Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

THE MUSEUM IN WARTIME MEMORIES OF WORKING IN SWANSEA MUSEUM ELAINE KIDWELL I knew the Museum from the age of seven and I always loved it. I used to go there with my father, who borrowed books from the library. We lived quite near, in Quay Parade. I started to work in the Museum in 1938, as Assistant Librarian. My predecessor was Heather Eveleigh, who became Mrs Paniers. In those days you had to leave your job when you got married, if you were a woman. The Librarian was Mr Young, who went on to become the Public Librarian of Swansea after the War. I loved the Museum. There's something about the place. When I went to work there I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! I did clerical work in the library and catalogued the books. There were four headings to file them under: the author, the title, the subject, and the publisher. All these had to be kept up to date. I had Elaine Griffiths. to deal with the people who borrowed books. There was no telephone. Mr Young said, 'You can't have a phone in a library' and that's right. There was an office in the corner of the upper library, behind the door and under the stairs, but that's not where I worked. My desk was at the far end of the library, so I could see who came into the Museum through the open door. The entrance charge was one penny. When people borrowed books, I had to stamp them and enter the details in a ledger. I collected the subscriptions from members. It was two guineas ( £ 2.10p.) a year then, which shows what a bargain it is today ( £ 10)! I think it should be more. You often had to remind them to pay! You'll laugh when I tell you that I was paid £ 2 a month. I started work at 9 am, went home for an hour at lunchtime, while one of the members took over, and locked the building up at 7 o'clock in the evening. Sometimes I worked six days a