Found in the Archives...

Who watched "Call the Midwife" on PBS? While watching Episode 3, I saw something familiar. Myles Textbook for Midwives is shown in that episode, and I thought we had a copy in our Archives. So I looked, and sure enough we had several copies of different editions (though not one with the same cover as in the show) with the oldest being a second edition, copyright 1956.

Copies of the second and third edition of Myles Textbook for Midwives

What was even more interesting, though, was the condition of the oldest copy. It was covered in tattered paper, with the title handwritten on the front.

TEXTBOOK FOR MIDWIVES
Myles
Please do not remove from the Hospital Wards

Intrigued, I opened the book, and found this inscription on the front page.

It reads:

To the Confluence Midwives,

With well-wishes and remembrances
of many happy days and nights in and
around the Middlefork.

Nora K. Kelly, SRN, SCM, MTD
27.3.56

Please return to
Helen Browne at
Wendover

I don't know who Nora Kelly might have been (nor what the credentials after her name stand for), but I have of course heard of Helen Browne. Since "Brownie," as she was called, was just awarded a posthumous honorary doctorate at graduation last month, it was especially interesting to see something that she might have used regularly.

I will continue exploring the archives to see what other stories might present themselves!

National Library Week 2012

This week we'll be celebrating National Library Week with the theme "You belong @ your library." I know that most of our students and faculty don't spend a lot of time "at" Frontier's library in Aunt Hattie's Barn. Most of your "library time" is spent in cyberspace, visiting our website and using various online resources.  However, we do want our physical library to be a useful place for you when you visit campus for Crossing the Bridge, Clinical Bound, and/or DNP Intensive (and of course for new students who are on campus for the first time at Bridge Bound or Frontier Bound). So, what do you think belongs @ our library? Textbooks? Leisure reading materials? Charging stations for your mobile device? Comfy seating? Let us know in the comments! I can't make any promises (we may not run right out and buy a recliner, for example) but we will certainly consider all suggestions for making the library a welcoming and functional space!