Who are the people who study or work at TU Delft? We meet them in Humans of TU Delft. This time: Ingrid Klok about the 25th anniversary of the TU Delft Library.
(Photo: Heather Montague)
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“I am the Manager of Library Education Services and I have worked in the Library since October 2016. There are four teams at Education Services: Education Support, the Library Learning Centre, the New Media Centre, and Studium Generale. It includes the public part of the Library, and all of the teams have a connection with education. The Library is a place where material for education and research is preserved, shared, and reused.
On 15 May we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Library building and it means a lot to us because the building itself is really part of the Library. We are a learning and knowledge hub and we want to inspire people and bring people together. Therefore we need a building that fits this functionality and I think that’s really the case here. The building was designed by Francine Houben, one of the founders of Mecanoo Architects and an alumnus of TU Delft. We are still in contact with Francine quite often if we change something. For example, now we are working on the Library Learning Centre and she is involved.
We have a very interesting new project to create an interactive collection wall instead of only books. It will involve VR/XR, new ways of searching and finding, but also visualisation of information and data. Of course, we have our staff working on it, but we also work with students from Computer Science and Industrial Design, for example. They do it as part of minor or master’s projects and they help us a lot. We are not just doing it by ourselves, but also with our students, teachers and researchers and I think that’s very important.
‘If you know the past then you know more about the possibilities for the future’
The celebration is a day for everyone to come and see what the Library is, what the Library can be and what we are here for. There is a lot of history here and we have an academic heritage team. We have had a function in this environment for a long time, but it’s changing. We started with the books, of course, and repositories with all the publications of researchers, and educational material. Then it went more and more digital. And now, it’s important for us and especially for the people who are using our collections or visitors to come here and have the physical space and the digital information. And when you bring that together, then you sometimes have magic.
The anniversary celebration is an all-day event with music, food, and speakers. We will have the opening of an exhibition that will be at the entrance of the Library that’s about the interaction between academic heritage and education. It’s very useful, especially in education because if you know the past then you know more about what the possibilities are for the future. We will also honour all of the directors of the Library, past and present. That includes unveiling the portraits of the former Director Wilma van Wezenbeek and the current Director Irene Haslinger.
We hope that the celebration brings happiness and that people can come and experience the Library and what you can find and discover here. That’s the most important thing because we are not just here to be the Library, but we are here for all the people on campus and also for people from outside the campus, national and international.”
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Heather Montague / Freelance writer
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