Anne Powell

Many Volunteers and staff gathered to say a final farewell to Anne on Thursday 3 April.

George Hogg add a memory of Anne's work for the Museum, amongst other touching eulogies:

For the last eleven years Anne has been the mainstay of the Bartlett Library. Anne, ably supported by Bill on Fridays, has regularly worked two full days every week and between them they have contributed more volunteer hours than any other family.

A considerable achievement by any standards, however, hours are not the full story of Anne's contribution to the museum. The success of our museum depends on the way that individual efforts are blended together into one coherent whole and she showed how it could be done.

I first met Anne when I was interviewing prospective volunteers for the library back in 2001, it seems a very long time ago now. I was immediately struck by her bright personality and keeness to work in the Library. An automatic "Yes please and when can you start".... This was well before the opening of the Museum and a small team worked together in a store in Tregonnigie Industrial Estate cleaning sorting and preparing some of the books destined for the library.

Moving day was on the 4 Nov 2002, Anne was in the thick of moving , unpacking and shelving 5,000 books a day or two before the Museum opened. Anne worked with Keith Haddon to catalogue the books and magazines and when Keith died, took on the whole responsibility for the catalogue and was ideally suited for the task. Methodical and accurate she set very high standards for all of us.

Anne still managed to take a full part in the Volunteer community. At the Annual Party she often headed the list of shifts worked in a year and her table always provided most of the answers for the Quiz. Her efforts did not go unrecognised and Anne was chosen to attend the farewell celebrations for Lady Mary Holborow at Eden. It is very sad that Bill and Anne will not be able to go to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party to which they were invited this summer.

What does this all add up to? Anne considered it a privilege to work in the library it showed in the standards that she set and pride she took in whatever she did. Her example was everything and more than one could have hoped to see in a volunteer in an enterprise such as ours . I am sure when I say that I am proud to have known and worked with her, that I speak for everyone who knew her.

Thank you for sharing her with us, Bill.

JG