Saffron Walden Town Library

Introduction: The Saffron Walden Library Then and Now Exhibition, (1832-2004) 14-16 October 2004

This on-line exhibition was written for the exhibition "Saffron Walden Library, Then and Now", held in Saffron Walden Library. It celebrates the ongoing influence of the Town Library in the lives of the people of Saffron Walden, Essex. It was written with the help of local historian Barbara Hughes to celebrate the end of the cataloguing and refurbishment project in 2004. Eighteen volunteers from the Town Library Society helped make the exhibition possible, and Gordon Ridgewell kindly took the photographs.

The Library entrance today in King Street, Saffron Walden

Contents

The aims of the Literary and Scientific Institution in 1832
Some of the founding members
An early meeting place & move to King Street
The Library becomes popular
A warning notice
Lectures and entertainments
Some of the Library's benefactors
The books inherited from Hill House
Some of the books and bookcases given by George Stacey Gibson
The catalogue of Saffron Walden Library, made in 1870
Librarians
The County steps in, and The refurbishment in 1972
The refurbishment and cataloguing project, 2003-4
The Town Library as it is now
Articles about the Town Library