This guest post is by Virve Miettinen, who spent four months with various teams at the British Library.

Every morning there’s a 100 meter queue in front of the British Library. It seems to say a lot about an unashamed nerdiness and love for learning in this city. Usually all the queuers have already put the things they might need in the Reading Room in a clear plastic bag, so they can head straight down to the lockers, stow away their coats, handbags and laptop cases and secure a place on the beach of learning.

Virve Miettinen

The Mobius fellowship programme, organised by the Finnish Institute in London, enables mobility for visual arts, museum, library and archives professionals, and customised working periods as part of the host organisation’s staff, in my case the British Library. The programme is a great opportunity to break away from daily routines, to think about one’s professional identity, find fresh ideas, compare the practices and methods between two countries, share knowledge and build meaningful networks.

Learn, relearn and unlearn from each other

Learning isn’t a destination, it’s a never-ending road of discovery, challenge, inspiration and wonder. Each learning moment builds character, shapes thoughts, guides futures. But what makes us learn? For me the answer is other people, and during the Mobius Fellowship I’ve been blessed with the chance to work with talented people willing to share their knowledge at the British Library.

I’ve familiarised myself with British Library Learning Team which is responsible for the library’s engagement with all kinds of learners. The Learning Team offers workshops, activities and resources for schools, teachers and learners of all ages.

I’ve been following the work of the Digital Scholarship team and BL Labs project to learn more about the incredible digital collections the library has to offer, and how to open them up for the public through various activities such as competitions, events and projects.

I’ve worked with the Knowledge Quarter, which is a network of now 76 partners within a one mile radius of Kings Cross and who actively create and disseminate knowledge. Partners include over 49 academic, cultural, research, scientific and media organisations large and small: from the British Library and University of the Arts London to the School of Life, Connected Digital Economy Catapult, Francis Crick Institute and Google.

I’ve assisted the Library’s Community Engagement Manager Emma Morgan. She has been working as a community engagement manager for six months now and the aim of her work is to create meaningful, long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the surrounding community, i.e. residents, networks and organisations.

Inside the British Library

I’ve observed the library’s marketing and communications unit in action, and learned for example how they measure and research the customer experience, i.e. who visits and uses the BL, what they think of their experience and how the BL might improve it.

 

I’ve got many 'mental souvenirs' to take back home with me - if they interest you, read more from my Mobius blog: http://itssupercalafragilistic.tumblr.com/. 

100 digital stories about Finnish-British relations

As part of the Mobius programme I’ve been working on a co-operative project between the British Library, the National Library in Finland, the Finnish National Archives, The Finnish Institute in London and the Finnish Embassy. In the last three decades, contacts between Finland and UK, the two relatively distant nations have multiplied. At the same time, the network of cultural relationships has tightened into a seamless 'love-story' – something that would not have been easy to predict just 50 years ago. In the coming year of 2017 the Finnish Institute celebrates the centennial anniversary of Finland’s independence by telling the story of two nations – the aim is to make the history, the interaction and the links between these two countries tangible and visible.

We are collaborating to create a digital gallery open to all, which offers its visitors carefully curated pieces of the shared history of the two countries and their political, cultural and economic relations. It will offer new information on the relations and influences between the two countries. It consists of digitised historical materials, like letters, news, cards, photographs, tickets and maps. The British Library and other partners will select 100 digitised items to create the basis of the gallery.

The gallery will be expanded further through co-creation. In the spirit of the theme of Finland’s centenary 'together', the gallery is open to all and easily accessible. With the call 'Wanted – make your own heritage' we invite people to share their own stories and interpretations, and record history through them. The gallery feeds curiosity, creates interaction and engages users to share their own memories relating to Finnish-British experiences. The users are invited to interpret recent history from a personal point of view.

The work continues after my Mobius-period and the gallery will open in September 2017. Join us and share your memories. Be frank, withdrawn, furious, imaginative, witty or sad. Through your story you create history.

P.S. The British Library Reading Room is actually far from The Beach of Learning, it’s more like The Coolest Place To Be, I found myself freezing in the air-conditioned Rare Books Reading Room despite wearing my leather jacket and extra pair of leggings

Virve Miettinen is working at Helsinki City Library/ Central Library as a participation planner. Her job is to engage citizens and partners to design the library of the future. For Helsinki City Library co-operative planning and service design means designing the premises and services together with the library users while taking advantage of user centric methods. Her interests involve co-design, service design, community engagement and community-led city development. At the moment she is also working with her PhD under the title 'Co-creative practices in library services'.