Josh Earl's dome crush

When comedian Josh Earl isn’t doing stand-up shows at comedy festivals, he’s performing to high school students on Library tours – arguably a tougher gig. Josh told me about his work at the Library, and what the dome means to him.

'I work as a learning services officer at the Library, doing tours and workshops for school groups. Before I worked at the Library I worked as a school librarian, and that’s when I came to the dome for the first time. It was a few years ago. I looked around the walls and almost cried at how perfectly the books were placed in order of the Dewey classification system.

'I just love knowing that in the middle of the chaos in the city there is a place of absolute silence.  It’s a place of solace; simply walking in makes you feel studious (unless of course you happen to be a uni student at about 3pm – then it’s a nice place to sleep). It’s also the only place where I’ve ever been able to make a class of Year 9 boys be quiet.

'The dome is where I sit on my breaks and try to write jokes for my other profession as a comedian. No matter how many times I walk into the space I still look up, and it’s still amazing. I love that if I do start to wander off in my mind and daydream, I can read the inspirational quotes on the wall and get motivated again.'

You can also watch Josh (in character as Reginald Jacoby) exploring the Dome Galleries and other Library spaces,  in the light-hearted Royal Society for Questions & Curiosity video.