Reunion 1993

The Supsliskans' 25th anniversary reunion was held on 24 April 1993, ably organised by Ray with the assistance of Jane and Sylvia, in the sumptuous surroundings of the Swallow Hotel in Sheffield. It was an altogether grander affair than our latest reunion, involving an optional visit to the recently completed St George's Library at the University and the new premises of the Department of Information Studies, opened in September 1992 - farewell Claremont Crescent. The buffet meal was served in the Cutlers Room and sluiced down by wine generously provided by BLCMP Library Services - thank you Tony. Many of those attending stayed the night (£30 per person) and several of the library staff attended. The following photographs have been unearthed and are presented here for Those of us who are in their anecdotage. 

If any of you have the time to help me out by identifying people in the crowd scenes, I would be pleased to add more informative captions. 

The grandeur of the Swallow Hotel, Sheffield

1. General view of the assembled Supsliskans

2. Sam in animated conversation with Tony

3. Joan Friedman with assorted Supsliskans

4. Wilfred Saunders

5. More happy eaters

6. Chatting after the buffet. 

7. Round table talk

8. Val and Sylvia catching up.

9. The next morning - Val and Sylvia still catching up!

10. Ready for the off: David, Jane, Anne, Ian and Ray

Supsliska newsletters

At the 1993 reunion (our 25th) several members of staff were present. One of them dredged up from the archives a set of the newsletter that was produced in the summer of 1968. They are presented with a feeling of some embarrassment - typical student rubbish and taken from poor photocopies - but apart from their nostalgia value they do have some historical interest. In this digital age who remembers Cutter's Expansive Classification, Ranganathan and the other allusions to the technical developments of half a century ago?

One disappointment was that no copy was found of our programme during the study visit to London but it is recalled by Joan Friedman: " ... seeing the CLW (College of Librarianship Wales) programme on the notice board, with its red dragon and instructions for briefing and debriefing, [Supsliska] put up as a riposte, our (imaginary) schedule, which included visits on successive days to the Library of Congress, the Lenin Library and the Marquis de Sade Library in Paris. This was in the golden age when CLW students visited libraries abroad as well as in the UK. Back at Claremont Crescent, when the Supsliska programme appeared on our notice board, our cleaner, who took a great interest in the students, was impressed; she had no idea, she said, that they had been abroad during the Field Week."

The following, with its title changing issue by issue, would have taxed Joan Friedmans's skills as a cataloguer: