Ironically, I met
Michael at the Greek Church, Derby Road, Nottingham where he attended
the Liturgy on those Sundays there was no Liturgy at Carlton. Some time
later the idea of forming
a library at Carlton
was suggested and unaware of the
other’s interest we both put our names forward and eventually
became the team.
There had been a previous attempt at cataloguing the books then in
stock but it was decided that a fresh start should
be made, especially as three or four previous
parishioners left the whole of their collections of Orthodox books to
the library in their wills - a total of several hundred books.
It
was quickly brought home to me that Michael was the epitome of quiet
professionalism. Sitting opposite him at the work table, I was aware
that care and meticulousness were paramount and every word and number
on every card had to be double-checked and if need be put aside for
further discussion as to a book’s place and which details
could correctly be included on the card.
Reluctantly,
we used the Dewey Decimal system as no other was at hand, and Michael
was always aware of its weaknesses with regard to a specialist
collection.
A
pattern emerged that he would spend every Thursday morning at the
Library and he did this increasingly on his own as I found it difficult
to
make the journey at that time. He would never make a decision
without consulting me and would always leave the books he had
processed for me to see and check before shelving.
But,
independently, of this work he was also compiling a definitive
bibliography of the collection of Local History publications at
Nottingham University. Also, he had a unique collection of
Swedish/American literature which is of world significance.
He
was particularly keen to see all the periodicals properly boxed and
shelved in date order. Any duplicates were ruthlessly put on that pile
for discard.
The
result of his efforts is such that people studying at the Cambridge
Institute have compared our collection favourably with theirs and it is
a standing responsibility to ensure that the Library continues to
expand and be available to a wider public as a tribute to all
Michael’s work.
It
has been suggested that we call our library ‘The Michael Brook Memorial
Library’
At
Michael’s funeral we were privileged to have with us some of his former
colleagues – both from Nottingham and Leeds - on being acquainted with
some of our problems they have kindly written and suggested really
workable solutions. This is very heartening as people important to
Michael, in his professional life, are involving themselves in his
final work and enabling it to move forward.
Joseph Fitzpatrick
