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Tanya Kirk

@tanyakirk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 780 following 94 posts

Librarian at St John’s College, University of Cambridge. Curated a Fantasy exhibition at the British Library. Views my own. She/her

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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I didn’t mean Lynne! Absolutely she was qualified. Everyone after her… not so much.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In fairness the previous one was a woman... with no library quals. There is a trend across the whole country that the only competent people are scientists and/or business executives, and it's just utterly philistine and depressing.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Funding from private equity though? Some might say the national library shouldn't be overly exposed to that world...
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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great news, and looking forward to a book historian becoming Chief Exec of the UK Space Agency sometime soon in this brave new world!
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
bear with me but... wouldn't it be wild... if the head of the British Library had ever been... a librarian??
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
They tried 'someone with other strengths' with the last CEO appointment and she lasted less than a year.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
!!!!!
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Seriously so weird. How did we get into a situation where we have an elected Labour government who are scared to be seen as a Labour government?
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Those multicoloured tabs around the top right book as well! In case you lose your place and need to find a particular blank page very quickly
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
He was in the first Dune after this, wasn't he, but yeah agreed.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
the horror
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Cab Davidson @gnomeicide.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Taking the money from overseas aid budgets is fundamentally wrong headed. If you want to fund public transport, do it with car fuel duty.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
My glimmer of hope lasted less than 24 hours. He isn’t even officially prime minister yet and already fucking it up left and right
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I just don't know what's going to happen with London jobs outside very specific sectors (financial sector). No way to make it work unless you have a crazy commute from somewhere that isn't London, and then you burn out from the long days
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Sadly it’s total flag shagging. There is a guy from Chesterton filming himself and his little friends with a big ladder putting them up and putting it all on Facebook. Local Facebook groups are full of people saying ‘if you don’t like our flag you can leave the country’ 😡
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
😍 but why are two of them upside down? *twitches*
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This blew my mind. Some of the largest data centers can require up to 5 million gallons of water per day, equivalent to the water use of 50,000 people. Why are we selling out the survival of our planet to enrich a handful of Big Tech CEOs?
theguardian.com
Majority of US’s new AI datacenters to be built on drought-hit land
Guardian analysis finds facilities to be built in some of the driest areas as outcry grows over water needed to power AI
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I think I would unpick a few of the button placket stitches and poke some dark interfacing in so it lies either side of the stitch line. Iron on and sew a few small stitches across the area to hold in place, then resew the placket down?
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Hahaha excellent
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Is this a typo or was the cake somehow evil?! 😂
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
driverless taxi company 😬
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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 02/06/2026
Someone actually did a study a while back that showed the most effective way to get women out of TERF groups wasn’t people trying to change their minds, it was them getting literally any benign hobby, like learning other languages or taking up needlework
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Can confirm also makes an excellent tattoo design reference source
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
this is a 19th century painting of @alancumming.bsky.social in Circle of Friends (1995) and I will not be persuaded otherwise www.robertyoungantiques.com/products/dep...
robertyoungantiques.com
Depicting an Unknown Gentleman Seated at his Desk
Oils on CanvasEnglish, c.1850 23.75
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
You're very welcome!
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Terri Windling @terriwindling.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'm making one last push to let people know about this online talk -- sponsored by the British Library in conjunction with their current exhibition on fairy tales. The live stream starts at 7:30 tonight, but if you buy a ticket *before* the event you can watch it any time over the next 7 days.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Seconded. Amazing book
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Argh really miss the fika stall! Glad you’re feeling better though
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Natania Barron ~ Fantasy Author @natania.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Appropriate since snakes do not have arms.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Currently advertising two fixed term parental leave posts: Special Collections Librarian (13 months; £43,622-£49,097 - closes 9 March) and Special Collections Assistant (6 months; £30,508-£33,096 - closes 7 April). It's a great chance to work with a brilliant collection jobs.joh.cam.ac.uk
jobs.joh.cam.ac.uk
Vacancies - St John's College, Cambridge
St John’s is a large community of more than 150 Fellows and 250 staff who all help us to be an inspiring place to live, learn, teach, research and work.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
A very fine choice
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Something nasty on the bookshelf: my review of @tanyakirk.bsky.social's collection of stories about books and libraries for @blpublishing.bsky.social, ‘The Haunted Library’ drfrancisyoung.com/2026/03/04/s... 📚👻
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
What a lovely thoughtful review - thanks so much, Francis
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Sofa in front of entrance door?
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Just to give a sense of how badly the salaries at the BL have degraded - this post paid £39k in 2010, which the Bank of England inflation calculator says is the equivalent of £61k today
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Trinity College Library, Cambridge @trincolllibcam.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Librarian #libraryjob www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
trin.cam.ac.uk
Graduate Trainee Librarian
(One-year fixed term contract, full-time) Trinity College Library wishes to appoint an enthusiastic Graduate Trainee for one year from September 2026. The post offers an ideal opportunity to gain a…
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Trinity College Library, Cambridge @trincolllibcam.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Archivist. #archives www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
trin.cam.ac.uk
Graduate Trainee Archivist
One-year fixed term contract, full-time Trinity College Library wishes to appoint an enthusiastic Graduate Trainee Archivist for one year from September 2026. The post offers an ideal opportunity to g...
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Oh! Sigh. I was excited for a minute!
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Wait how are you watching it?! It’s not on anywhere yet is it?
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Christian Allgore 💀🩸🖤🎃 @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Very good reporting on the situation at the British Library by Claudia Cockerell in The Evening Standard. Appreciate the time and care taken to investigate and explain it all. I believe Library workers on the ground are prompting much-needed culture change there. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
standard.co.uk
The worst of times: Trouble at the British Library
Cyber chaos, striking staff and a crisis of leadership. Claudia Cockerell investigates a national treasure’s year of reckoning
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
@dimitrafimi.bsky.social will know I’m sure!
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Yay! Excited for this episode @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I loved it too, so good
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Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It's wild that there appears to be more current concern for the Lost Library of Alexandria than for the British Library. The BL's crisis exemplifies the accelerating destruction--through apathy as much as by design--of human knowledge & learning. I'm not even being dramatic.
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Leave Hamilton out of this! (I know which one you really mean)
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Omg. This is wild
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Matt Shaw @matthewshaw.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Nolo Mortem Peccatoris (& @tanyakirk.bsky.social!) www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
churchtimes.co.uk
Lost medieval carol to be ‘brought to life’ on Advent Sunday
Macaronic carol, including both English and Latin, comes from a manuscript, S. 54, in the old library of St John’s College, Cambridge
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Tanya Kirk @tanyakirk.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Paging @unamccormack.bsky.social !
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...
cityam.com
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
This headline ticks all the boxes for me.
A headline that reads “Demonic wind in the willows jumper banned from westminster abbey
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