The head of our department, David Lowe, retires today, after a career at the University Library stretching back more than forty years.  This afternoon, the Library gave him a grand send-off attended by scores of current and former staff, with speeches from former full and acting University Librarians among those given, ending with a lovely speech by David himself.

Apart from one year at library school in Sheffield, David has been in Cambridge since he left school to study German and French at Jesus College.  He first came to the University Library as a trainee for one year; after completing his library course, he returned to take up employment at the UL once again.  He was appointed as the German specialist in 1979 and held this role for over twenty years, during which time he had a crucial role in accessions such as the Stefan Heym archive and he led work with other UK libraries to set up the German Studies Library Group.  He then moved up to become head of the new European Collections and Cataloguing department, which recently merged with English Collections to become Collections and Academic Liaison.  Through these roles, David has had a fundamental effect on the University Library’s collections, either through direct selection, through careful instruction to new staff regarding selection, or through the negotiation of both small and vast donations. Continue reading “Farewell and thanks to David Lowe” →