Dr Michelle Johansen
@historitage.bsky.social
Social historian, researching &
writing about British librarians & #PubLibs in the long nineteenth century. Learning & Outreach Manager at the Society of Antiquaries, London.
writing about British librarians & #PubLibs in the long nineteenth century. Learning & Outreach Manager at the Society of Antiquaries, London.
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation.
Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements
Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements
February 4, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation.
Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements
Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements
Can anyone get me a job in the editorial offices of the ‘The Librarian and Book World’ in 1913? Imagine reading through the submissions for this prize scheme for librarians. Glossary! Machine-set Catalogue!! Bookbinding!!!! Pure library heaven #PubLibs 💙📚
February 7, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Can anyone get me a job in the editorial offices of the ‘The Librarian and Book World’ in 1913? Imagine reading through the submissions for this prize scheme for librarians. Glossary! Machine-set Catalogue!! Bookbinding!!!! Pure library heaven #PubLibs 💙📚
19C librarians devised all manner of ingenious apparatus to make their institutions more efficient. Here’s a pioneering form of rolling stack to streamline storage systems at the British Museum, now the British Library. From the Library Chronicle, Vol. III (1886)
#AlphabetChallenge #BforBooks 💙📚
#AlphabetChallenge #BforBooks 💙📚
January 16, 2026 at 4:13 PM
19C librarians devised all manner of ingenious apparatus to make their institutions more efficient. Here’s a pioneering form of rolling stack to streamline storage systems at the British Museum, now the British Library. From the Library Chronicle, Vol. III (1886)
#AlphabetChallenge #BforBooks 💙📚
#AlphabetChallenge #BforBooks 💙📚
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
If only there was a recent book about what Seven Dials was like in the first part of the twentieth century.
Oh, hang on...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526181954/
Oh, hang on...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526181954/
January 14, 2026 at 10:52 AM
If only there was a recent book about what Seven Dials was like in the first part of the twentieth century.
Oh, hang on...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526181954/
Oh, hang on...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526181954/
Everyone needs a Northumbrian mini-break. The porpoises should clinch it…
January 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Everyone needs a Northumbrian mini-break. The porpoises should clinch it…
i tried my best but they wouldn’t allow me access on account of the butter all over my fingers…
January 6, 2026 at 2:06 PM
i tried my best but they wouldn’t allow me access on account of the butter all over my fingers…
It’s another bitterly cold day. You’ll find me in the library at Alnwick Castle, flicking through a heap of literary journals in a desultory manner, occasionally gazing up at that STUNNING ceiling - planning to demolish a plateful of buttered toast & tea any minute now 💙📚
January 6, 2026 at 12:44 PM
It’s another bitterly cold day. You’ll find me in the library at Alnwick Castle, flicking through a heap of literary journals in a desultory manner, occasionally gazing up at that STUNNING ceiling - planning to demolish a plateful of buttered toast & tea any minute now 💙📚
Exactly, the irony!
January 6, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Exactly, the irony!
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
‘It was not in his nature to do anything by halves:’ Mary Booth on her husband’s work. No lie detected. I run a course that demystifies Charles Booth’s massive Life & Labour survey and the accompanying Poverty Map.
Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc
Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc
December 29, 2025 at 8:35 PM
‘It was not in his nature to do anything by halves:’ Mary Booth on her husband’s work. No lie detected. I run a course that demystifies Charles Booth’s massive Life & Labour survey and the accompanying Poverty Map.
Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc
Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc
I’m researching those librarians who were employed in public libraries. Yes, they were called up or volunteered. Many librarians survived WW1, returning to their jobs after the conflict. Roles were kept open for them - & their institutions made much of their heroism in fighting for king & country.
December 14, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I’m researching those librarians who were employed in public libraries. Yes, they were called up or volunteered. Many librarians survived WW1, returning to their jobs after the conflict. Roles were kept open for them - & their institutions made much of their heroism in fighting for king & country.
Salisbury Cathedral Library, founded in 1445. The library collections date back to the 1100s. The chains originally used to secure the precious medieval manuscripts to the shelves now form an eye-catching display beside the librarian’s desk 💙📚 #chainedlibrary
November 26, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Salisbury Cathedral Library, founded in 1445. The library collections date back to the 1100s. The chains originally used to secure the precious medieval manuscripts to the shelves now form an eye-catching display beside the librarian’s desk 💙📚 #chainedlibrary
In the 1870s, George Gissing & his brother William were furious at the ‘scandalous condition’ of #PubLibs in England, contrasting progress unfavourably with the USA - where every town had ‘its excellent Free Library’. From Letters of George Gissing to Members of his Family (1927). 💙📚
November 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the 1870s, George Gissing & his brother William were furious at the ‘scandalous condition’ of #PubLibs in England, contrasting progress unfavourably with the USA - where every town had ‘its excellent Free Library’. From Letters of George Gissing to Members of his Family (1927). 💙📚
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
Thinking about the 130 or so British librarians killed in WW1. Their colleagues raised funds to create a lasting memorial to their sacrifice. Sadly, the tablet they commissioned is now displayed behind the scenes at the British Library, visible only to staff.
#fwwhist #PubLibs 💙📚
#fwwhist #PubLibs 💙📚
December 11, 2023 at 6:01 PM
CLOSED. My second failed attempt to visit the Morrab Library in Penzance last month. Founded in the early 19C, the library is one of only around 60 independent libraries still in existence in the UK (& the only one in the whole of Cornwall). I did admire this cute sign on the front door though.
November 11, 2025 at 10:19 AM
CLOSED. My second failed attempt to visit the Morrab Library in Penzance last month. Founded in the early 19C, the library is one of only around 60 independent libraries still in existence in the UK (& the only one in the whole of Cornwall). I did admire this cute sign on the front door though.
Here I am, caught on camera at #HistDay25 getting over-excited about the fact that a 1960s folk-rock band named themselves after a medieval legal document!! I was at the event with my fab @antiquaries.bsky.social colleagues & we chatted to over 100 students & history-lovers. A truly inspiring day.
November 6, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Here I am, caught on camera at #HistDay25 getting over-excited about the fact that a 1960s folk-rock band named themselves after a medieval legal document!! I was at the event with my fab @antiquaries.bsky.social colleagues & we chatted to over 100 students & history-lovers. A truly inspiring day.
Manchester, Norwich & Winchester were pioneers - but many other regions had to really battle to get the act adopted esp in London. Once the libraries opened though they were universally well received & almost always over-subscribed from the off. Crowd control was often needed!
November 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Manchester, Norwich & Winchester were pioneers - but many other regions had to really battle to get the act adopted esp in London. Once the libraries opened though they were universally well received & almost always over-subscribed from the off. Crowd control was often needed!
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
Do you dare stare into the eyes of spooky child this Halloween? Take your chance today at our Haunted by the Past event until 3.30pm today! www.sal.org.uk/event/haunte...
October 31, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Do you dare stare into the eyes of spooky child this Halloween? Take your chance today at our Haunted by the Past event until 3.30pm today! www.sal.org.uk/event/haunte...
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
1 week to go until History Day - don't forget to sign up! Read about why History Day is such a fantastic event in this blog by Claire Langhamer: buff.ly/ySfBuWR
#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social
#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 3:30 PM
1 week to go until History Day - don't forget to sign up! Read about why History Day is such a fantastic event in this blog by Claire Langhamer: buff.ly/ySfBuWR
#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social
#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social
1850. The Public Libraries Act means councils in England & Wales can now spend local taxes on libraries. Some London regions are VERY slow to adopt the act. St Pancras rate-payers object to “wasting” money on “showy luxuries”. Fifty years pass before a free library opens in the district #PubLibs 💙📚
October 25, 2025 at 12:24 PM
1850. The Public Libraries Act means councils in England & Wales can now spend local taxes on libraries. Some London regions are VERY slow to adopt the act. St Pancras rate-payers object to “wasting” money on “showy luxuries”. Fifty years pass before a free library opens in the district #PubLibs 💙📚
Matt, you spoke beautifully last night! I’m part way through my copy of Songs of Seven Dials and really gripped by the stories & characters. East End history, West End backdrop.
October 22, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Matt, you spoke beautifully last night! I’m part way through my copy of Songs of Seven Dials and really gripped by the stories & characters. East End history, West End backdrop.
Utterly fascinating talk. Exciting new book about 1920s and 1930s London (and beyond). I’ll never refer to ‘interwar’ again. Sadly no #PubLibs featured at the event but we were surrounded by beautiful art books & you can’t have everything ha ha.
This is what publication day looked like.
I am buzzing but broken this morning. Thank you to everyone who made time to talk to me or came out to hear me talk about Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London.
The book is out now with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I am buzzing but broken this morning. Thank you to everyone who made time to talk to me or came out to hear me talk about Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London.
The book is out now with @manchesterup.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Utterly fascinating talk. Exciting new book about 1920s and 1930s London (and beyond). I’ll never refer to ‘interwar’ again. Sadly no #PubLibs featured at the event but we were surrounded by beautiful art books & you can’t have everything ha ha.
Reposted by Dr Michelle Johansen
I left school at 15 without qualifications but educated myself via the Harold Hill library and ended up with three university degrees.
From the 1930s, Britain’s #PubLibs were increasingly staffed by female librarians - usually overseen by a male manager. This fab photo (from the archives at Havering Libraries) shows a group of smartly-dressed assistants shelving books at the shiny new Upminster Library building in Essex c.1963 💙📚
October 21, 2025 at 7:17 AM
I left school at 15 without qualifications but educated myself via the Harold Hill library and ended up with three university degrees.