Worthing library

Brief description

The building was erected on the old Richmond House site and the architect was Henry A. Crouch A.R.I.B.A., much of the cost being born by Andrew Carnegie, Sir Robert Loder and Alfred Curtis. The success of the library owed much to the energy and vision of the Borough Librarian and Curator, Miss Marian Frost , who had been appointed to the post in 1901. She wrote to Carnegie, who refused at first, as “the town already had a library”. She persevered, explaining how inadequate it was, and he eventually agreed.  The library continued in this location until 1975, when the new Worthing Library was built in Richmond Road.

Carnegie visited in May 1909, and was given the Freedom of the Borough.

Current status: Now just houses Worthing museum and art gallery (2017)

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant: £6,200
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 14 December 1908, by the Rt Hon Sir H Aubrey-Fletcher Bart, CB, MP

Photo of library today (2017):

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

Yes, during a family weekend in West Sussex in September 2017. The former library on the left hand side is closed off at the moment, but we were allowed through to take a photo of the plaque. There are lots of original features still there, and the museum person told us they do have plans to renovate and reopen it, adding to the space the museum occupies.

Web links:

• wikipedia page (museum and art gallery)
• Article about Marian Frost and her dealings with Carnegie

Littlehampton library

Brief description

This was the first purpose-built public library in West Sussex. The land was donated by the Duke of Norfolk. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Edmund Talbot MP 4 March 1905. The building was extended in 2002, and reopened by County Councillor David Dewdney on 24 October 2002.

Current status: Still open as a public library, run by West Sussex county council (2017)

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant: £2,607, 9s 3d (that was the total cost of building)
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 30 May 1906

Photo of library today (2017):

Photo credit: Charlotte Lane/Libraries Taskforce

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

Yes, during a family visit to West Sussex in September 2017. The library was open and busy on a Saturday morning – and is much bigger than it looks! Besides the entrance hall with a room either side, there is another large room behind, and a further room (the extension opened during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year), behind that.

Web links:

• Articles about the library’s century celebration on the BBC, and 110th birthday: council website, and the Littlehampton Gazette

Hove library

Brief description

Foundation stone laid on 10 June 1907 by Bruce Morison JP (former Mayor). Designed by architects Percy Robinson and W. Alban Jones of Leeds, in the Renaissance style. FG Minter was the building contractor, and the final cost was £13,500.

Awarded Grade II listing in 1992.

Current status: Still open as a public library, run by Brighton and Hove council (2017)

• Year grant given (if known): 1903
• Amount of grant: £10,000
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 8 July 1908, by Margaret Elizabeth Villiers, the Countess of Jersey

Photo of library today (2010):

Details: the interior

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Yes, several times.

Web links:

• Entry on the listed buildings register
• Entry on wikipedia
• Hove library’s 100th birthday
• One of many articles by campaigners who protested about plans to close the library in 2016