By Lesley Gooding, Principal Library Assistant, University of Southampton Library
In August 2026, our Associate Director, Dr Jonathan Chipp, presented the Acquisitions team at Hartley Library, University of Southampton, with a beautiful green plush frog from the Interlend 2026 Conference.
Phil had originally been given to Jonathan as a thank you for co-presenting a session on the Research Libraries UK (RLUK) Collections Strategy Network (CSN) and its vision for redefining interlending. Jonathan generously passed him on to us.
We immediately adopted the name Phil (for FIL), and a space was created for him on the ILL shelves at Hartley Library. He quickly settled into his new habitat, and we decided that his first task should be a tour of the library, as seen in the attached photos.
(Photos by Lesley, location selection by Verna, postcard collage created by Dace)
Left-hand photo – this is from a display called Hidden Hartley, which included some of the interesting finds discovered within the stacks during a large stock move two years ago – including a Darth Vader helmet! Phil seemed particularly interested in the helmet.
Underneath are the Reference Only ILL books, which are signed in and out.
Centre section – the Hartley Library entrance from outside and the foyer.
Right-hand photo – this is where ILL books are kept awaiting collection. We have our own custom-made paper bands to distinguish ILL books from our own library books.
Left-hand photo – this is the most photographed part of the library: our spiral staircase. It is very popular for graduation photos and has even been the setting for at least one marriage proposal that we know of.
Phil waited hopefully for a while. Perhaps he was expecting a frog princess.
Other photos
- The many ILL parcels sent out each day
- The IT Tech Hub
- The stained glass, which forms part of a design by Ray Bradley representing the DNA code of fish
- Some of our many bookshelves
While exploring the shelves, Phil was pleased to discover The Little Frog’s Guide to Self-Care by Maybell Eequay – reassuring evidence that Hartley Library takes the wellbeing of its amphibian visitors seriously.
He was rather less enthusiastic about finding Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog!
A little bit about the library and us
The Hartley Library is the main library on our Highfield campus. We have three other specialised site libraries: Winchester School of Art (WSA) Library; the Health Services Library (HSL) at University Hospital Southampton for NHS and University patrons; and the National Oceanographic Library at the Waterfront campus.
WSA and HSL deal with their own ILL requests, with our assistance if needed. Otherwise, all other requests come to us at Hartley Library.
ILL is part of the University of Southampton Library’s Acquisitions team. At present, we have three colleagues at Hartley Library working on ILL requests and purchasing: Lesley, Verna and Dace. Both Verna and Lesley have been with the University in various roles for over 30 years, and Dace joined us three years ago.
I am very proud to work in Acquisitions on Interlibrary Loans with such a great, hardworking team. We often receive positive feedback from our patrons, which is always well deserved.
ILL is a very individual service, and knowing that we have helped someone track down that elusive reference – and seeing them complete their PhD – is very satisfying. We often feel like detectives, and one of us was once described as a wizard for locating obscure items!
I very much enjoyed the Interlend 2026 conference this year. I was particularly interested in the presentation by Charlotte Jones from the Barbican Music Library, as sourcing orchestral scores is a very labour-intensive task. It is always great to meet other ILL colleagues, exchange thoughts and ideas, and catch up on new developments.
We have loved having Phil in our office. The frog is a real talking point, has brightened our days and has certainly caught people’s imagination.
There was even talk on a family WhatsApp that a knitted Dalek called Derek may have a little crush on Phil.
Who knows where Phil will go next…