This month’s Rare Book Display on the Mezzanine level of the University of Portsmouth’s Library has been curated by Emily who we are lucky to have as one of our Student Assistants. Emily has chosen a fascinating and eclectic range of books.  All are beautiful in their own way.  It was fantastic to have Emily’s choices that reflect her diverse interests. Its an eclectic collection – from beautiful portraits of society figures dressed in their finest, divinely bound books and the poetic writings of Oscar Wilde; to the caricatures of Punch and Judy and finally the macabre Hans Holbein.

Looking back over the Black History Month blog posts from last year, you will find descriptions of the many powerful Black women who successfully overcame the frightening violence and persecution that followed the uptick in racism and fearmongering in the 1950s following the post-war economic collapse. Figures such as Mavis Best who changed the law from a tool of persecution to a standard for equality that gave police sweeping powers of arrest without cause and allowed them to intimidate Black people with the threat of arbitrary arrest and instigated the Race Relations Act of 1965 that replaced colonial laws and established equal rights in law for everyone, regardless of their ethnicity. These figures are so important that I wanted to revisit them again briefly here.

Every reading list should be preceded with the words “don’t panic” in large, friendly letters. Almost everything you need to read for your course is available through the library. Most are available as ebooks that you can read from anywhere …

A librarian’s guide to saving money (on books) Read more »

Contrary to the prevailing myth that Black people arrived to an entirely white population mid-20th century on the Windrush, archaeological evidence suggests Britain was ethnically diverse from at least the time the Roman Empire arrived in Britain, facilitating international trade and mobility and have answered the call to aid Britain from every corner of her empire ever since.

Saluting sisters: celebrating the impact of Black British women This Black History Month, we are focusing on the history, legacies and lasting impact of Black women. With so much online content focused on Afro-Americans, I have tried to centre Black …

Black History Month in the Library 2023 Read more »