Published 15th April 2025
John Pateman and the Mass Observation Archive have invited Inspire to take part in this year’s Mass Observation Diary Day on 12 May. Take part in your local Nottinghamshire library where diary sheets will be available for you to record your entry. We will then send them off on your behalf.
This exciting opportunity is the result of our mutual partnerships with the British Library Living Knowledge Network. John worked in public libraries for 44 years and was Head of Libraries in Hackney, Merton, Lincolnshire, and Thunder Bay, Ontario. He has published widely on public libraries, including Open to All? The Public Library and Social Exclusion. He will be visiting West Bridgford and Arnold libraries on the day if you wish to find out more and provide input into his PhD research project, ‘Articulating the impact of cultural programming in UK public libraries’.
Press Statement from the Mass Observation Archive
In 2025 the Mass Observation Archive will be repeating its national call for day diaries, capturing the everyday lives, thoughts and feelings of people across the UK.
This year we are celebrating creative communities. We are working with libraries, community groups and arts organisations to promote 12th May. People of all ages across the country are invited to take part. We hope that everyone will send us their diary so we can record what life is like in Britain today.
Diaries can be written, typed, drawn, collaged, painted or photographed and capture your 12th May in your own style. The diaries will be stored in the Archive at The Keep in Sussex and be used by a wide range of people for research, teaching and learning.
In 1937 Mass Observation first called for people from all parts of the UK to record everything they did from when they woke up in the morning to when they went to sleep at night on 12th May. This was the day of George VI’s Coronation. The resulting diaries provide a wonderful glimpse into the everyday lives of people across Britain and have become an invaluable national resource for those researching countless aspects of the era.
Mass Observation revived 12th May as a national call in 2010 and has been collecting diaries ever since. One of our valued volunteers recently calculated that we have received over 10,000 day diaries since 2010. They are a joy to receive and to read and are an invaluable record of our lived experience for future generations.
We would be delighted to receive your diary this year.
How to take part - Please visit our website www.massobs.org.uk
You can write, type, collage, paint, draw or photograph your day.
12th May diaries can also be sent in electronic form as email attachments (Word documents or PDF) and sent to moa@sussex.ac.uk
We also accept physical/hard-copy diaries, which can be posted to MOA at The Keep.
Or share your day via Instagram massobsarchive
Schools and Community Groups
We welcome 12th May diaries from school children, families, community groups, or other organisations.
Resources on our website are designed for schools and community groups wanting to post their diaries in batches to the Archive.
Contact details for further information:
Listen to the MO Team talk about 12th May https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKhIAehVi9E
E-Mail: moa@sussex.ac.uk
Instagram: massobsarchive
