Category: Warwickshire

Atherstone library (Nuneaton?)

Brief description

Built in Coton Road.

Current status: Demolished in 1933

  • Year grant given (if known):
  • Amount of grant:
  • Year opened (and by who – if known):

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet. Midway down this long webpage is an old picture of flooding in Nuneaton. The caption reads: “The building sticking out into the roadway is the Carnegie free lending library with the new Council House just in the course of erection, albeit work has been temporarily suspended for the duration of the flood. The Carnegie library will be pulled down in 1933 when the council house has been completed and its contents transferred to the former council offices and fire station in Queens Road.”

A later card on the same page has the caption: “Coton Road, Nuneaton c. 1910. The police station on the left and the lending library on the right. This stands where Nuneaton town hall is today and was demolished in 1933.”

Web links:

Stratford upon Avon library

Brief description

Unusual for libraries awarded grants from Carnegie, this wasn’t a new building, but funding was used to convert a row of cottages and a former technical school (1899). They were originally built in the late 15th century, and there was controversy when the original plan suggested they might be demolished to make way for a modern library (see link below to Marie Corelli and the Stratford-upon-Avon controversy).

The architects of the library were Edward Gibbs Holtom and A. Cossins.

Awarded Grade II listing in 1972

Current status: Still open as a public library, run by Warwickshire county council (2021)

  • Year grant given (if known):
  • Amount of grant:
  • Year opened (and by who – if known): 1902

Photo of library in 2006:

geograph-259022-by-david-stowell

From Geograph: © Copyright David Stowell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

stratfordonavon

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

Stoke library

Brief description

This branch is one of 3 (the other 2 are Earlsdon and Foleshill) built in Coventry as the stone says: “through the munificence of Andrew Carnegie”. The architect for all 3 was J.E. Swindlehurst (City Engineer and Surveyor).

Stoke library is on a corner site with steep steps leading up to the front door.

Current status: Still a library, run by Coventry council. (2021)

  • Year grant given (if known):
  • Amount of grant:
  • Year opened (and by who – if known): 1913

Photo of library in 2016:

stoke2-forblog

Details:

Each of the 3 branch libraries in Coventry has the same wording on its stone (see the post for Foleshill for image). All say 1912, which I guess must be when the stone was laid, as all were opened in 1913 (as illustrated by the framed certificate which each received from the Carnegie UK Trust when they celebrated their centenary – again, see the Foleshill post for image)

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

I visited all 3 branch libraries on 7 July 2016, following a meeting in Coventry central library. Each is instantly recognisable as they are built in similar styles, but each is also different. The insides have familiar layouts, and all are bright spaces, which when I visited were busy.

Web links:

Earlsdon library

Brief description

This branch is one of 3 (the other 2 are Foleshill and Stoke) built in Coventry as the stone says: “through the munificence of Andrew Carnegie”. The architect for all 3 was J.E. Swindlehurst (City Engineer and Surveyor).

It was extended at some point into the site of the former electricity substation, which provided additional space for offices and a staffroom.

Current status: Still a library, but since 2019 when it was threatened with closure, it has become a community library, run by volunteers.

  • Year grant given (if known):
  • Amount of grant:
  • Year opened (and by who – if known): 1913

Photo of library in 2016:

earlsdon2-forblog

Details:

Each of the 3 branch libraries in Coventry has the same wording on its stone (see the post for Foleshill for image). All say 1912, which I guess must be when the stone was laid, as all were opened in 1913 (as illustrated by the framed certificate which each received from the Carnegie UK Trust when they celebrated their centenary – again, see the Foleshill post for image)

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

I visited all 3 branch libraries on 7 July 2016, following a meeting in Coventry central library. Each is instantly recognisable as they are built in similar styles, but each is also different. The insides have familiar layouts, and all are bright spaces, which when I visited were busy.

Web links:

Foleshill library

Brief description

This branch is one of 3 (the other 2 are Earlsdon and Stoke) built in Coventry as the stone says: “through the munificence of Andrew Carnegie”. The architect for all 3 was J.E. Swindlehurst (City Engineer and Surveyor).

As detailed in the news article linked below, the library was damaged in an arson attack in 2003. It was fully restored and extended though, and reopened in 2005.

Current status: Still a library, run by Coventry council (2021)

  • Year grant given (if known):
  • Amount of grant:
  • Year opened (and by who – if known): 1913

Photo of library in 2016:

foleshill7-forblog

Details:

foleshill1-forblog

Each of the 3 branch libraries in Coventry has the same wording on the stone. All say 1912, which I guess must be when the stone was laid, as all were opened in 1913 (as illustrated by the framed certificate below which each received from the Carnegie UK Trust when they celebrated their centenary)

foleshill6-forblog

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

I visited all 3 branch libraries on 7 July 2016, following a meeting in Coventry central library. Each is instantly recognisable as they are built in similar styles, but each is also different. The insides have familiar layouts, and all are bright spaces, which when I visited were busy.

Web links: