by Gladstones Library | Friday, 13th December 2019
Before the reign of Queen Victoria no one in Britain celebrated Christmas in the way we do today. There were no Christmas crackers, no one had heard of Santa Claus and no Christmas cards were sent. During the reign of Victoria, from 1837 onwards, the wealth of printing inventions and technologies of the industrial revolution meant that the face of Christmas changed forever.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 10th December 2019
Early sepia-drenched photographs of Gladstone’s Library I have seen are curious. They are strange portals into a familiar but unfamiliar world. They can also be a bit like dusty moths, lifeless and flattened in the pages of history. I wanted to (amateurly) try and put a bit of colour in one.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 29th November 2019
We have taken the decision that from January 2020, the size, type and number of bags which users can be bring into the Reading Rooms will be limited. Anyone working in the galleries will be limited to one laptop bag and one small rucksack or shoulderbag.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 22nd November 2019
John Moorman (1905 - 1989), Bishop of Ripon, was a leading authority on St Francis of Assisi and the history of the Franciscan Order. After his ordination in 1929, he was curate of Holbeck in Leeds before being appointed rector of Fallowfield in Manchester. During the Second World War, staying true to his pacifist beliefs, he worked as a farmhand in Wharfedale quite literally digging for victory.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 20th November 2019
We are delighted to announce the lineup for our 2020 Hearth festival which takes place on Saturday, 1st February in the cosy common room of our residential library. This intimate literary festival offers keen writers the opportunity to pick up hints and tips, and ask questions of published authors about their experiences. It also encourages anyone interested in the world of books to find out more about the writing and publishing process.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 08th November 2019
A couple of nights ago, at my Q&A event at the Library, an audience member asked a question along the lines of: If I cared about climate change, why wasn’t I writing political slogans instead of poems? A good question in these times of heightened worry for our world and our environment, and one that I answered briefly at the time, but which I think is very important to address more fully too.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 08th November 2019
William Gladstone (who lived until he was 88) read 22,000 books in his life. They like telling people this fact when they arrive at the Library, I suppose, because they like to see how their faces contort as they try to do the maths. Let me save you the trouble – it works out at around a book a day, for most of his adult life.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 08th November 2019
As the year draws to a close here at Gladstone’s Library and we begin our Christmas celebrations, we’d like to take the opportunity to welcome our Friends to a festive coffee morning on Thursday, 5th December from 10.30am. Your support has been invaluable this year so why not take the opportunity to escape your Christmas errands and enjoy a morning retreat at the Library with tea, coffee and festive treats.
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by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 22nd October 2019
Introduce a Friend to the Gladstone’s Library family this Christmas and know that you are giving a gift which will make a difference and which will not sit, unused, on the shelf.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 22nd October 2019
We’re saying #ThanksToYou to National Lottery ticket holders with free tea and cake!
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 21st October 2019
It’s a strange month to be on retreat from reality, these final days of our membership of the EU (or perhaps not), as the clock ticks down to Halloween and all the ghoulish things it harbours.
by Gladstones Library | Sunday, 20th October 2019
Back on a sweltering day in August, I was cycling along the Welsh Road when I heard a thud and a dull skid. I stopped, turned around and saw that one of my overstuffed panniers had fallen off the back of my bike and bounced into the gutter. I wondered if I could hail a black cab, but I wasn't in Manchester anymore.
by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 17th October 2019
It is undeniably brilliant to be a Poet in Residence here. Every day I get up and eat breakfast that someone else has cooked, leave the dishes and scuttle off to write in one of the most beautiful, wooden beamed, book-scented libraries I have ever been in. After lunch I take a walk around the village in one direction or another, and then come back to write more or read until dinner time.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 11th October 2019
A couple of nights ago, at my Q&A event at the Library, an audience member asked a question along the lines of: If I cared about climate change, why wasn’t I writing political slogans instead of poems? A good question in these times of heightened worry for our world and our environment, and one that I answered briefly at the time, but which I think is very important to address more fully too.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 08th October 2019
Every few years, there is a gathering of a unique set of clans. In the UK, they are called ‘independent libraries’, while in the US they are ‘member libraries’; in Australia, they are ‘mechanics institutes’. All are libraries that make their own way in the world, with small budgets and even smaller staff numbers.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 08th October 2019
Happy Libraries Week!
From 7th to 11th October, libraries of all kinds across the country will be celebrating the valuable work we do and the valuable spaces and collections (and readers!) we look after.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 18th September 2019
At Gladstone’s Library, we know Virginia Woolf’s quote, ‘one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well’ to be true.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 16th September 2019
We are delighted to announce the names of the five winners of our Writers in Residence award and the two winners of our Politics in Residence prize 2020.
by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 12th September 2019
Did you know that Gladstone's Library is a member of the Independent Libraries Association?
by Gladstones Library | Sunday, 01st September 2019
William Gladstone (who lived until he was 88) read 22,000 books in his life. They like telling people this fact when they arrive at the Library, I suppose, because they like to see how their faces contort as they try to do the maths. Let me save you the trouble – it works out at around a book a day, for most of his adult life.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 28th August 2019
Perhaps you have encountered ‘lending libraries’ in the far corners of the Hebrides or on the bays of Cornwall. These could take the guise of a box perched on somebody’s wall, a wheelbarrow sprouting copies of childhood classics or those big red boxes with well-worn coin inlets, repurposed for reading and the exchange of ideas.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 29th July 2019
In an age of single use and throw-away products, we can often find ourselves yearning for something with a sense of permanence. No sooner have we bought the newest, shiniest iPhone than Apple releases the newer, shinier version, rendering our new phone a technologically competent, but intrinsically second-best space-filler. The same is true of cars, of clothes, of practically everything manufactured these days. The only thing that seems not to fit this mould? Books.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 26th July 2019
C.S. Lewis once said ‘You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.’ This is a maxim which suits our Library team very well indeed; there never seems to be enough tea, and in spite of working in a library with over 150,000 books and printed items, we seem to race through good books all too quickly!
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 19th July 2019
We are very lucky here at Gladstone’s Library to have access to around 130,000 printed items in total, including around 6,500 books printed before 1800 and some as early as the 15th Century. The majority of these older books come from a very small proportion of our collections: either our pre-18th Century collection, the Bishop Moorman Franciscan collection, or the Glynne-Gladstone collection. Many of these older books are kept in our Closed Access rooms in order to keep them in the best condition possible – but as a result, regular visitors to the library might not be aware of what treasures lie behind closed doors!
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 09th July 2019
Gladstone’s Library is embarking on a 24-month deaccessioning project on a section of its collections. This is the first review of the Library’s collections since 2008-10. Collection use and user demographic has changed rapidly in the past five years and the Library now has collection use data which can help it make decisions.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 05th July 2019
As many of you will know a dear friend of Gladstone's Library, Muriel Maufroy, passed away in 2017. Muriel's family kindly deposited much of Muriel's personal library to us, and many of the volumes have now been added to our collections for the benefit of all.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 28th June 2019
We can be quite traditional here at Gladstone’s Library: the Reading Rooms are silent study areas; we don’t allow food near the books; and ‘No, we won’t let you take that rare and precious Gladstone Foundation Collection book home with you tonight, Sir - we are not a lending library!’ In other ways though, we like to think of ourselves as quite innovative.
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by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 27th June 2019
Help us make the Gladfest Fringe the best it can be. Share your passions and get the community thinking together!
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 24th June 2019
Gladstone’s Library is currently undergoing an upgrade of its online catalogue, MainCAT, as well as the database of Gladstone’s books and annotations, GladCAT. Both catalogues may be unavailable at unscheduled times during the coming week while these upgrades take place. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 19th June 2019
Wales is a small country with a big presence. Integral to the history of the British Isles and attracting tourists from all around the world, it should be hard to overlook the history of Cymru, however it is often wholly conflated with that of neighbouring England to its disservice. Gladstone’s Library is an international institution, but we are very proud of our Welsh location that was decided by our founder, the former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who was English but spent around 50 years with the Hawarden Estate as his family home.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 12th June 2019
We are delighted to today reveal the names of the 12 writers shortlisted for our prestigious Writers in Residence award for 2020.
by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 06th June 2019
While it's totally cliché to say this, no two days are the same when it comes to being a Graduate Work Experience student (GWE) at Gladstone’s Library. However, the motions we go through are pretty similar, and always full of valuable experience!
by Gladstones Library | Saturday, 01st June 2019
Please note, the Reading Rooms will be closed 21st - 23rd June 2019 for our Alibis in the Archive event.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 29th May 2019
Please note that Food for Thought will be closed from the evening of Sunday, 30th June until 2pm on Monday, 1st July. No meals will be available during these times.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 15th May 2019
At Gladstone’s Library we rotate our History Room display every month to focus on a different aspect of our collection. This month we’ve dug out some of our best examples of works published in 1819, exactly 200 years ago, to give you a taste of what people were reading during the Georgian Regency period of British history.
by Administrator | Tuesday, 14th May 2019
Tickets are now onsale for Gladfest 2019, which takes place here at Gladstone's Library, 6th – 8th September.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 03rd May 2019
Gladstone’s Library has, for three years, been home to the British Crime Writing Archive, made up of materials from the Crime Writers’ Association and The Detection Club. Martin Edwards, the Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and the President of The Detection Club has worked closely with the Gladstone’s Library team to make the collections publically viewable here at the library.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 01st May 2019
Our Assistant Librarian Gary Butler gave a talk Monday night all about rare books and religious texts. In this post, he shares a reading list of books for anyone who wants to explore the themes in his talk further.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 30th April 2019
Please be advised that on the May Bank Holidays (Monday, 6th & Monday, 27th May) the Reading Rooms will be closed to all but residents and no Glimpses will be running.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 23rd April 2019
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 05th April 2019
Today when we consider the word ‘romantic’ we think of love and sentimentality, but the term ‘Romanticism’ had a much broader meaning, historically. Romanticism was a period which spanned the late 18th and early 19th centuries, emerging as a response to the disillusionment with the Enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. It covered a range of developments in art, literature, music and philosophy and William Gladstone himself would have been witness to its peak during his lifetime.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 01st April 2019
Many of our patrons will know that in January 2018, the Library embarked on a three-year project externally funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under the title of Digital Gladstone. The project aims to fully digitise and catalogue 15,000 nineteenth-century manuscript letters and 5,390 annotated printed books.
by Gladstones Library | Friday, 29th March 2019
While researching for this blog, I found myself on all manor of websites, from the Telegraph to Clarion Review, and the websites of both Cadbury and Godiva.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 25th March 2019
The first time I lied about my age was not to buy alcohol, to jump on a ride at Chessington World of Adventure, or to join the army.
It was to get a library card.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 18th March 2019
My two year old daughter has been with me at Gladstone’s for the past few days. Like any parent of a toddler will tell you, her desire for play is tireless. Tell me a story. Let’s go outside. Shall we dance? I’m a monster. Rrrr. There is seemingly no end to her enthusiasm and joy for making things up and mucking around.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 12th March 2019
After a certain age your body lets you know that sitting for hours at a desk requires a degree of physical fitness. Via carpal tunnel, twanging hamstrings or a classic 'bad back', you discover that you are not, in fact, capable of eight hours on what the Germans call your 'sitzfleisch' or 'seat meat'.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 11th March 2019
Here at Gladstone's Library we are preparing for dragons...
On Tuesday, 12th March Gladstone’s Library will play host to an evening with playwright and March Writer in Residence, Oliver Emanuel. Oliver will deliver a talk on the art of writing without words, something he achieved with his play Dragon, where a young boy grieving over the death of his mother struggles to find the words to express himself and instead finds solace in a 10-foot dragon.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 06th March 2019
This month’s display in our History Room focuses around William Gladstone and nineteenth-century international law. This is a large topic and this blog aims to add some extra details that unfortunately wouldn’t fit into the cabinet!
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 06th March 2019
One of the most beneficial parts about coming to Gladstone’s is the opportunity to be far away from your usual daily routine. It’s amazing how much energy and brain-space is freed up when you take away so many parts of every day life - cooking, cleaning, commuting, and even having a television.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 06th March 2019
The title quote is one by Benjamin Disraeli from a letter to his sister, describing a Mrs Wyndham Lewis that he met at a party in 1832.
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 25th February 2019
Having never been a Writer in Residence before, I was extremely excited about the idea of getting an enormous amount of work done before having to head back to inconvenient ‘real life’. Write one book? The library is open from 9am to 10pm every day, after all - the problem will be writing too many books, if anything!
by Gladstones Library | Monday, 04th February 2019
At Gladstone’s Library we rotate our History Room display every month to focus on an aspect of Gladstone the man, or our extensive library catalogue. This February I decided to give some of our lesser-known collections a little TLC by presenting a display on 'Tales of the Supernatural: The Library’s Hidden Creature Features!' Additionally, to give you all some extra background on this exciting topic, I’m writing this blog for our website.
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by Gladstones Library | Monday, 04th February 2019
We are now welcoming submissions for our 2020 Writers in Residence and Politics in Residence programmes, from which a selection of the best contemporary writers will be chosen to reside at Gladstone's Library to focus on their current projects.
by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 30th January 2019
Are you looking for that perfect spot for Sunday Lunch, or something a little lighter over the Mothering Sunday weekend? Look no further - Food for Thought has a whole weekend of dining planned for the occasion for families to enjoy tasty food in a relaxing setting.
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 22nd January 2019
In this regular series, library staff ‘spotlight’ a single item, or a set of items, from the thousands of print and archive items held in the collections here at Gladstone’s Library. Read on and discover more about the items on our shelves…
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 15th January 2019
We are so pleased that this February two spectacular women will be taking up their places as Writers in Residence at Gladstone's Library, and will deliver three not-to-be-missed events!
by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 08th January 2019
We are delighted to announce the names of the four writers appearing at Hearth festival on Saturday, 2nd February.
The intimate writing festival hosted our cosy common room offers keen writers the opportunity to pick up hints and tips, and ask questions of published authors about their experiences. It also encourages any with an interest in the world of books to find out more about the writing and publishing process.
