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Librarian Summer reading recommendations 2026

26/07/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Librarian Summer reading recommendations 2026

So, as it’s summer, we have asked the lovely librarians here at Edinburgh Napier University to share some of their favourite reads of the year so far. Most of us are avid readers, as you would expect, so be sure to add these to your own reading plans this Summer.

Why not join one of your local libraries and support your local community by borrowing books for FREE! Alternatively, Edinburgh has some of the best independent bookshops in the world, so see this as an excuse to buy yourself a wee treat and support an independent bookshop too.

Rachel

The Girl On the 88 Bus by Freya Sampson

A heartwarming and uplifting story about a woman named Libby Nicholls who moves in with her sister in London after being broken up with and left broken-hearted by her now-ex-boyfriend Simon. On a bus ride through town, she meets an elderly pensioner named Frank and becomes invested in his story of a girl he met on the same 88 bus service many years ago. She inspired him to pursue his dreams, and he had planned to go on a date with her, but tragically lost the bus ticket she had written her number on for him. Ever since, he has ridden the same 88 bus in the hope of finding her again. Libby decides to help him on this mission – and in this journey, finding love and happiness again may be just around the corner…

This was truly one of my favourite books that we recently read for my book club – if you are looking for a wholesome and uplifting read for the summer, certainly add this one to your reading list!

Alannah

Here are some of Alannah’s top reads:

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness by Carlo Rovelli
Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulken (You can borrow this one from us!)

Alison

The pull of the stars by Emma Donoghue

“In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city centre, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.

In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.

In The Pull of the Stars, Emma Donoghue once again finds the light in the darkness in this new classic of hope and survival against all odds.” (Description from Goodreads)

Adeline

Lots of wonderful recommendations from Adeline:

Heatwave, Victor Jestin
My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
The Glassmaker, Tracy Chevalier
Strangerland, Monika Radojevic
Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams
Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton
Four Seasons in Japan, Nick Bradley
Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maya

Fancy something a bit more political? Maya recommends:

Political order and political decay from the industrial revolution to the globalisation of democracy by Francis Fukuyama

This is the story of how state, law and democracy developed after these cataclysmic events, how the modern landscape – with its uneasy tension between dictatorships and liberal democracies – evolved and how in the United States and in other developed democracies, unmistakable signs of decay have emerged.

If we want to understand the political systems that dominate and order our lives, we must first address their origins – in our own recent past as well as in the earliest systems of human government. Fukuyama argues that the key to successful government can be reduced to three key elements: a strong state, the rule of law, and institutions of democratic accountability.

This magisterial account is required reading for anyone wishing to know more about mankind’s greatest achievements.

Sharon

The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond. (description from Goodreads)

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.

Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges – how to get relative with the inevitable – you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.” (description from Goodreads)

Alastair

Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn

I finally got round to reading this after being stuck in library waitlist purgatory for months. And no wonder: this is one of those books that seemingly everyone and their mother has been talking about since it came out in 2025. Having now read it, I can see why people are saying it would make fine mandatory reading for people in the North of Ireland, or for anyone who wants to learn about what life is really like in the North, how it feels to come from there.

Every One Still Here is a collection of short stories that revolve around the legacy of conflict and the persistence of a history that refuses to loosen its grip on the land and its people. Written by a (deliberately) mysterious, invisible, genderless author, the collection came swiftly out of nowhere, making a name for the author and sitting somewhere in amongst the existing triumvirate of post-Troubles fiction (Michael Magee, Colin Barrett, Wendy Erskine).

You get an array of perspectives, situations and choices made by all kinds of different characters, floating about in a world of ineradicable grey areas, a world which still finds itself governed by a polemical “one or the other” type of ideology. The stories are captivating, ranging from the banal to the enigmatic, from introspective to urbane; the characters are mostly enchanting antiheroes with hyperrealistic faults and flaws. And the last few pages are a sickening, spellbinding coda to the collection – a whiplash-tug back to the reality of the world which produced this work.

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

This is my favourite book of all time. I could talk about it forever (that was pretty much all I did for my MA). Funny and warm, with a vibrant cast of characters and dripping with dramatic irony, this book is as poignant today as it was in 1959.

I first encountered The Sirens of Titan as a tattered old copy jutting out from the totemic stacks of Keats & Chapman (Belfast’s answer to Paris’s Shakespeare & Company). I was attracted to its age-faded aqua cover with the retro sci-fi drawings of a spaceship, a big dog, and an alien-robot-thing sitting neatly atop the surface of Saturn’s moon.

The story follows Malachi Constant, “a victim of a series of accidents,” as we observe his journey from riches to rags, through love and loss, friendship and fatherhood, from messianic status to persecution, all while he is buffeted between the planets and moons of the solar system. He is at the whim of the universe – or is he at the mercy of the prophetic Winston Niles Rumfoord, who questionably predicts all this right as the action starts?

Some memorable moments include an enduring friendship with a character called Boaz, an “Alice-in-Wonderland door,” and several very funny instances of mob mentality.

It may not sound like your typical Summer read. But it’s short, and it’s fun. And it has a way of sticking with you – sure, here I am years later, still going on about it.

You can access loads of articles on this book through Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk, such as Science and Parody in Kurt Vonnegut’s “The Sirens of Titan”

Emi

Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, by the Greek activist and former politician Yanis Varoufakis.

In Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, activist Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former finance minister and the author of the international bestseller Adults in the Room, pens a series of letters to his young daughter, educating her about the business, politics, and corruption of world economics.

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson (Available at the Library)

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson is a queer, political, and feminist collection guided by self-reflection. The poems range from close examination of the deeply personal to the vastness of the world, exploring the expansiveness of the human experience from love to illness, from space to climate change, and so much more in between. One of the most celebrated poets and performers of the last two decades, Andrea Gibson’s trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display in You Better Be Lightning, welcoming and inviting readers to be just as they are.

At Certain Points We Touch, by Lauren John Joseph (Available at the Library)

“It’s four in the morning, and our narrator is walking home from the club when they realise that it’s February 29th – the birthday of the man who was something like their first love. Piecing together art, letters and memory, they set about trying to write the story of a doomed affair that first sparked and burned a decade ago. Ten years earlier, and our young narrator and a boy named Thomas James fall into bed with one another over the summer of their graduation. Their ensuing affair, with its violent, animal intensity and its intoxicating and toxic power play will initiate a dance of repulsion and attraction that will cross years, span continents, drag in countless victims – and culminate in terrible betrayal. At Certain Points We Touch is a story of first love and last rites, conjured against a vivid backdrop of London, San Francisco and New York – a riotous, razor-sharp coming-of-age story that marks the arrival of an extraordinary new talent.”– Provided by publisher

Juliet

The story of art without men by Katy Hessel

This is a fantastic read by such an engaging author. As someone who studied art history, this kind of book is wildly overdue and much needed. I recommend this for anyone with an interest in art. Plus, you can read the eBook through the Library here.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

I loved this book! It’s dark, nefarious and rich like an old-fashioned fairytale.

“In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favour.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.” (description from Goodreads)

Crescent City by Sarah J Mass

Just finished re-reading this and am diving back into the series. If you haven’t read her books, you should. Women’s fantasy fiction is having a moment, and there’s a reason that Sarah J Mass is the Queen. This is the third series of hers and builds on her Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series. If you want enthralling, inspiring, incredible, complex stories with some of the best characters I have ever known, these books are a perfect summer, probably autumn, and then cosy by the fire winter read.

Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?

And if you need something a little more serious, this is a thought-provoking book on Capitalism and our current situation. If you feel like you’ve had quite enough of cocktails by the beach and would like to soak in the misery of the current capitalist nightmare we inhabit…this is the book for you! It’s actually very good, I promise. It was written in 2009 but still feels very relevant.

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That’s the roundup of our favourite reads so far this year. If you have any recommendations yourself, please pop them in the comments!

You can read other recommendations from us here

By Juliet Kinsey

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Top Video Games of All Time image of old video game consols

The Most Borrowed Books of the Year 2026

The stats are in! We library staff often get very curious about which of our physical books are going out on loan the most throughout each year. Recently, we have generated a list of our most borrowed titles of 2026 . So far using our library management system Alma. This list covers our most borrowed books from all three of our campus libraries at Edinburgh Napier University. This year, our most borrowed title reached a loan count of 21. Throughout the rest of this blog post, we are going to list our top four books with the most loans so far this year and tell you a little bit about them as well. All of the titles listed can be found and requested through our LibrarySearch catalogue (come on everyone, let’s get those loan counts even higher)!

Now, just to point out, yes, these seem like small numbers, especially for a University library, but the fact is that most students now access our books through e-books. Our physical collections are much smaller now, but we consider this a good thing, as e-books mean we can ensure that all of our students can access their course reading quickly and easily. Plus the added bonus that we can add an extra layer of accessibility with e-books.

MacQueen and Thomson on Contract Law in Scotland

This book can be found in our Law hub at Craiglockhart campus library. It gives a detailed account of the key principles of Scots law with regards to contracts and is written with a clear, comprehensive structure as well as diagrams which effectively portray complex scenarios. It covers various topics and relevant areas of contract law in Scotland such as assignation in conjunction with the Movable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023, the effects that the Covid pandemic has had on Scottish contract, illegality and sections on good faith and relational contracts. All of this content is up-to-date and the book itself is very good reading for law students and legal practitioners working within the legal sector.

Authors/Editors: MacQueen, Hector L., author.; Thomson, J. M. (Joseph McGeachy), 1948-2018, founder of work.

Edition: Sixth edition.

Loans this Year: 21

PROMPT – Practical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training. Course manual.

PROMPT is a maternity foundation and charity organisation which provides professional and evidence-based training programmes for maternity units across the world, and particularly for incidents where obstetric emergencies occur. The programme ultimately consists of practical workshops and interactive lectures which facilitate hands-on experience of working in obstetric emergency incidents. From this, practical experience and transferrable skills can be easily and accessibly obtained by midwifery students and professionals within this sector. The third edition of the PROMPT (Practical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training) course manual and textbook covers the most recent evidence and up-to-date guidelines regarding effective clinical practice and research in the field of midwifery. It is also deemed to be mandatory reading for anyone undertaking a local PROMPT course as well.

Authors/Editors: Winter, Cathy (Midwife), editor.; Crofts, Jo (Joanna), editor.; Draycott, Timothy J., editor.; Muchatuta, Neil, editor.

Edition: Third

Loans this Year: 19

Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide.

This is a very popular title from our Research Collection and won the British Psychological Society Book Award (Textbook Category) in 2022. Thematic analysis has become a very widely used analytical technique for retrieving and interpreting qualitative data in sociological, health and psychological fields of study. This book gives comprehensive guidelines on how to effectively generate, gather, manage and categorise the key units of qualitative analysis and data. Thematic analysis itself can also be effectively applied to addressing a vast range of research questions and topics in many fields of study. This book can ultimately be deemed as an essential read for anyone conducting a study involving an extensive degree of qualitative research, so can be extremely relevant to students, professors, researchers and professionals in a wide range of areas and sectors.

Authors/Editors: Braun, Virginia, author.; Clarke, Victoria (Associate Professor in Sexuality Studies) author.

Loans this Year: 19

Business Research Methods (Sixth Edition).

This widely consulted book and guide gives a thorough introduction to conducting business research and extensively covers the most up-to-date methods of quantitative analysis and visual research. It also provides practical advice and guidelines regarding how to effectively implement these techniques when conducting business research or a specific research project. As well as this, it also features a range of case studies from across the globe, from countries such as Spain, Germany, China and India. The book itself provides comprehensive coverage of business research but in a concise, accessible manner which outlines key points and information without being overwhelming. It is focused and clear, and is highly recommended for students, researchers and professionals conducting a business research project.

Authors/Editors: Bell, Emma, 1968- author.; Bryman, Alan, author.; Harley, Bill, author.

Edition: Sixth edition / Emma Bell, Alan Bryman, Bill Harley; 2022.

Loans this Year: 19

By Rachel Downie

The Ultimate Dissertation Survival Guide

17/07/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

The Ultimate Dissertation Survival Guide

The mention of the word ‘dissertation’ alone is enough to drive fear and dread into the hearts of any final-year student studying at university level. With the depth of research required to effectively write a dissertation, as well as the often very high word count and number of references needed, it is understandable that many students will find this to be one of the most daunting assignments they will write and complete during their university career. It can essentially be defined and seen as an extended essay and detailed research project exploring a specific and often niche subject or area of research within academia. Fear not – we have compiled a short-but-sweet dissertation survival guide for all undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students. This will include some brief advice and useful links to academic guidelines regarding how to structure, write and add references to your dissertation as well as tips on how to look after your own wellbeing and manage stress whilst working on such a significant and often challenging piece of work.

How to Structure, Write and Add References

The structure and references used in your dissertation hold just as much importance as the information, analysis and arguments written and included in it as well. The structure of any dissertation can often vary, but a standard structure usually consists of the following:

Table of Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Reference List
Appendices

Sections

Each section of your dissertation will normally be divided into chapters rather than short paragraphs. You can find recorded tutorials in our Workshops page on our My Napier webpages. These go into much more detail about what you should do and what is recommended to include in each chapter and section. Our LibGuide also has more information, useful tips, and guidelines on critical thinking, literature review, and APA 7th edition referencing. Effective referencing is also a fundamental part of writing a good dissertation. This is not just measured by the quantity of references but also the quality and variety used as well. Using a wide range of credible and varied sources and sources of evidence to back up your main arguments and points will definitely get you some bonus points later on!

References

For dissertations, the number of references and variety of material you will be expected to reference will far exceed what you are expected to in a standard essay. This can sometimes mean that managing and ensuring that you include all of those references can be a very overwhelming task when writing up and annotating your dissertation. Reference Management software such as EndNote and Mendeley can help you with this – these reference management systems allow you to import, organise and store references in a reference library for you to automatically extract and input references into your work as well as generate a bibliography or reference list as well. More information and guidelines can be found in our Reference Management LibGuide webpages as well as our Training and Events Calendar, where upcoming tutorials and workshops regarding how to use both reference management systems are advertised frequently. You can also sign up for these sessions through our Libcal as well.

Managing Stress and Wellbeing…

One of the most difficult parts of writing or working on any significant and lengthy piece of work is starting. It can be very easy to feel overwhelmed by the big word count or extensive volume of work required to write a dissertation. Nevertheless, here are some useful hints and tips below which may help you with managing stress and your wellbeing whilst conducting research for and writing your dissertation:

Start early: The earlier the better if possible! It will save you a lot of stress later – even if it means just starting to conduct all the research and planning in advance.
Do a little bit every day: Breaking it down into small, manageable tasks each day makes it feel a lot less daunting and, in this case, off-putting. For example, tell yourself you are going to write one chapter of your dissertation today and focus solely on finishing this chapter alone. You might find as well that once you get into the flow of writing this chapter, you may even end up finishing up another in the process! Psychologically, it often makes writing your dissertation feel a lot less overwhelming to do it this way too!
Choose a topic you are passionate about: The last thing you want when writing a huge research project about a specific subject area is to find it boring and a chore to write about. This can often end up reflecting in your work as well if it is a topic which you are not passionate about at all.
Take regular breaks and days off: Make time for fun, leisure and relaxation when you can. Go out with friends, spend an evening watching your favourite movie or series, go to the gym or for a run or walk every so often as well. Set some time aside to focus on your hobbies outside of education. Your brain will often still be thinking about and working on your dissertation in the background. You may even find inspiration and new ideas outside of a computer screen, pen and paper.

From Genes to LOLcats: The History of Memes

14/07/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

From Genes to LOLcats: The History of Memes

Memes feel like a pure product of the internet, born somewhere between dial-up modems and group chats. But the idea is older than the web itself, and its journey from a scientific term to a cat photo with bad grammar is one of the stranger stories in modern culture.

The biological beginnings of the Meme

Before any image or GIF, there was just a word, and it didn’t come from the internet at all. In 1976, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins introduced the term meme in his book The Selfish Gene. He shortened the Greek word mimema, meaning imitated thing, so it would rhyme with gene. Dawkins used meme to describe any idea, tune, fashion, or behaviour that spreads from person to person through imitation, much like a gene spreads through a population. He wasn’t thinking about cats in sunglasses. He was thinking about how culture itself evolves, with ideas competing to survive and replicate inside human minds. For nearly two decades, the word mostly stayed in academic circles. Then the internet arrived, and it found a much stranger home.

The Dancing Baby: The Internet’s First Viral Hit

The first true internet meme wasn’t a joke at all. In 1996, a 3D animated GIF of a baby dancing to a snippet of music started life as a software demo, meant to show off new animation tools. Office workers found it funny anyway and began emailing it to each other. It spread slowly across early newsgroups and personal homepages, picking up remixes along the way, including a kung fu version and a samurai version. By 1998, the Dancing Baby had become so well known that it appeared as a recurring hallucination on the TV show Ally McBeal. It proved something new: a joke could travel from someone’s inbox all the way to a primetime television script.

The Hampster Dance: Going Viral Before “Viral” Was a Word

If the (Creepy) Dancing Baby proved memes could spread, the Hampster Dance proved they could explode. In 1998, Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte built a single page on GeoCities filled with dozens of looping cartoon hamster GIFs, set to a sped-up sample of a Disney song. For months, almost nobody visited it. Then, in early 1999, word spread through email chains and early blogs, and the site went from a few hundred visits to millions within weeks. People used the link to prank colleagues and friends, an early ancestor of the modern rickroll. It even spawned a chart-topping novelty single. The Hampster Dance showed that a meme didn’t need to be clever to take over the internet. It just needed to be impossible to stop sharing.

LOLcats: When Memes Found Their Format

By the mid 2000s, anonymous forums gave memes room to mutate into something more structured. Around 2005, users on the imageboard 4chan began posting captioned cat photos as part of a weekly tradition called Caturday, reportedly started as a joke pushback against another recurring thread. The captions, written in deliberately broken English known as lolspeak, gave the format real personality. In January 2007, the blog I Can Has Cheezburger turned this into a movement, launching with its now iconic image of a grey cat looking up hopefully, captioned “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?” The site went on to post hundreds of cat photos a day, helping LOLcats become one of the first true mainstream internet memes. This is where I first encountered memes. I used to go to the blog on my break for a pick me up giggle…sorry LoL. This was the moment the image macro was born: a picture, bold text up top, a punchline below. That simple template became the blueprint nearly every meme afterwards would follow.

The Harlem Shake: Memes You Could Join In With

For years, memes were things you looked at. The Harlem Shake, which took over the internet in early 2013, turned that around. The format was simple: one person danced alone while everyone around them ignored it, then the beat dropped, and the whole room erupted into chaos. Thousands of people filmed their own versions, in offices, classrooms, and locker rooms, and uploaded them within days of each other. It marked a shift toward participatory memes, ones that spread not because people shared a single image, but because people recreated it themselves. This pattern, take a format and make your own version, would go on to define meme culture for the next decade.

Moo Deng: The Internet Still Loves an Animal

Fast forward to 2024, and one of the biggest memes of the year wasn’t a song, a dance, or even a person. It was a baby pygmy hippo.

Moo Deng was born in July 2024 at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Zookeepers began posting photos of her on social media, and by September 2024, she had taken over the internet. She was filmed nipping at her keepers, splashing in her pool, and generally looking unimpressed with the world, and people couldn’t get enough. Fan art, merchandise, a theme song, and even a Saturday Night Live sketch followed within weeks. Visitor numbers at the zoo shot up so dramatically that staff had to limit how long people could spend near her enclosure.

From a biology textbook to a worldwide inside joke, memes are now as wired into the internet as genes are wired into us. Every new platform seems to invent its own meme dialect, and the cycle keeps evolving, with trends now rising and fading within days instead of years. Maybe in years to come this will become a subject you can study here at Edinburgh Napier University!

Library resources

Want to learn more about memes? Check out LibrarySearch for books and articles.

By Juliet Kinsey

Read more on the Blog with our article on Emojiis

World Emoji Day

Wells and Springs: A Fascinating History

30/06/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Wells and Springs: A Fascinating History

From time to time, we hear of water supply disruptions caused by burst pipes or contamination. Affected users are sent to collection points to get free bottled water to use until the issue is resolved. This usually only lasts a maximum of a few days. In the past, however, our ancestors would always have to go to fetch water from a collection point, most often a well or spring, as they did not have water piped to their homes. Towns and villages grew up around wells and springs as water was needed for everyday tasks and for personal cleanliness.

Well Dressing

The tradition of well-dressing is practised in parts of England throughout the summer. What is well-dressing? It’s a tradition in which wells, holy wells and springs are decorated with natural materials attached to wooden frames placed around and over them. Flowers, mosses, cones and seeds are used to create a decorative design which will be of religious significance at the holy wells. The custom is most relevant in the Peak District of Derbyshire. Many of the towns which take part in the custom owe their existence to the reliable water supply provided by the well or spring. The village well or spring would have once been a focal point for the community because most households had to visit them regularly. Well dressing may have started out as a pagan custom or a celebration of the water’s purity for those who survived the Black Death. There are local legends surrounding many of the wells suggesting that taking the waters could bring good health, good luck or happiness. Up until the late 18^th century, the decorations were limited to bows and simple floral garlands, but the decorations became more elaborate in the 19^th century, and nowadays there is also an emphasis on using only sustainable decorations.

Edinburgh wells and springs

Here in Scotland, there is no tradition of well dressing, but there is no shortage of wells and springs. Several holy wells and mineral springs can be found in Edinburgh.

St. Bernard’s Well – This grand well can be found beside the Water of Leith between Stockbridge and the Dean Village. It was discovered in the 18^th century and developed a reputation for having restorative properties. It was designed to resemble the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, and although it is now rarely opened to the public, it is still in working order.

St. Margaret’s Well – This well is situated in Holyrood Park, where at one point there were seven holy wells. Most of them have dried up or are lost, but St Margaret’s Well, which was moved to its current position in 1859 to avoid railway works, still contains water.

Balm Well – Situated in Liberton, this well is known for an oily substance that coats the top of the water. The area was known for being the location of a leper colony and may have been chosen due to its proximity to the well as the oily substance could be applied to open wounds to help relieve them. Although the well has been used for many centuries, the current structure is believed to be from the 19^th or 20^th century.

Penny Well, The Grange – Situated at the east end of Grange Loan on the north side of the road, you will find a marker stone for the Penny Well. It is thought to be one of Edinburgh’s holy wells. The name may arise from people dropping pennies into it in the hope of gaining good health from the spirit of the water. It fell into disrepair, and a drinking fountain was installed sometime between 1830 and 1850. This was then replaced with a more ornate drinking fountain complete with a cup on a chain. Now all that remains is a deteriorating plaque on the wall where the fountain stood.

Nor Loch

What is now known as the Old Town of Edinburgh grew up around Edinburgh Castle. With no loch or river to supply water, the locals collected rainwater for their needs. The Nor Loch below Edinburgh Castle was created in 1460 by damming the Tummel Burn, but was polluted and did not provide drinking water for the growing population. Later, as the population grew further, so did the need for a more plentiful and fresh supply of water. In 1624, an act of parliament allowed fresh water to be brought into the city for the first time. This was done using pipes made of hollowed-out tree trunks which were connected to springs in the Pentland Hills to the south of Edinburgh, creating a gravity-fed system. The water was collected in a reservoir on Castlehill at the top of the Royal Mile, then flowed to twelve wells around the Old Town. Some can still be found, and two of them are still in their original locations in the Grassmarket and outside John Knox’s House .

Comiston Springs

Comison Springs Wellhouse, which sits on Cockmylane in the suburb of Comiston, was built to guard the four springs in the area which helped to provide the fresh water supply to Edinburgh. Inside it pipes from the springs poured into the collection tank, which filtered out debris before the water flowed down to Edinburgh. Originally there were four main springs which were all given the name of an animal – fox, swan, hare and peewit (lapwing). A model of each animal was used to mark the pipe from that spring flowing into the collecting tank. Fox Spring and Swan Spring still survive on the map as street names, and all the models can be found in the Museum of Edinburgh . Around Comiston square stone structures can be found which covered vital spring water that bubbled up from the ground. They are no longer in use but remain in various locations, some in residents’ gardens! Listen carefully, and you can still hear water running underneath. Now Edinburgh’s water is supplied by several reservoirs situated in the Pentland Hills, so although the method of delivery is different, the source is still the same as it has been for hundreds of years. Next time you turn on the tap, just think about how easy it is and how lucky we are to have a reliable supply of clean, fresh water at our fingertips.

Edinburgh Napier University

Water remains an important area of study at Edinburgh Napier University today. Through its civil and environmental engineering programmes, students examine topics such as water resource management, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), wastewater management and the resilience of water infrastructure in the face of climate change. As increasing pressure is placed on water supplies through population growth, ageing infrastructure and extreme weather events, the University’s work reflects the continuing need to understand, manage and protect this vital resource.

Find lots of great information on Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk

By Vivienne Hamilton

International Women in Engineering Day

23/06/2026 / julietkinsey / 1 Comment

International Women in Engineering Day

Celebrating Women Engineers: Breaking Barriers, Building Futures

Every year on 23 June, we celebrate International Women in Engineering Day. First launched in the UK by the Women’s Engineering Society, it’s now a global movement. It shines a light on the achievements of women in engineering and encourages more girls and young women to see this as a path for them.

The numbers are improving, but slowly. According to EngineeringUK, women make up 16.5% of the engineering workforce. In 2010, it was just 9%. There’s progress, but much more work is needed.

So, why does it matter?

Diverse teams are better at solving problems. They bring fresh ideas, challenge assumptions, and drive innovation. In engineering, where solutions shape lives—that matters. Gender diversity isn’t a tick-box exercise; it’s essential for future-ready industries.

The UK is home to many trailblazers. Dr. Nike Folayan MBE, co-founder of the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK), champions inclusion across STEM fields. Professor Sarah Hainsworth, a forensic engineering expert and senior leader at the University of Bath, is another standout figure. Their stories are powerful. But for many young women, engineering still feels out of reach.

Education

To get women into engineering, we need to start with early education. A 2022 WISE report showed that girls are much less likely to choose A-level physics, despite doing just as well as boys in GCSE science. Why? A lack of role models. Limited exposure. Persistent stereotypes.

This is where schools, universities, and employers can make a real difference.

Edinburgh Napier University and Women in STEM

At Edinburgh Napier University, change is happening. The School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment offers strong support for women entering technical fields. From dedicated mentoring schemes to outreach in schools, the university actively promotes gender balance. Female lecturers and researchers at Napier lead projects in sustainable energy, transport systems, and digital engineering.

Take for example, the work of female PhD students at Napier who are developing smart materials for construction or working on green transport solutions. Their research not only contributes to global challenges but also inspires the next generation of engineers.

Sarah Taylor, a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, has been conducting research in smart, light-emitting textiles since 1995. Her work involves integrating optical fibres into woven textile structures, contributing to advancements in smart materials applicable in various fields, including construction.

In 2023, a team of Edinburgh Napier University students participated in a pioneering construction project in Guangxi, China. They collaborated with local universities to build the world’s first bamboo-timber composite gridshell structure. This innovative project aimed to explore sustainable building methods to combat climate change. Among the participants were female students like Devika Vijayan, Alice June Davyson, and Zara Anam Rafiq, who contributed their expertise in architectural technology and civil engineering. The project was led by PhD student Yanghao Pei and supervised by faculty members, including Dr. Ahmed Mohamed.

Women in Engineering campaigns

Elsewhere in the UK, campaigns like Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, run by EngineeringUK, and events such as She Can Engineer at UCL, continue to highlight female success in the field. INWED itself is packed with virtual events, talks, and case studies—many of them accessible to teachers, students, and parents.

At the same time, the industry is evolving. Companies like Arup, Rolls-Royce, and AtkinsRéalis are investing in inclusive hiring, leadership development for women, and mentoring programmes. But culture still matters. A welcoming workplace—where all voices are heard—makes it easier for women to succeed and lead.

And it’s not just about big firms. Start-ups and SMEs across Scotland and the UK are building inclusive teams, often led by women who studied at universities like Edinburgh Napier.

So, what can you do this International Women in Engineering Day?

Share a story of a woman engineer who inspires you.
Encourage a girl to explore STEM subjects.
Attend a local or virtual event through WES or your local university.
Support or volunteer with STEM outreach programmes.
Thank the mentors, colleagues, and leaders who make a difference.

Small actions lead to big changes.

Because the future of engineering isn’t defined by gender—it’s built by collaboration, creativity, and courage. Edinburgh Napier University and institutions across the UK are proving that when you back women in engineering, you’re backing innovation for everyone.

By Juliet Kinsey

Read more on women in Science on our blog here: Scottish Women in Science

Scottish Surfing: Riding the wave from Tahiti to Edinburgh

23/06/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Scottish Surfing: Riding the wave from Tahiti to Edinburgh

Surfing isn’t probably the first thing you think of when you think about Scotland. Cold north seas and a people known for their kilts rather than their wetsuits come more to mind. Still, there’s a surprising popularity for the sport here and a growing uptake to ride the Scottish waves. Admittedly, the latest waves are in an old quarry, but it counts. Read on to find out more about Surfing, Scotland and the latest wave technology,

Surfing History

Surfing began in Polynesia more than 1,000 years ago, where Pacific Islanders rode waves for sport, status, and spiritual practice. Hawaii took the tradition furthest, developing it into something closer to an art form. There, surfing was called heʻe nalu, meaning “wave sliding,” and it carried real social weight. Chiefs proved their right to lead by riding the best waves on the finest boards, while commoners surfed too, but on simpler equipment and lesser breaks.

Captain Cook’s crew witnessed surfing firsthand in the 1770s, and Joseph Banks recorded Tahitians riding waves as early as 1769. Soon after, missionaries arrived in Hawaii and disapproved of the sport, viewing it as immodest and disruptive. Their influence took hold, and surfing nearly disappeared by the late 1800s.

Then came the revival. Hawaiian waterman Duke Kahanamoku helped restore the sport in the early 1900s, carrying it to California and Australia along the way. His name is still woven into surfing’s modern identity.

Britain’s Unlikely First Surfer

Britain’s first surfer was not a beach bum, but a middle-aged agricultural professor named John Wrightson.

In September 1890, two Hawaiian princes, David Kawānanakoa and Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, were studying at Wrightson’s college in Wiltshire (please check out their excellent moustaches). Their guardian took them to Bridlington on England’s east coast as a reward for good schoolwork. There, in the grey North Sea, the princes built boards from local timber and surfed, and Wrightson joined them, reputedly becoming the first Briton ever to surf.

A letter from Prince Kūhiō survives today, written to the Hawaiian consul about the trip. In it, he described the rough seas and noted how quickly Wrightson was picking up the sport.

There is a Scottish thread here too. The princes’ cousin was Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani, heir to the Hawaiian throne, who was half Hawaiian and half Scottish, with a father from Edinburgh. So Hawaiian and Scottish royalty were connected decades before anyone surfed a Scottish wave.

Surfing Arrives in Scotland

Scotland’s surf scene grew slowly, then quickly, a bit like catching a wave. In the early 1970s, surfers explored the coastline, trying Machrihanish first before pushing north toward Bettyhill near Thurso. Scotland held its first surfing championships at Bettyhill in 1973, and soon after, a surfer named Pat Kieran discovered the reef at Thurso East and wrote home about it, drawing more surfers north.

Thurso transformed from a quiet fishing town into a coldwater surfing destination, and today it ranks among the best right-hand reef breaks in the world. Surfers founded the Scottish Surfing Federation in 1975, and it still operates today under the name Scottish Surfing. Spots emerged across the country, from Fraserburgh in the east to Tiree in the west, and because Scotland’s waters stay cold year-round, its surfers tend to be hardy and committed.

Lost Shore: A Wave Without an Ocean

Scotland recently added something its coastline could never offer on its own: a perfect wave, on demand, just outside Edinburgh.

Lost Shore Surf Resort opened on 11 November 2024 in Ratho, in a former quarry about 25 minutes from the city centre. It cost roughly £60 million to build, and it is the UK’s first inland surf resort and currently Europe’s largest wave pool. Wavegarden Cove technology powers the lagoon, generating up to 1,000 waves an hour across more than 20 wave types, suited to beginners and elite athletes alike. The resort also includes lodges, camping pods, a sauna, and restaurants.

The numbers are striking. In its first year, Lost Shore drew over 100,000 visitors, created more than 130 jobs, and added around £11 million annually to the local economy. I personally cannot wait to get out there and have a go at surfing now the summer is here.

Edinburgh Napier University and the Surf Lab

Lost Shore did not stop at building a wave pool. It partnered with Edinburgh Napier University to create something new called the Surf Lab.

The Surf Lab officially launched in October 2025, and it is described as the world’s first research collaboration between a university and a commercial wave pool. The idea began years earlier, when Lost Shore founder Andy Hadden and Napier academic Dr Brendon Ferrier first discussed it back in 2017. The lab focuses on several areas, including surf therapy, high-performance coaching, adaptive surfing, and equipment design.

The lab has already produced real results. Researchers tested nine different wetsuit brands under controlled conditions to find the warmest option for Lost Shore’s customers, and the winning suit was made from Yulex, a plant-based rubber. As a result, Lost Shore now runs the largest plant-based rental wetsuit fleet in the world.

Edinburgh Napier’s interest in surfing predates the resort itself. In 2022, the university completed what is claimed to be the world’s first PhD study in surf therapy, and the Surf Lab builds on that foundation. It gives researchers a fixed base inside Europe’s biggest wave pool, where students, athletes, and industry partners can all use the space. The university hopes the lab will support business growth and community wellbeing, alongside its sporting goals.

It is a fitting partnership. A university built on research and knowledge now extends that work into a converted quarry, and Ratho has become both a surf destination and a genuine site of academic study.

A Sport Still Finding New Shores

From Tahiti to a Yorkshire beach to a quarry near Edinburgh Airport, surfing keeps adapting. Scotland’s relationship with the sport began almost by accident, through royal holidaymakers in the 1890s, and grew through decades of hardy surfers braving freezing reefs in the north. Now, with Lost Shore and the Edinburgh Napier’s Surf Lab, Scotland is not just catching waves. It is helping shape where the sport goes next.

Library Resources

Why not check out the book The Science and Culture of Surfing by David Kennedy, available as an eBook. We also have articles like Surfing and Modernity in the North of Scotland and Surfing in Caithness and Sutherland: Environment, Tourism and Tension. Plus so much more on Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk

Read more articles from the blog on Sport and our Sport resources:

Physiotherapy and Sports & Exercise Science Resources

By Juliet Kinsey

Image credit: Paul Byrne on Unsplash

Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival

30/04/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival

Your Complete Guide to Scotland’s Ancient Celtic Celebration

Every year since 1988, the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival draws up to 15,000 people to Calton Hill for a spectacular celebration marking the arrival of summer. The Beltane fire festival honours an ancient Celtic tradition that began on the evening before May 1st, featuring dramatic performances, sacred fire rituals, and mythological characters like the May Queen and the Green Man. What is Beltane, exactly? The Beltane holiday represents the transition from winter to summer through the powerful symbolism of death and rebirth. Over 300 volunteers now bring this ancient tradition to life, investing approximately 10,000 hours into rehearsals, costumes, and props. read on to explore the festival’s Celtic origins, key rituals and characters, and everything you need to attend.

What Is Beltane? The Ancient Celtic Fire Festival

Origins of the Beltane Holiday

Beltane translates to “bright fire,” referring to the bonfires central to this ancient celebration. The name derives from the Celtic god Bel (also known as Beli or Belinus), whose cult stretched from the Italic Peninsula across Europe into the British Isles. Historically observed in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, Beltane is one of four main Celtic seasonal festivals, alongside Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasadh.

The festival’s roots date back approximately 6,000 years, to when hunter-gatherers across Northern Europe transitioned to agricultural lifestyles. This ancient agrarian calendar predates the arrival of the Celts by millennia. Originally, Beltane was celebrated midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice, falling astronomically around May 5 or 6. Eventually, calendar codification fixed the celebration on May 1, aligning it with other European spring festivals like Floralia and Walpurgisnacht.

Traditional Beltane Celebrations Across Scotland

Communities gathered on hilltops where cattle pastured, cutting a round trench and leaving a central turf platform for the bonfire. The night before, villagers extinguished all hearth fires in their homes. On Beltane morning, priests or community leaders kindled the sacred “need-fire” using ritual methods, with traditional fires sparked from flint or friction.

Cattle were driven between two bonfires or made to leap over flames for purification and fertility blessings before being put to summer pastures. People themselves walked around or between the fires, jumping over flames for good luck, protection, and fertility. Following these rituals, the community relit their household fires from the Beltane bonfire, connecting everyone through the sacred flame.

The Meaning Behind the Sacred Fires

Fire served as purification, cleansing, and protection from supernatural harm, disease, and witchcraft. The flames symbolised the sun’s power, meant to ensure sunshine for people, animals, and plants while burning away harmful influences. These protective qualities extended to milk production, crops, and overall community well-being for the coming year.

Beltane’s Connection to Summer and Fertility

Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, celebrated as “first of summer” when livestock moved to fresh pastures. The festival honoured the sacred union of masculine and feminine energies through figures like the May Queen and May King. Like Samhain, Beltane represented a liminal time when the veil between worlds grew thin, making it one of the two most sacred Celtic festivals.

The Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival: How It All Began

The 1988 Revival on Calton Hill

On April 30, 1988, a small group of enthusiasts brought Beltane back to Edinburgh after centuries of dormancy. Angus Farquhar of the musical collective Test Dept led the revival alongside choreographer Lindsay John, dancers from Laban, and Gaelic ethnologist Margaret Bennett. The School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh provided academic support.

The revival emerged from political resistance during the Thatcher era. Farquhar sought something beyond the “black/white narrative” of political battles, researching Beltane to create a public ritual that flew in the face of the idea that “there is no such thing as society” (Margaret Thatcher). That first event faced harsh conditions with a £500 budget, pouring rain, and gale-force winds, yet roughly 30-40 volunteers created a procession around the hill that culminated in communal firelighting.

From Arthur’s Seat to Calton Hill

Arthur’s Seat historically hosted Edinburgh’s Beltane celebrations. Organisers originally intended the revival to take place there, but practical considerations prompted a location change. Calton Hill offered better accessibility and centrality while maintaining a connection with nature.

The choice carried symbolic weight. In the 1980s, Calton Hill had a reputation for sex, drugs, and served as a no-go area connected to queer counterculture. Organizers aimed to reclaim that space for the community through celebration.

The Beltane Fire Society and Community Involvement

The Beltane Fire Society was formed in 1988 for the second festival as a registered charity run by democratically elected volunteers. All performers volunteer, joining through word of mouth or advertised open meetings. Senior performers lead workshops covering event production, prop construction, character performance, percussion, and health and safety.

How the Festival Has Grown Over the Years

From a core of a dozen performers and a few hundred audience members, the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival grew to several hundred performers and over 10,000 spectators by 1999. The event now involves over 300 voluntary collaborators. Originally free and lightly stewarded, capacity constraints and funding requirements led to ticketing in recent years.

Key Characters, Rituals, and Performances

The May Queen: Mother Goddess of Summer

The May Queen embodies the maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess, presiding over the transition from spring to summer. The role passes to a performer for several years, with each May Queen crafting her own costume annually to reflect the festival’s theme. This goddess figure entices the Green Man during the ritual, uniting with him to rule over summer together.

The Green Man: Death and Rebirth

The Green Man represents life growing on earth, an archetypal figure appearing in folklore across Britain. During the ritual, he exposes his winter side to the May Queen in her maiden form, realising he must change to be with her. He surrenders his life, and the May Queen gives him life energy, bringing him back in his new summer form. This death and rebirth mirrors ancient fertility myths where spirits must die to ensure renewal.

The White Women and the Blues

The Blues serve as elder volunteers who hold knowledge and are respected within the community. They provide space for storytelling about the May Queen and Green Man’s narrative, acting as bridges between past and present traditions. The White Women protect the May Queen, representing order and discipline.

Fire Performances and Drumming

Performers, including acrobats, drummers, dancers, musicians, and puppeteers, create the striking display. The Processional drummers lay down beats that drive the march forward behind the May Queen, their rhythms carrying across Calton Hill. Torch Bearers dress head to foot in black with covered faces, trusted to carry purifying flames.

The Procession and Sacred Rituals

The May Queen leads the procession to the hilltop, with drummers alerting witnesses to their approach. The core narrative remains largely consistent, though additional elements emerge as new performers bring their own influences.

The Bonfire and Dawn Celebration

Fire plays the central role in the ritual, with torch bearers carrying flames and fire arches representing gateways between earthly and spirit worlds. The bonfire marks summer’s arrival, with celebrations continuing until dawn.

Attending the Festival

The festival occurs annually on April 30th on Calton Hill. The show begins at sundown and runs until late. Wear warm layers and sensible shoes or go in a full bright costume, but be careful to keep away from the flames. Be aware that the event features semi-nudity and uninhibited behaviour, body-painted characters, and fire.

———————————-

The Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival connects us to 6,000 years of Celtic heritage while creating something entirely new each year. Equally important, over 300 volunteers transform ancient rituals into a living celebration that draws thousands to Calton Hill.

Whether you’re drawn to the mythological drama, the fire performances, or the communal energy, this festival offers an unforgettable experience. Book your tickets early, dress warmly, and prepare yourself for a night where ancient tradition meets modern spectacle under the Edinburgh sky.

The Library

We have lots of resources if you want to learn more about Beltain or Edinburgh. Check out Librarysearch.napier.ac.uk. You can read more about other Celtic festivals here on the blog too. Check out our post on lughnasa

By Juliet Kinsey

Sources:.

International Jazz Day

30/04/2026 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

International Jazz Day

For the past fifteen years, the 30^th of April has marked International Jazz Day, a day dedicated to promoting jazz music worldwide and the role jazz music has had in shaping culture and bringing together communities.
Officially started by UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation) after being proposed by legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, whose non-profit educational institute leads the programming and coordination of International Jazz Day celebrations. Over two hundred countries participate in International Jazz Day every year, with musicians and fans around the world coming together to put on events celebrating their nation’s history with jazz music. These celebrations can take the form of concerts, conferences, educational workshops and jam sessions, all of which serve to promote local and national jazz acts and raise awareness of the local jazz scene.

History of Jazz

Jazz is an interesting musical genre as it is very community-oriented, drawing on elements of local culture and adapting to the taste of the community. Jazz itself has its roots in the music culture of late 19^th and early 20^th century New Orleans, drawing influence from blues and ragtime music that was popular at the time and infusing it with the musical stylings and instruments of local marching bands.

From there, jazz would spread out from New Orleans in the 1910s, and different cities would become cultural hubs for emerging styles of jazz. First in Chicago, where the arriving jazz musicians from New Orleans began to develop a faster and more improvisational style, emphasising musical solos and swapping out their banjos and standing basses for guitars and tubas. This style of Chicago Jazz would eventually come to embody jazz in much of the popular consciousness, but it wouldn’t stop there.

By the 1940s in New York, a new generation of jazz musicians began to develop a style known as Bebop, a faster and more complex style of jazz that emphasised the rhythm section and was typically performed with a smaller number of musicians than earlier jazz ensembles. Bebop musicians wanted to push the boundaries of jazz away from its dance-oriented roots and towards a more “musician’s music” that required the audience to listen closely to appreciate what was happening.

Outside of the United States, one of the most popular jazz styles is Latin Jazz, beginning in the 1940s with Afro-Cuban musicians performing using more traditional instruments such as bongos or claves for percussion over the drum kit used in more traditional jazz. Additionally, in Brazil, the fusion of samba music with jazz stylings would help give rise to the genre of Bossa Nova.

Scottish Jazz

Now, with all this in mind, you might not know that here in Scotland we have our own history with jazz. In his essay “Swinging Scots: An Outline of Jazz in Scotland” Roger Craik recounts that Scotland actually encountered jazz quite early into the genre’s existence, with 1919 seeing American jazz bands start to travel the Atlantic to perform in Glasgow and Edinburgh. By the 1930s, Scotland was producing its own jazz artists, although many of these were required to travel south for work, and many of the most popular pre-war British jazz acts had Scottish performers.

Craik theorises that many of these may be due to the popularity of Scottish pipe bands and country bands during this period, as well as the brass bands that were common in Scottish mining towns. These bands would serve as a sort of training ground for Scottish musicians, who would become accustomed to playing percussion and brass before moving on to performing in jazz bands. This generation of Scottish musicians was also of an age to be called up to military service in the Second World War, where they would perform in military bands, performing at marches or entertaining the troops. In fact, a key figure in the history of Scottish jazz was Tommy Sampson, whose post-war orchestra would bring together many Scottish jazz musicians. Tommy himself spent much of the Second World War in a prisoner of war camp, where he led a band consisting of other captured soldiers.

The decades following the war would see the emergence of many other Scottish jazz bands, such as the Clyde Valley Stompers, who once played alongside legendary jazz musician Louie Armstrong at Kelvin Hall in 1956.
You can read Roger Craik’s history of Scottish jazz, along with several other in-depth essays at the Scottish Jazz Archives.

The Edinburgh Jazz Festival

This tradition of Scottish jazz will continue this summer with the 45^th annual Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival being held in July. This will see performances of local and international jazz acts being held throughout the city, ranging from classical jazz acts to more experimental performances. These include paid and free performances, so you can pop along to something even if you just want a taste of the genre. I can promise you’ll hear something memorable.

By Matthew Ferrie

Read more about the Edinburgh Festival here

Librarian Summer reading recommendations 2026

Rachel

The Girl On the 88 Bus by Freya Sampson

Alannah

Alison

The pull of the stars by Emma Donoghue

Adeline

Maya

Political order and political decay from the industrial revolution to the globalisation of democracy by Francis Fukuyama

Sharon

The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

Alastair

Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Emi

Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, by the Greek activist and former politician Yanis Varoufakis.

You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson (Available at the Library)

At Certain Points We Touch, by Lauren John Joseph (Available at the Library)

Juliet

The story of art without men by Katy Hessel

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Crescent City by Sarah J Mass

Capitalist Realism: Is there no alternative?

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Top Video Games of All Time (according to us)

There’s a Stat for that

What Makes a Video Game Great?

Grand Theft Auto V

Minecraft

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Tetris

Super Mario Bros.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Stardew Valley

Edinburgh Napier University and the Future of Gaming

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The Most Borrowed Books of the Year 2026

MacQueen and Thomson on Contract Law in Scotland

PROMPT – Practical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training. Course manual.

Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide.

Business Research Methods (Sixth Edition).

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The Ultimate Dissertation Survival Guide

How to Structure, Write and Add References

Sections

References

Managing Stress and Wellbeing…

Recommended Reads

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From Genes to LOLcats: The History of Memes

The biological beginnings of the Meme

The Dancing Baby: The Internet’s First Viral Hit

The Hampster Dance: Going Viral Before “Viral” Was a Word

LOLcats: When Memes Found Their Format

The Harlem Shake: Memes You Could Join In With

Moo Deng: The Internet Still Loves an Animal

Library resources

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Wells and Springs: A Fascinating History

Well Dressing

Edinburgh wells and springs

Nor Loch

Comiston Springs

Edinburgh Napier University

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International Women in Engineering Day

Celebrating Women Engineers: Breaking Barriers, Building Futures

So, why does it matter?

Education

Edinburgh Napier University and Women in STEM

Women in Engineering campaigns

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