Hoorah For Alison and Her Archive!

Pictured above is the latest edition of the New Orkney Antiquarian Journal. This particular edition is a very special one to all of us here at the Orkney Library and Archive as it was written as a tribute to our former Principal Archivist, Alison Fraser, who retired last October and is a very big miss.

The journal begins with a tribute to Alison written by former Assistant Archivist Phil Astley. His piece is then followed by essays by archive staff members (both current and those who have moved on) and users of the archive.

The book is an excellent overview of the history of the service and of Alison's career in Orkney.

There was a small presentation on Monday night which is pictured below. A few speeches were made and chit chat was had. There was also a delightful buffet comprising of sandwiches, home bakes and a platter of fruit. That last detail may seem irrelevant, but we do like a good buffet here.

Alison receives her copy of the journal from Leslie Burgher of the Orkney Heritage Society as library and archive staff and journal contributors look on. (Photo: Orkney Media Group.)

The Aftermath...

Orkney Library and Archive was a shameful sight yesterday morning. The corridors were strewn with burst balloon skins, torn streamers and empty wine bottles, two members of staff were discovered passed out amongst the Mills and Boons and a sad pair of underpants swung slowly from a light fitting.

At least that would be the case if we were not nerdy librarian/archivists who did most of their tidying up on Saturday night. It was Alison's leaving do and the staff gathered to eat, drink and make merry. Homebakes were produced, speeches were made and gifts were presented.

It was a very pleasant, if emotional, evening. Anyone who claims they didn't feel a little moist around the eyes during Alison's speech was either crying a river inside, has a heart of cold, cold steel or is a liar.

Plenty of pictures were taken on the night but it is yet to be established whether they can ever be shown in public. Instead, this post is illustrated with two photos of a staff leaving do which took place just after the Second World War. These pictures were taken when the catering facilities at Lyness were closing so it was a leaving do for all of the staff.

It looks pretty similar to Saturday night's do except we didn't have any hats and they don't seem to have limbo dancing dogs as waiters.

Photographed by: J.W. Sinclair.

We Are Weeping and Eating at the Same Time.

Today is our Principal Archivist, Alison's,  last day. This is sad for us as she has been so great to work with, but the hundreds of cakes are helping with the pain.

I was talking to my good friend Elvis Costello last night and he's gutted that Alison's leaving. "She practically built that archive from scratch!", he cried, "it just won't be the same without her!"

"I know", I said, " I'd like to put some manner of tribute to her on our blog. In the past, I have altered the words to popular songs to mark certain days, but I can't think of any that are appropriate here."

Elvis was oddly quiet during the rest of our conversation, refusing all offers of crisps and merely grunting when I tried to discuss the AMAZING fight between Janine and Stacey in last night's Eastenders. I couldn't help feeling that I'd offended him somehow. Can't think how.

Anyway, I finally remembered the song 'Alison'. I can't remember who wrote it, but it fits quite well.

Oh it's so funny that you're leaving after so long, Boss

But with the early mornings and the dust,

We all understand.

And I heard you plan to make some tasty soup...

...we like cake here too...

We're not going to get too sentimental

'Cos you're not going to be far away.

And  we will phone you when we get stuck with something...

...so we'll be talking every day

Alison, you know that we will sure miss you.

Oh Alison, Bye, Toodle-oo

You don't need to deal with customers now.
Oh will you miss the endless copying
taking up your day?
You used to run this place all by yourself,
Hope we manage when you're away.
Sometimes we wish that we could stop you from leaving
When we see the piles of stuff to do.
I think we'll just all have to pull our fingers out
and look forward to your leaving do.

Alison, you know that we will sure miss you.
Oh Alison, Bye, Toodle-oo
Bye, Toodle-oo...

We're Never Going To Leave!

The top news story of yesterday was the imminent removal of a compulsory retirement age. This excited us here greatly as, obviously, we dig old stuff  and can't wait to become it.

We now intend to work until we are well over one hundred, dessicated and have shrunk to the size of small dogs. When one of us finally croaks, the rest of the team shall call for some spry 80 year-olds to come up from the library and roll us into an archival envelope to be filed with the rest of the old stuff.

It is only natural that the quality of service here will drop somewhat. We'll be smaller, slower, deafer and blinder and we'll want to spend an awful lot more time drinking cups of tea and forgetting what we came into the room for, but the upsides of working until you are dead are undeniable.

Think of the gifts we'll receive after 80 years of service, for instance. Here's to another 76 years.