Sowerby Bridge library

Brief description

The site adjoined the municipal offices and was owned by the Council. The architect was C. H. Whitehead. Originally there was a lending library, ladies’ reading room, reading room, and reference section. The reading room was probably at the front of the building as this was top lit, and the lending library was probably at the rear. It had wood block floors. The total cost was £2,869.

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

• Year grant given (if known): 1902
• Amount of grant: £2,500
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 14 October 1905

Photo of library today (2017):

This is how I saw the library (see note below). Look forward to updating this photo when it has reopened!

Photo © Dr Neil Clifton (cc-by-sa/2.0) 2007

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Yes, in 2017, but as it was closed for refurbishment, I’ve only seen the outside – shrouded in scaffolding.

Web links:

• Sowerby Bridge – a brief history (brief mention of the library)
• News article: 100 years of the borrowers (2005) written to promote plans for centenary celebrations
• News article: Investing in Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd libraries – confirming Sowerby Bridge library was due to reopen on 8 January 2018

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Heckmondwike library

Brief description

A large, two-storied stone building with ornate gable-ends. The Clerk of Heckmondwike Urban District Council applied to Carnegie for a grant in 1902 and was offered £2,500 (Carnegie gave a further £38 in 1908). The grant was on condition that a private individual donated the land. The architect was Henry Stead, a local man, and the site was given by Sir Thomas Firth (of Firth’s Carpets), who also gave £100 for books. The building had tiled dados, oak furniture and hot water heating. The newsroom was on the ground floor and the lending library, reference section and workroom were on the first. Part of the ground floor was used as a rates office. Although modernised inside many of the old features remain.

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

• Year grant given (if known): 1902
• Amount of grant: £2,538
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 25 January 1911 – confirmed by an article in the Cleckheaton Guardian of 27 January 1911 [although material from the local history library states that the reading rooms were opened in February 1901]

Photo of library today (2009):

Photo credit: Betty Longbottom and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet, but there are 2 old photos of the library on the Kirklees images site

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

Batley library

Brief description

Designed by local architects Walter Hanstock & Son. The central round arched window has panel below with carved embossed words CARNEGIE LIBRARY. The library opened with a staff of 5.

Awarded Grade II listing in 1984.

Current status: Still open as a public library, run by Kirklees Council (2016)

• Year grant given (if known): 1903
• Amount of grant: £6,000 in 1903 and a further £988 for the clock tower
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 19 October 1907

Photo of library today (2011):

Photo credit: flickr user Tim Green, shared under CC licence

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

• Entry on the listed buildings register
• The Early History of Batley Carnegie Library – Providing World Book Day for Thousands of Days and Multiple Generations

Almondbury library

Brief description

The foundation stone was laid by Alderman JA Brooke JP on 8 July 1905. The building was designed by borough architect Kenneth Findlater Campbell.

Current status: Still open as a public library. Currently run by Kirklees council, but plans are underway to relocate library services. Future of this building unknown. (2018)

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant: £1,500
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 1906

Photo of library today (2008):

© Copyright Humphrey Bolton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Not yet

Web and other links :

• Almondbury: “A splendid little library” [A commemorative brochure
  celebrating Almondbury library] written by Rob Greenwood in
  association with Friends of Almondbury Library and Kirklees Library &
  Information Service, 2009. (reviewed in this issue of the Library and Information History newsletter)
• Friends of Almondbury library
• News article: Almondbury library to move (2018)

Burley library

Brief description

Situated on Cardigan Road, this library was built in 1926. The library cost £8,338 to build, a large amount of this came from the Carnegie Trust. It is a simlar design to the libraries in Bramley and Compton Road.

Current status: Closed February 2016

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant: c£8,000
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 15 June 1926, by Alderman Sir Percy Jackson, Chairman of the West Riding Education Committee.

Photo of library today (2007):

RichTea [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

• Images of the interior and exterior of Burley library, on the Leeds photo archive

Compton Road library

Brief description

The cost of this library was met by a grant from the Carnegie Trust. Built of brick with stone trim, the library is of similar layout to Bramley and Burley branches which were also built at this time. An adult lending area in the centre, children’s library to one side and a reading room on the other with glazed screens between the different areas.

Current status: Much was demolished, but what remains is part of the much bigger Compton Centre – which contains a library run by Leeds City Council (2016)

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant: £11,332
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 16 March 1927.

Photo of library today (2008):

Betty Longbottom [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

• Photograph on the Leeds city archives

Bramley library

Brief description

The cost of the library was defrayed by the Carnegie UK Trust.

Current status: Still open as a public library, run by Leeds City Council (2016)

• Year grant given (if known):
• Amount of grant:
• Year opened (and by who – if known): 7 July 1927 by The Right Honourable The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, C. M. G., Chairman of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trustees

Photo of library today (2011):

Photo credit: Leeds libraries

Details:

Old photo of library (postcard):

Nothing in my collection yet

Visited?

Not yet

Web links:

• Photo of the plaque which commemorates the opening ceremony – in the Leeds photo archive
• News: Library moves out as work starts on new Bramley community hub (2017)