Curator for an Hour

Pupils in the Old Library

This is a 90-minute session, most suitable for Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form students.

The session begins with a brief introduction to the Old Library and its special collections. Students then have up to an hour to plan their own mini-exhibition featuring five items from the Samuel Butler Collection.

They start by viewing 30 potential exhibits on display, and then select five they think are interesting and could be put together to tell a ‘story’. They give their exhibition a title that indicates its story or theme, and have a go at writing a label to accompany each exhibit.

At the end of the session the students gather together for a brief feedback session, to share their exhibition ideas and reflect on their experience of being a curator.

This activity enables students to: generate ideas; plan; compare and analyse artefacts; use inference and deduction to make connections between artefacts; form independent judgements; synthesise information from a variety of sources and media; understand social and historical contexts; evaluate the role of collections and curators in interpreting and communicating the past.

View the 'Curator for an Hour' activity booklet