A stepping stone to employment by Rebecca Lovell.

‘A reading people always be a knowing people’. These words from the writer and preacher John Wesley are from a letter written in 1790, eleven years after the Birmingham Library first came into existence in 1779.

And when I first entered the BMI Library about seven years ago, I found those words to be true. The volunteers I met there were passionate about reading, but they also knew how to offer a warm welcome and support to all those who wandered through the library doors.

They welcomed me to volunteering and supported me right at the tentative first steps of my career, having known from the age of about fourteen that working in libraries was what I wanted to do.

I later went on to a temporary role working at another wonderfully unique Independent Library, Gladstone’s Library in North Wales, but I was keen to return to the BMI once that concluded.

Not all places have an independent library like that at the BMI. I’m proud that Birmingham absolutely does. I used the social media skills I learned at Gladstone’s Library to significantly increase the number of followers and likes on Twitter posts (now known as X) for the BMI by posting about some of the many books within the collection. This use of social media has greatly expanded since I volunteered, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction, to have been able to raise initial awareness of the precious collection held by the BMI.

Equally, it was a huge privilege and a thrill to begin to investigate and unwrap a few of the Unbound Books which have subsequently formed part of Eighteenth Century Libraries research project. How many people who work in libraries can say that they have seen and handled books purchased in the first 200 years of a library?

Many years ago my college Librarian remarked to me that ’Libraries are about people’. Having worked now in the sector for seven years, I would wholeheartedly agree with this. This was absolutely my experience volunteering in the BMI Library. Assisting and meeting the varied users of the library gave me valuable experience of helping those who came not just to browse and borrow books, but also to use the facilities.

The dedicated volunteers I met were as much a part of the library as its users. Led by Samina they were crucial to the lifecycle of the library. At the time I volunteered there in 2016/17, they were not simply opening the library to provide a service to its users, but were rejuvenating it by performing the critical task of lovingly cleaning the books and caring for delicate and damaged volumes.

Their care and commitment, as well as the welcoming customer service they provided was something I sought to emulate. The lifecycle of a library is ongoing, and I continue to admire the work of Samina and her team both to care for, and to expand the collections.

All those who have used or worked in a library past, present and future are part of its lifecycle. To have been a tiny part of the story of the BMI Library is a highlight of my time as a member.

I returned to volunteering at the BMI library once my temporary position at Gladstone’s Library concluded. I was delighted to be able to utilise the social media skills I had acquired whilst at Gladstone’s Library