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Katie Birkwood

@girlinthe

#RareBooks librarian working in #histmed, knitter, cellist, bi, feminist, woolly-liberal, terrified about the climate. She/her.

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19.09.2023
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Latest posts by Katie Birkwood @girlinthe

I have a colleague who used to work there, but I'm not going to ask her early on a Saturday morning not least because they made her redundant in a really shit move a while back :(

07.03.2026 08:46 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

!!!

06.03.2026 17:59 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

@onslies.bsky.social Would you know of a list like this?

06.03.2026 13:19 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Bibliographical Society - Winter Virtual Visit - Vatican Apostolic Library
Bibliographical Society - Winter Virtual Visit - Vatican Apostolic Library YouTube video by The Bibliographical Society

The video from our Winter Virtual Visit to the Vatican Apostolic Library is now available on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/qFpVFbd7PSk

06.03.2026 11:04 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Q: What do you call a Mercian king who has reduced his prices?
A: Special Offa

06.03.2026 09:44 πŸ‘ 105 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 0

:(

Our next door chopped theirs back significantly to make room for a sort-of gazebo over their hot tub.

06.03.2026 09:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image Post image Post image

Don't be fooled by the appearances! At first glance, these look like early printed books, but it is an ingenious chest of drawers. Has anyone seen this elsewhere?

06.03.2026 07:58 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 3

@hookland.bsky.social

06.03.2026 09:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The dentures pizza has strong that-one-publicity-shot-of-Threads vibes.

06.03.2026 09:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You writing 'bubblebath' in association with screenshots of that vintage has given me the strongest sense memory of the M&S bubblebath I used to buy my mum.

06.03.2026 08:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

So relieved you've heard from them. May it be over very very soon.

06.03.2026 08:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That horn entry's pretty unmissable. (And I checked the alt text.)

05.03.2026 15:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

How appropriate, given the mountain England will have to climb shortly...

05.03.2026 14:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Resharing this fundraiser that has two weeks to get another Β£1,300. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-save-...

05.03.2026 14:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

blinkblinkblink

05.03.2026 14:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

OH NO! (I'm drooling a bit thinking about it too.)

05.03.2026 11:29 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A sound choice! Hope you're not too tired to enjoy it.

05.03.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Just been putting together the nerdiest background music playlist for this. Join us for a mix of 17th century English music. And books.

05.03.2026 11:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A political politician? Whatever next?!

05.03.2026 09:57 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Never could get the hang of Thursdays.

05.03.2026 09:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
[We see a close up of a young white male, tanned, white teeth, coiffed hair clearly an influencer on social media. It is an image such as you see when social media posts are shown on the news. In the corner of the screen is named a location: DUBAI. He is staring slightly off-camera for several silent panels of the comic strip. His eyes move slightly. He is having a thought.]

From off-screen a newsreader’s commentary comes:

NEWSREADER:

Extraordinary images here 

of an expat in Dubai 

[The influencer’s eybrows raise slightly]

…Having their first ever geopolitical thought.

[CUT TO a BBC news scene. The BBC newsreader CLIVE MYRIE is talking to an interviewee next to the screen showing the social media influencer’s face. The interviewee’s name is David Jones]. 

CLIVE MYRIE:

To explain the significance of this moment we’re joined by David Jones, our Expat Thoughts correspondent

DAVID JONES:

Clive, this is momentous

It was caught on film at the end of an Instagram post titled: β€˜Dubai Is Brilliant’.

[Pointing at the screen, the influencer’s expression still the same]

You can clearly see in the eyebrows here, the dawning realisation that there *might* be something in the world beyond his dickhead self.

It marks a *huge* departure from all the Dubai Expat’s previous thoughts.

CLIVE MYRIE:

Which are…?

DAVID JONES:

You've Got To Get Yourself Out Here Mate, Everything Is So Clean, I Don't Have To Pay Taxes, 
I Am Incurious As To Why I Do Not Have To Pay Taxes, and Spa.

CLIVE MYRIE:

And might we see an expansion of these new Thoughts in coming days?

DAVID JONES:

I think we can expect to see:

β€œI Deserve To Be Airlifted By A Country I Pay No Tax To”

CLIVE MYRIE:

Mmm. 

[Ends]

[We see a close up of a young white male, tanned, white teeth, coiffed hair clearly an influencer on social media. It is an image such as you see when social media posts are shown on the news. In the corner of the screen is named a location: DUBAI. He is staring slightly off-camera for several silent panels of the comic strip. His eyes move slightly. He is having a thought.] From off-screen a newsreader’s commentary comes: NEWSREADER: Extraordinary images here of an expat in Dubai [The influencer’s eybrows raise slightly] …Having their first ever geopolitical thought. [CUT TO a BBC news scene. The BBC newsreader CLIVE MYRIE is talking to an interviewee next to the screen showing the social media influencer’s face. The interviewee’s name is David Jones]. CLIVE MYRIE: To explain the significance of this moment we’re joined by David Jones, our Expat Thoughts correspondent DAVID JONES: Clive, this is momentous It was caught on film at the end of an Instagram post titled: β€˜Dubai Is Brilliant’. [Pointing at the screen, the influencer’s expression still the same] You can clearly see in the eyebrows here, the dawning realisation that there *might* be something in the world beyond his dickhead self. It marks a *huge* departure from all the Dubai Expat’s previous thoughts. CLIVE MYRIE: Which are…? DAVID JONES: You've Got To Get Yourself Out Here Mate, Everything Is So Clean, I Don't Have To Pay Taxes, I Am Incurious As To Why I Do Not Have To Pay Taxes, and Spa. CLIVE MYRIE: And might we see an expansion of these new Thoughts in coming days? DAVID JONES: I think we can expect to see: β€œI Deserve To Be Airlifted By A Country I Pay No Tax To” CLIVE MYRIE: Mmm. [Ends]

04.03.2026 11:14 πŸ‘ 3964 πŸ” 1237 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 40

Chocolate chip pupper!

04.03.2026 16:21 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

HURRAH

04.03.2026 07:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Ooph, the use of the TK Maxx 'up to' (as in 'always up to 70% off) is galling.

03.03.2026 18:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

No indeedy. :(

03.03.2026 18:10 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm choosing to believe it means each library gets Β£150k because that way my head won't explode.

03.03.2026 16:54 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

Well, that's a little over half what our village needs to replace the current condemned library portakabin.

03.03.2026 16:47 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

(Sheperd's did me a solid by tracking down a stash of a particular colour for a project last year.)

03.03.2026 16:23 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't know who the supplier was for the paper you're thinking of, but there was a big German paper supplier that closed a while back because of a massive flood, and stocks are running low/out of a lot of their stuff.

03.03.2026 16:23 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"Please note: These are not slippers for octopuses; these are slippers for human feet with not enough octopus on them."

03.03.2026 09:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0