Hello again, and welcome back to the archive diary! If April was a whirlwind of mapping our vast literary footprint across the bungalows and buildings of the Park, May has been the month where the rubber truly meets the road—or perhaps more accurately, where the boxes meet the shelves.

We have officially begun “The Universal Move,” transitioning out of the theoretical mapping stage and diving headfirst into the physical, high-energy work of consolidation. Thanks to the immense generosity of the Ecovillage Findhorn CBS, who have kindly loaned us the Universal Bungalow as our central staging area for the next two months, we finally have a unified base of operations. And a huge thanks to all the volunteers from the April Experience Week who helped to move chewed boxes and bags of books from Evelyn’s Bungalow to Universal.

📦 Treasures, and the “Keep or Dispose” Mountain

If you walked into the Universal Bungalow today, you would see a space transformed. The dispersed rows of boxed history, legal crates, and protective tubs we surveyed last month are no longer scattered.

We have officially initiated our initial triage phase for the library project, focusing our efforts on the massive mountain of books gathered from across our Community spaces. Sorting through decades of accumulated reading material is a delicate, deeply responsible task. To help our burgeoning team of volunteers navigate this vast sea of print, we plan to methodically sort the collection into core subject areas to determine what will form the backbone of our permanent library resource.

Universal Bungalow Living Room before and after

We are grounding our selection process by dividing the books into several categories, including:

• Core Principles: The foundational spiritual and ecological philosophies that underpin the very identity of Findhorn.
• Founders’ Books: Inspirational works, guidance, and texts written by or directly about Peter, Eileen, Dorothy, and ROC.
• Community authors
• A fantastic selection of esoteric books, as well as philosophy, consciousness, psychology, health & wellbeing, environment etc
• Education: Key reference materials and study papers that cover the wide array of holistic education and transformative programmes the Community has championed over the years.

It is meticulous work deciding what to keep to ensure a focused, high-quality collection, but the rewards are pure magic. Amidst the heavy sorting, we’ve been unearthing spectacular, pristine copies of landmark Community books and early organisational publications. Every discovery adds another vibrant thread to the literary tapestry we are weaving, and it keeps us completely energised through the heavy lifting.

🎟️ Coming This Summer: The Great Community Book Sale!

Of course, a robust “Keep or Disposal” framework means making some tough choices about duplicates and surplus stock. An archive and library that tries to keep absolutely everything risks becoming just an overcrowded attic, rather than a beautifully curated resource.

But don’t worry—our surplus books are destined for a wonderful second life! We are thrilled to announce that we are planning a massive Community Book Sale coming up this summer. This will be a fantastic opportunity to clear out our temporary staging space and pass these wonderful texts on to appreciative new homes. Stay tuned for exact dates and locations!

🏛️ Our vision is getting clearer

The mists are lifting as we consolidate the scattered Cluny Hill, Findhorn Foundation, and Education collections into a singular, professionally managed “Living Library” resource.

But to make a library live, you first have to sort the books! Then we will structure them into a formal archival hierarchy that aligns beautifully with international standards.

📢 A Call for Hands (and Hearts!)

This sorting process is a beautiful but monumentally large job, and we need your help. If you feel drawn to the smell of old pages, enjoy creating order out of chaos, or simply want to spend a few hours immersed in the Community’s intellectual heritage, please join our volunteer team. No prior archival experience is needed—just curiosity, care, and a willing spirit. I promise satisfying work and fascinating conversations!

🗺️ Manifesting the Future: Grants and Side Quests

Looking out past the walls of the bungalow, May has also been a month of intense strategic planning. We are actively investigating several heritage grants and resilience funding streams to support our future preservation goals, including a dedicated photo library digitisation project and an urgent rescue plan for our fragile 1970s audio cassette collections.

The deadlines for these crucial grant applications submission deadlines are fast approaching in June, so I invite you all to join us in holding a focus of light and meditating for their success. If the stars align, these funds will provide the vital scaffolding we need to protect our history for generations to come.

And speaking of checking alignment, I was hoping to squeeze in a quick report about a trip to the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh and Glasgow. But that will have to wait until the June blog as there will be so much more to share then.

💚 Thank You, Community

Every day in the archive, I am reminded of the lesson from March’s Experience Week: an archive is never just a collection of individual “I’s”; it is the living, breathing story of “We.” Thank you to everyone who has carried a box, labeled a photo, shared a memory, or held space for this project.

The rabbit hole still runs deep, but with the Community pulling together, the landing is feeling softer and more joyful by the day.

Until next month, see you in the bungalow!

Get Involved: If you would like to volunteer for the sorting sessions, please click here to Contact Us.

Lydia Pappas