In this post, Juliette Byers, a third-year Advanced Humanities (HUMN3300) student, shares a few favourite items she came across during a month-long mini-internship at the Fryer Memorial Library of Australian Literature at UQ's St Lucia campus.
Fryer Favourites
I recently completed an internship in Fryer Library, the highlight of which was the opportunity to interact directly with books, manuscripts and items from the extensive Fryer collection.
The Fryer Library archives are packed floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall with shelves overflowing with any number of unique, antique or interesting items. From rare books to comic books, architectural plans to photos of someone’s great-great-grandfather, anything can be found in Fryer.
Below is a list of my personal favourite items that I had the chance to interact with during my time at the Fryer Library.
- A flyer from the 1960s advertising a community house in the Brisbane CBD where women could come for legal advice, safety and solidarity. An optimistic reminder of the history of female community and support networks, representative of the huge range of political ephemera from the Women’s Movement that I interacted with during my internship. Handling this collection, especially the materials produced in Brisbane and UQ, created a feeling of connection with the women in whose footsteps all female students walk.
- A Medieval bestiary displaying illustrations of dogs and cows alongside unicorns and griffins. Intricately drawn diagrams of animals and mythological beasts make this book beautiful and endlessly interesting to flick through. The casual references to hydras and cyclops call to mind an almost fairytale-like landscape in which these creatures truly do walk alongside farm animals.
- A camera from 1906, that had travelled from London to India and, finally, to Australia. When looking through the lens of this camera, it’s impossible not to wonder what other scenes have been witnessed through its teakwood viewfinder.
Time spent in Fryer is never time wasted. Whether for research projects, an internship or personal interests, its rooms after rooms of archival material will have any visitors leaving with their own, unique list of Fryer favourites.
About internships in the Fryer LIbrary
Internships are a form of work-integrated learning where students experience a work-like environment for a limited time while still studying.
Fryer Library internships (usually one day a week for 13 weeks) and mini-internships (1 day a week for 5 weeks) are coursework opportunities negotiated by academics with Fryer Library staff and are offered per Semester or per year, depending on the course.
