Feature
Clive Wilkins-Jones: Libraries And Local History
About this feature
In this episode of Community Chest, Dominik interviews community librarian Clive Wilkins-Jones about local history in Norwich. They discuss the Norfolk Heritage Centre's collections, the impact of a 1994 library fire, and the city's literary history as the 'Athens of the North', including the publication of Olaudah Equiano's autobiography in 1794.
Dominik interviews Clive Wilkins-Jones, a community librarian at the Norwich Norfolk Library specializing in local history. They discuss the Norfolk Heritage Centre and Millennium Library collection, including a Latin manuscript from around 1250, and the impact of a 1994 fire caused by an electrical fault. The conversation covers the 18th-century reading culture of Norwich, known as the 'Athens of the North', and the publication of Olaudah Equiano's autobiography in 1794. Wilkins-Jones also touches upon the immigration history of Norwich and the available local history research facilities. He humorously compares the excitement of archive research to watching an Arsenal football game.
Topics
- The role and outreach of a community librarian
- The 1994 library fire and subsequent efforts to replace lost materials
- The nature of historical records and the appeal of 'bad times' in history
- The reading culture and libraries of 18th-century Norwich
- Black literary figures and their connections to Norwich
- Waves of immigration to Norwich and Norfolk
- Local history research facilities in Norfolk
- Local history societies
- The appeal of becoming a local historian
Participants
- Dominik
- Clive Wilkins-Jones
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Why is that? Why don't we raise up the good times? The bad times. The bad times are more interesting in the sense that you know they're more dramatic and kind of sexy than the the good times in a way. Thinking of you know times like.
It it is just so much fun. I mean, you know, on the one hand you think about sitting in the archive and reading books, but then what you find is it's just as exciting as watching a game of football. I think, particularly when Arsenal is playing.