Georgina, Norfolk Heritage Centre Volunteer

Georgina has been a volunteer with Norfolk Heritage Centre at the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library since 2021. The UEA, where Georgina is a third-year student studying literature, has been hosting a volunteer for several years and after Georgina reached out to them outlining the experience she had in archives, and highlighted her interest in the Early Modern period, they gladly took her on.

Georgina has been helping to catalogue a collection of rare books and writes for the centre's blog and social media. The work she has done has greatly increased accessibility to the area of the collection and she has introduced it to whole new audiences. In May, Georgina gave a "Heritage Hour" talk discussing her discovery of a fascinating medieval manuscript leaf within one of Norfolk Heritage Centre's historic printed books, and exploring its transcription, the examination of its illuminations, and its relationship with other known examples of Bede manuscripts.

Georgina said, "I've gained a wide range of practical skills - I was taught how to catalogue, and how to use archive software. It has been hugely satisfying cataloguing a previously uncatalogued section, as it means that these texts are now on the data base and can be accessed. I've written lots of blog posts for the Heritage Centre, varying from tiny books of prayers to huge sixteenth-century maps. Volunteering allows you to broaden your skills and to meet some fantastic people. I've had an absolutely wonderful time at the Norfolk Heritage Centre."