It’s the first week of the proper planning of the project. Rebecca has set up a facebook group to make it easier for us to communicate and we are all getting excited about the project. Whilst Kenny has taken on the mammoth task of the 700 page biography, I thought I would take on the much smaller task of critical study of Jean Rhys. Initially I had thought it would be as straightforward as going to the University Library to pick up the book, and was a little disappointed when I realised that I was going to have to register at the National Library of Scotland because the book was no longer available. Anyway, I went along to the National with my stamped letter of recommendation from the university library, my student id card and the only form of proof of address I had (my lease). When I got to the room with the registration desk I waited for a few minutes and watched whilst another older man smiled into the camera to get his photo taken and thought I’d soon be next… The only problem was that when I did reach the desk, I was told that because my lease was back dated over three months it was not valid…
I was advised to go to the bank and get a statement with my address on it. So after a trip to the wrong bank, a random conversation with the guy at the bank who informed me he was autistic, and a wander round the city for what felt like hours (it was probably only about ten minutes) I was finally back at the library. This time with (or so I thought) all the right documents. Sadly, the National library are far more stringent on accepting new members than I had thought, and all my documents were once again carefully looked over (I still think he thought I wanted to bomb the library!) and despite the fact that my statement was not stamped, I was at last (well, after a mini photo-shoot) a new member!
I haven’t been back to the library yet to read my book, but I’ve been told that if I do my computer will be screened and I am not allowed any coats, bags or pens in the reading rooms. I’m hoping that the rest of the project will go a lot more smoothly than the beginning and to avoid any more problems, next week, I am taking my pencil!
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