The Whitechapel Gallery barely acknowledges the rich history of the Whitechapel Free Library, which previously stood alongside it (the gallery bought the library building c.2009). At least the library memorial stone remains, a poignant reminder of a lost world of civic pride and autodidact cultures.

LIBRARIAN. I was quite overcome with office envy at the Newcastle Lit & Phil! #adoorable

Tynemouth Branch Library. Opens in 1953. Closes in 2020. Patiently awaits refurbishment in 2026.

Monday-morning desk & bookshelf envy. This is John Nettlefold’s study at Winterbourne House in Birmingham. Nettlefold was a town planner & businessman, his aesthetic sense influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement.

happy International Archives Day! if you would like to make archives happy you could do worse than with some online volunteering for me – look at pictures! read 19th century minutes! very straightforward, very satisfying, no commitment necessary. www.sal.org.uk/about-us/vac... (scroll down)

"Men We Seldom See - Irish Migrant Legacies and the British Construction Industry" We are looking for Irish migrants who worked in any aspect of the British construction industry for at least one year, and are willing to be interviewed. ℹ️ www.liverpool.ac.uk/irish-studie.... #oralhistory #SpéirGorm

I gave a talk about female public librarians at the University Women’s Club in Mayfair tonight. The whole evening was fabulous. The audience asked fascinating questions, and we had a really thought-provoking Q&A. But my favourite part of the night was the pleasing retro signage on arrival.

It’s nearly time for our national diary day! Every 12th May we ask people to write down what they got up to. This year we’re also really interested in experiences of nature and wellbeing, as well as what else you get up to on the day! #diary #journal #nature #skystorians #write #Archive

If you weren't able to make it to our online talk yesterday with Stella Moss and Phyllis Macfarlane from @amsruk.bsky.social (and kindly chaired by @historitage.bsky.social), do not fear! You can catch up on all you missed on our YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... #skystorians

The Way We Lived Then Post ‑War to the 1970s – Gender, Generation and Change - YouTube

A series of talks exploring the ways that women's drinking habits and use of pubs has changed from the Second World War to the 1970s and how different consum...

youtube.com

Being into plants/ natural remedies/ folkloric stuff (plus the social history of pockets), I recently conceived FOUR POCKETS FOR SEASONAL FORAGERS & learnt a little more about foraging while embroidering them. I started the cycle with AUTUMN, & stitched poke root, burdock, poke berries, & hawthorn.

This box of curiosities was collected by Dr Gains as a child in Brightwalton between 1870 and 1899. It contains shells, nuts, seeds, glass, pins, rocks, buttons, teeth, carved ivory, and more! #Archive30 #UnusualArchives

A beautiful day yesterday performing my William Morris song for William Morris Day at @antiquaries.bsky.social I met wonderful people including @erikocreativity who created her own William Morris Kimono with his famous quote written on the back (see photo) #WilliamMorris

Of interest to Belle da Costa Greene fans!!! In 1912, Greene was celebrated as “the most up-to-date” librarian type. The US media gleefully hailed the Morgan library manager as the antithesis of the longstanding cliche of a “dried-up” old male librarian 💙📚

Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation. Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements

Can anyone get me a job in the editorial offices of the ‘The Librarian and Book World’ in 1913? Imagine reading through the submissions for this prize scheme for librarians. Glossary! Machine-set Catalogue!! Bookbinding!!!! Pure library heaven #PubLibs 💙📚

19C librarians devised all manner of ingenious apparatus to make their institutions more efficient. Here’s a pioneering form of rolling stack to streamline storage systems at the British Museum, now the British Library. From the Library Chronicle, Vol. III (1886) #AlphabetChallenge #BforBooks 💙📚

If only there was a recent book about what Seven Dials was like in the first part of the twentieth century. Oh, hang on... manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526181954/

Manchester University Press - Songs of Seven Dials

Songs of Seven Dials - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of Songs of Seven Dials by Matt Houlbrook

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

Clothes in Books@clothesinbooks.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New Agatha Christie adaptation on Netflix soon, so I looked at a different crime book with a setting around the Seven Dials area of London (now very bougie part of covent Garden, but once a hotbed of vice) John Dickson Carr did good London atmosphere... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...

It’s another bitterly cold day. You’ll find me in the library at Alnwick Castle, flicking through a heap of literary journals in a desultory manner, occasionally gazing up at that STUNNING ceiling - planning to demolish a plateful of buttered toast & tea any minute now 💙📚

‘It was not in his nature to do anything by halves:’ Mary Booth on her husband’s work. No lie detected. I run a course that demystifies Charles Booth’s massive Life & Labour survey and the accompanying Poverty Map. Starts Tue 13 Jan at the Mary Ward Centre, nr Stratford High St DLR short.do/wLa3Vc

New Year’s Resolution. Always wear a hat to visit the library. Homburg, bowler, flat cap, no matter. As seen here in the new reading room at the Kensington branch building in Liverpool c.1900 #NYE #PubLibs 💙📚

Salisbury Cathedral Library, founded in 1445. The library collections date back to the 1100s. The chains originally used to secure the precious medieval manuscripts to the shelves now form an eye-catching display beside the librarian’s desk 💙📚 #chainedlibrary

In the 1870s, George Gissing & his brother William were furious at the ‘scandalous condition’ of #PubLibs in England, contrasting progress unfavourably with the USA - where every town had ‘its excellent Free Library’. From Letters of George Gissing to Members of his Family (1927). 💙📚

Thinking about the 130 or so British librarians killed in WW1. Their colleagues raised funds to create a lasting memorial to their sacrifice. Sadly, the tablet they commissioned is now displayed behind the scenes at the British Library, visible only to staff. #fwwhist #PubLibs 💙📚

CLOSED. My second failed attempt to visit the Morrab Library in Penzance last month. Founded in the early 19C, the library is one of only around 60 independent libraries still in existence in the UK (& the only one in the whole of Cornwall). I did admire this cute sign on the front door though.

Here I am, caught on camera at #HistDay25 getting over-excited about the fact that a 1960s folk-rock band named themselves after a medieval legal document!! I was at the event with my fab @antiquaries.bsky.social colleagues & we chatted to over 100 students & history-lovers. A truly inspiring day.

Senate House Library@senatehouselib.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Still thinking about yesterday #HistDay25 #HistoryDay #SenateHouseLibrary

Do you dare stare into the eyes of spooky child this Halloween? Take your chance today at our Haunted by the Past event until 3.30pm today! www.sal.org.uk/event/haunte...

1 week to go until History Day - don't forget to sign up! Read about why History Day is such a fantastic event in this blog by Claire Langhamer: buff.ly/ySfBuWR #HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social

1850. The Public Libraries Act means councils in England & Wales can now spend local taxes on libraries. Some London regions are VERY slow to adopt the act. St Pancras rate-payers object to “wasting” money on “showy luxuries”. Fifty years pass before a free library opens in the district #PubLibs 💙📚