Renaming the Library

In 2019, the Saffron Walden Town Library and Victorian Studies Centre was renamed as the Gibson Library. But why?

Originally founded as the Saffron Walden Literary and Scientific Institute, the library had become known as the Saffron Walden Town Library and Victorian Studies Centre. This was often shortened to either the ‘Town Library’ or the ‘Victorian Studies Centre’. With Essex County Council as its sole trustee and sharing a building with the public County Library, it is small wonder that visitors were unaware that it was an independent historic library or indeed that it existed at all.

The trustees of the Town Library Society decided that the Library needed a higher profile and to be re-introduced to residents and researchers.

How was the new name arrived at?

In a series of workshops, the trustees considered successful similar institutions such as the Fry Art Gallery, Sir John Soane’s Museum and the Morrab Library in Penzance. What they all had in common was a strong, clear identity.

In choosing the name, ‘The Gibson Library’, the key considerations were:
To make it clear that the Library was not just an extension of the County Library
To have a clear link to Saffron Walden
To have a clear link to its origins, the Gibson family had been great benefactors of the Library
That the name needed to be short and memorable

And so, the Library was renamed The Gibson Library and the Society became The Gibson Library Society.

Promotional poster for The Gibson Library, has an image of the library building clock, bunting, flowers, and cars, with text underneath about the library's rare collection.

New name, new identity

Having chosen the new name, the Society then commissioned a new corporate identity for the Gibson Library, drawing on the Gibson family associations, featuring the Gibson family stork.

Along with new information leaflets and banner stands, new signage in the County Library was installed to guide visitors to the Reading Room on the first floor.