We are delighted to announce that it has been confirmed that Sara Wallace will be our librarian and Dr Megan Holman will be our library assistant.

Sara holds an MSc in Information Management in the Cultural Sector from City University, and has over a decade of experience working in academic libraries across both the University of Oxford and here in Cambridge. She joined the department in March 2023 as the Library Assistant until being promoted to Acting Librarian in September 2023 while the then Librarian, Clair Castle, was on secondment. Following Clair’s resignation, Sara has been appointed as our librarian.

Megan got her doctorate in English Literature at Northumbria University in 2022. She was previously employed as Library Assistant here in October 2023 to July 2024 on a temporary contract and is happy to now be at the Chemistry Library in a more permanent position.

From left: Sara Wallace and Meghan Holman.

Reminder of library services

The Library Office is staffed Monday to Friday 9:00-17:00. Staff, researchers and postgraduate students have access to the library whenever the department is open, undergraduates have differing access dependent on the stage of study – see the access eligibility on the library website for further details.

The library team can advise you on a wide range of information-related topics, from using iDiscover, helping you access resources not held at Cambridge, reference management and how to avoid plagiarism, to information on Symplectic Elements and open access.

Library inductions

In October the library team gave in person library orientation sessions to the new postgraduate students, which along with promoting the resources and services, was a great way to meet the new cohort. These were the first in person orientations post-pandemic and the team hope to continue and expand on in person library activities. Sara adds that she and Megan are very happy to give one-to-one or small group inductions or refreshers to anyone in the department at any point of their studies; just get in touch!

Wellbeing

As well as providing a beautiful open-plan, silent study space, and housing the research and teaching collections, the library also has a wellbeing area along with a wellbeing book collection.

The wellbeing area has comfy chairs, origami, jigsaw puzzles and Lego, and signposts to other wellbeing resources and initiatives. The wellbeing book collection has sections on mental health, inspiration and research and study skills –all of which are borrowable. Recommendations to add to the book collection are always welcome!

Get involved

You may remember the wonderful display on Celebrating Rosalind Franklin curated by Megan in July 2024, or our display to coincide with WellChem’s Wellbeing in Chemistry week in October.

The library team would love to curate more displays highlighting the collections and would love to hear your ideas! If there is a subject or issue you would like to see a display on, they can help you identify relevant materials in the library’s collection and discuss possible ways of presenting your information and ideas.

To contact the library, email: library@ch.cam.ac.uk or pop by the office.

What is Clair doing now?

Clair resigned from her role as Librarian at the Department in September 2024. During the previous year she had been on secondment to the role of Research Data Manager at the Office of Scholarly Communication, which is based at Cambridge University Library. She has now been appointed to that role on a permanent basis. Clair's new role involves managing the Research Data service that supports research staff and students in managing their research data throughout a project lifecycle, from ideation to preservation, across the University and in all disciplines.

Chemistry research staff and students may be most familiar with the service when depositing their research data to the University Repository, Apollo (in fact chemists are one of the top depositors!). The Research Data team answers queries, delivers training, and offers a consultancy service and Data Management Plan Review service. To find out more about how the Research Data service can help you, visit the Research Data website. Clair says she misses the Chemistry Library but is sure she will cross paths with many of you in her new role.