03 December 2006

More about private libraries

The other day I wrote a post which included, in passing, mention of a private library. Not having heard of one before, I looked into it some more and found the Association of Independent Libraries, founded in 1989. From the organisation's website:

"The largest and best-known member library is the London Library, which houses one million books and serves over 8,000 members just two minutes from Piccadilly Circus. The smallest is the Tavistock Subscription Library which houses just 1500 books in a restored portion of a tenth and eleventh-century abbey building. The oldest is Chetham's Library, founded in 1653 for the benefit of the people of Manchester.

Together, the Association's members possess over two million books and have many listed buildings in their care. Many also possess charitable status. They combine the preservation of their historic collections and beautiful buildings with the supply of the latest books and periodicals, a personal service to their members and research facilities for non-members."

Here is the association's directory page, listing all 28 member libraries, which seem to be all over the UK. There are also links to publications and to information about news and events.

In one of those many strange coincidences of interconnectednesses that I keep coming across, the editorial in the Times books supplement this Saturday was about these "subscription libraries", as Erica Wagner calls them. She is a member of the London library, paying  £195 a year for the privilege.  A far better deal than gym membership, says Wagner. 

3 Dec 2006 17:41:09 | Libraries

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National biography competition The Times is running a competition to win a year's online subscription to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. If you go to the link, you can apparently browse the online version of the dictionary free until midnight on 4 December. (Or if you can't get to the article from the link, go to timesonline.co.uk/books and take it from there, they say.) In the competition, you have to answer five questions -- I can't answer any of them without (presumably) looking at the dictionary first. "Which modern politician regularly enjoyed fish fingers with his dinner?" is one question. There is also a "more challenging" Advent Calendar competition at the dictionary's site. Entries have to be received by midnight on 5 December. The prize is a year's personal subscription to the dictionary (worth £195 plus VAT, exactly the same price as a year's membership of the London Library, see previous post), plus Oxford University Press books to the value of £100.

Maxine

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