What can bring back better memories of this year in the Consortium than a lavish reception at the House of Commons, good food, good wine and great company. On 3rd April, 2008 the M25 Consortium celebrated its 15th anniversary. Sponsored by M.P. Barry Sheerman, the light-hearted evening was to commemorate the accomplishments of the previous 15 years, to pay homage to those who have and continue to champion the cause and to look forward to a future that echoes the sentiments that "together we are stronger".

The programme opened with a welcome address and speech from M.P. Sheerman himself, who started off by commending the Consortium on its accomplishment of achieving 15 years in operation. He praised librarians, deeming them very important to the education and research world in this country. He esteemed them as being absolutely vital to the good life of our people and helping users find insight into the things that help them to be better than they otherwise would be.

Hosting the reception the Consortium Chair, Nick Bevan, described the Consortium as a “great brand comprising a number of distinct strengths with ambitious plans to progress and develop new services” He also paid tribute to the “hard work of very many people” that had ensured that the Consortium was now in “great shape”.

The former Consortium Secretary, Roy Williams followed with an engaging trip down memory lane; from an account of the first meeting of the Consortium to highlights of the contributions made by previous officers.  He described the Consortium as “truly more than the sum of its parts” and “a voluntary group that has developed a cooperative and egalitarian approach to resource sharing and service development – whilst maintaining and indeed enriching the integrity of its individual members.”

Roy Williams' speech is available at the following link:
http://www.m25lib.ac.uk/document_manager/roy_williams_hoc_speech/download.html 

Certainly, a good time was had by all!

Nick Bevan (Consortium Chair) and Barry Sheerman M.P. converse.

Nick Bevan addresses the gathering

Founding member, Roy Williams delivers an entertaining speech

Any good party must have cake. Jean Sykes (LSE) former Chair and Nick Bevan do the honours

Past and present M25 Chairs - Denis Heathcote (previously Greenwich University), Robert Hall (London South Bank University), Nick Bevan (Brunel University) & Brian Murphy (previously Queen Mary, University of London)

Past and present M25 Staff - Suzy Ball, Dave Puplett, Caroline Holebrook (all CPD25), John Gilby and Genein Cox-DeSousa

Don Marshall, Helen Workman (both Oxford Brookes University) and Liz Chapman (UCL Library Services)

Ian Snowley (The British Library), Maire Lanigan and Anne Hutchinson (both St Mary's University College, Twickenham)

Jan Conway, Liz Kerr (both University of the Arts, London) and Christine Wise (University of London Research Library Services)

Nicola Wright (LSE), Joanna Newman (The British Library) & Barbara Spina (SOAS)

Content of M25 e-bulletin Year in Review Edition 2008