Roy Cropper, Corrie's own library campaigner

Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut / Free Digital Photos

Have you been watching Coronation Street lately? If so, you’ll know why Roy Cropper’s latest crusade has sparked our interest! He’s teamed up with feisty librarian, Yasmeen Nazir, to try to save his local public library from closure. If you haven’t caught the storyline, take a look at Alyson’s Welsh Libraries Blog where there’s a guest post from Dr Anoush Simon, lecturer in the Department of Information Studies at Aberystwyth University. Dr Simon, a Corrie fan herself, summarises the story so far and talks about the importance of issues like this appearing on mainstream television.

We always get a bit excited to see librarians on screen or in books, especially if they’re not the stereotypical cardigan-wearing shusher. Yasmeen Nazir will be one to watch, and not someone to be messed with! From Casanova to Batgirl, check out our post from a few years ago on other famous librarians from fiction and history – I’m a Celebrity Librarian…Get Me Out of Here!

Looking for a scary movie or a spine-chilling book?

Happy Halloween everyone! It’s the scariest time of the year again – ghosts, ghouls, witches, and probably some assignment deadlines looming! Pop into your Swansea Met library to borrow something suitably creepy to get you in the mood.

Last week, we put the spotlight on the black cat / Halloween display in Townhill Library’s Teaching Practice collection, but we’ve lots more to offer too! Search for horror fiction on our catalogue and see what takes your fancy. If you’re looking for a recommendation, Edgar Allan Poe is surely the king of the spooky story, especially with all those Simpsons tributes through the years which seem to have have linked him inextricably with Halloween.

And we’re not just about books! Speaking of The Simpsons, you’ll find the seventh series in Townhill Library at 791.457 SIM, so you can re-visit some old adventures, including Treehouse of Horror VI  to continue with our Halloween theme. Griffith Library on the Dynevor campus has an excellent selection of DVDs which includes genre classics from kitsch Hammer Horrors to modern chillers like The Ring.

Remember, you can ask for books and DVDs to be sent between our four libraries, so you don’t need to miss out if the item you want is on another campus. Just ask staff for a request form. And don’t have nightmares!

(If it's your assignment deadline keeping you up at night, you might want to take a look at some of our study skills books!)