Former colleagues and long-term users of the Senate House Library were saddened to hear of the death of Connie Hawkes on 21 October 2011. Connie was well known to many people during her years in the Library, especially from the time when she was charge of the Periodicals Department at SHL, in the days when it was known as the University of London Library, Senate House.
Connie was one of those rare people who spent her entire working life at the same place, apart from a preliminary three months spent at the public library in Holborn. From November 1946 (when the blackout curtains used in the recent war were still lying around) to September 1988 she worked at the University of London Library. Like every new recruit at that time, her first position was in postal loans, a significant department as the University of London had a large number of external students. She then moved on through cataloguing, to working in the Reading Rooms, and the membership department, before her first 5-year session in the periodicals section. After diversions via preparation of the Library’s acquisitions lists, and more time in the Reading Rooms, in 1960 Connie came back to the Periodicals Department, where she remained.
During her early years in the library, Connie achieved a history degree at Birkbeck College, and qualified as an Associate of the Library Association.
At the time of her retirement, Connie was Sub-Librarian in charge of periodicals. During her more than 33 years experience in serials, she was a founder member of the United Kingdom Serials Group. Connie's breadth of experience at the Library also resulted in her increasingly being drawn into University committee work - particularly because of the budget cuts in the 1980s, and the need to consider rationalisation and resource sharing within the University.
When asked about her plans for retirement, her response was “Hide the alarm clock and go to bed for a week “. She wanted to avoid all timetables and wind down and reflect, then planned to "fill in gaps in her knowledge" in her areas of interest, including history, through courses and readings.
Connie was a stalwart supporter of the Friends of Senate House Library, and a familiar and popular figure at meetings and events, where her amazing memory for names and faces from the past never ceased to amaze.
Her colleagues have fond memories of Connie – she recalled her early years in the library as being so happy that she ‘felt like doing cartwheels’ on her way in to work.
“a colleague of high standards who was very experienced and knowledgeable. When I first went to the Library she was one of the people who seemed to have been there for ever and was one of the pillars of the place, and I suppose she continued to be that until she retired.”
“She never discriminated against people on appearance or any kind of difference. One young librarian of rather eccentric dress used to work late nights with her. People used to be a bit scared of his appearance and go past the desk into the office to ask Connie – and she would refer them back to “my colleague”.
She took me to my first UKSG conference, in the days when the budget ran to sending two people to a conference, and introduced me to the people she knew – she was always keen to share her love of her specialism, and give junior professionals a hand.
I’m not sure she forgave me for introducing automation to periodicals, but I don’t think I had an alternative, and I was grateful for her searching questions!”
“Connie's age is given by relatives as 83, but I remember her telling me once that she's the same age as the queen - so she'd be 85.
Connie’s last wishes reflect her warmth and concern for a wide range of people and causes:
“Connie has requested that no flowers be sent but donations be made instead to your choice of the following charities:
The Woodland Trust,
Practical Action (using technology to help poor men and women around the world),
The Connection at St Martin’s (St Martins in the Field, London),
Friends of the University of London Library”.
Margaret Blackburn
With thanks to many colleagues for their memories of Connie,
Details of Connie’s professional life drawn from the article
‘Profile Connie Hawkes’ by Albert Prior in Serials, Vol.1, no.2, July 1988.
