Scotland: Edinburgh University Library

For as long as you can go back, it seems, civilizations have created spaces to store items containing information and archives. Additionally, there have been people within those spaces who organized, protected, and, usually, helped others maneuver through the information and items to find what they were seeking. These record keepers and information gatekeepers became known as librarians or information professionals. I had the honor of receiving my Master of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2018. I worked at High Point University Main Library for a little while before jumping, with both feet, into my own business of being a wellness librarian, somatic awareness educator, and continuing my massage therapy career.

I mention all this because I visited the University of Edinburgh library when I was in Scotland for two reasons - to accompany my friend, Amanda, while she visited the archives to see an ancient manuscript pertinent to her research and to see how I could fit the library into any future workshops I would teach in Edinburgh. I wanted to see the logistics of what spaces I could use plus the ease of getting a library card for each person or a group pass. I utilized the hour or so to speak to the information desk personnel about my questions and to orient myself to the library.

I also found books catered to a workshop around the "Witch Burning Times" or a history-based class that speaks about the repetitive nature of history to fear, blame, and persecute the "other" in hard times, i.e. immigrants, POC, women, non-Christian people (Christian Nationalism) etc. Here are a few that I found:

In my master's program I did a study abroad in Ireland centered around how information is affected during cultural conflict. This trip to the library reminded me of how the professor who led that program formatted her class. This trip has been an amazing experiential learning experience so far on mostly indoor spaces, but I know the rest of my trip will look more at outdoor places, which will help form my 5 Elements of Body Awareness workshops.

Both Amanda and I fulfilled our mission for the day but after this my friend left to go back to the USA, so it was bittersweet! My trip with Amanda also got some ideas flowing that I can't help but wonder what could happen in the future if you combine a historian and cultural anthropologist (Amanda aka Dr. Respess) with a wellness librarian, somatic awareness educator, and massage therapist (me). Who knows?! We will just have to see!

I will end on a practical note. After seeing Amanda off, I checked into a new hotel with a kitchen. Practical tip #1: stay in a place with a kitchen so you can save money on food spending by cooking. Practical tip #2: If you are like me and do not like to check a bag, on a plane, but you're staying in a location for a long period of time, you may need to pack the amount of clothes that will fit in the largest carry-on bag BUT how would you have enough clothes for your trip? Well, you can stay at a place with laundry facilities or find one in town. I found a place called the Laundry Kafe, click here to learn more and be taken to their website. The owner was taking care of his father's Scottish terriers, and they stood watch on the couch (they actually helped catch a burglar trying to break into a shop/flat across the street the same week).

I did some writing and note taking as I waited for my laundry. I walked back to my hotel and picked up some groceries at a small family-owned vegetable and fruit store on the way. Since I was going to be at this hotel for almost a week, I wanted to learn the lay of the land on foot but also know that I could search my phone what bus would take carry me back to the hotel.