantime they revised and updated the listed duties of the librarian previously agreed in 1921. A few minor changes to meet current practice were made but one very significant duty was added, namely that the Librarian 'shall reside at the Public Library premises.’

After their marriage in 1933, Arch and Phil, as their families called them, moved to a flat in Belmont Road in the West Green district of Tottenham. Phyllis gave up her job in the fur trade, and Archie continued to travel to Poplar to work. Archie came home one evening in the February of 1936, brimming with excitement. He showed Phyllis an advert for the post in Penge at £250 per annum rising to £350 subject to satisfactory service. In particular, he pointed to the requirement to live on the premises.

"Let's go over and look at it on the weekend." he suggested, "it sounds just what we want."

"It would be good to get out of this little flat. How far is it from Tottenham?"

"Not far, still on the outskirts of London. It's a really nice area, and the job sounds ideal: a library to run in my own way. All the things 1 want to do. It would be wonderful "

When they saw the building at Oak Lawn, in Annerley Road, they were thrilled. Phil was nervous of what to her was its grandeur after the pokey little flat they were renting in Belmont Road but she was not going to oppose the idea. The following month he came home to a letter inviting him as one of six shortlisted candidates to attend for interview on Monday April 6" 1936 at 6.30 p.m.

Phyllis sat at home as 6.30 approached and drank a cup of tea. She hoped he had managed to get there in time, how long would it take from Poplar? Had he left enough time? Good job I made him put on a clean shin this morning, she thought, I just hope his collar hasn't got too creased. I should have given him a spare one to change before he went in to the interview. Please Archie don't mention politics, she begged. If they start at 6.30 and there are six of them however long will it take? Will they tell them tonight? She wound up the gramophone and put Gracie Fields on.

Phil sat back and let that voice she loved so much absorb her. By eight o'clock she began to worry again. She remembered her knitting. A cardigan for the cool evenings in spring and autumn, would it be fashionable enough for Penge? They're so much posher there. She put the National Radio on, but the news was all about Stalin and Hitler: She turned it off; she had enough to worry about. Please don’t mention politics Archie, she said it out loud this time; they aren’t the same in Penge as they are in Poplar. She looked at the clock again, quarter to eleven, surely they must have decided by now.            

            She heard a key in the lock. "Well?" she said "How did it go? Did you get it?" he looks absolutely washed out, she thought.

            "They will let us know," he said, "Is there any tea?" She made a fresh pot as he described the interview. "It seemed to go well, but the other candidates were good, Well, most of them anyway." Two days later a letter with the Urban District Council of Penge monogram arrived. He brought it to the table.

            "This is it," he said reaching for his paper knife.

             "Well? What does it say? Have you got it?" As he read the letter his face broke into a broad smile.

            "I have been offered the post, on condition I pass a medical examination," he said.

            "Oh well done Archie," she slid her arms round his neck and they hugged each other. The medical proved to be the formality he had anticipated and to his great delight he was appointed with effect from June 1^st 1936. Phyllis soon overcame her nervousness as they moved into the more spacious accommodation above the library at Oak Lawn. Archie could work much more conveniently without having to travel, and Phyllis herself would spend many evenings after the library was closed sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the shelves reading from the wide range of fiction available. They also had an annual holiday entitlement of twenty-four working days. They could now afford a car, and so over the following few years they explored the country from Devon and Cornwall up to Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay. Phyllis felt this was the best time of their lives. They were young, had no ties and enough money to enjoy their lives and anticipate a happy and prosperous future.