At a recent talk, researched and presented by various of the Stone Library librarians, about the history of Stone Library (part of the Staffordshire History Festival) , A Little Bit of Stone’s environment correspondent Marc Hudson learned a lot more about his second home.
The library’s history doesn’t quite stretch back to 1215 – when Henry III granted a royal charter for a market in Stone – but the market and the library have an entwined history. The first inkling of a public library came in 1848 – the “Mechanics Library and Literary Society”. Meanwhile, with money left by Admiral John Jervis, born in Staffordshire and buried here in Stone,(a very interesting wikipedia entry here), the Market Hall was renovated in 1868. Shortly after, a library opened in the High Street, with one and a half thousand books, and 150 members
The market itself went into a period of decline, and was bought by Stone Urban District Council, which installed electric lights and tried to drum up numbers with boxing matches, roller skating and the availability of “slipper baths” (so called because the bath you were in looked like, well, a slipper.
In 1943, during the war the market was closed, and used as a “British restaurant” – which were communal kitchens created for those who had been bombed out of their homes, or had run out of ration coupons.”
After the war, in 1949, there were plans to sell the building. These were resisted by some councillors (notably a Councillor Swannick) and a lot of the town’s residents. By 1950 the idea of a public library had been put forward, and was very popular. Stone Council sold the building… to Staffordshire County Council
On 1st September 1951, with 16 thousand books in its collection, the library opened. It was an immediate success, with 334 people registering on the first day and 218 on the second.
Unlike today, only those over 8 could get a ticket, and borrowers were restricted to two books at a time – one fiction and one non fiction. By 1952 the library had over 4000 borrowers (it has almost 9000 now).
Success was not assured, however, and in the late 1970s some bright spark of a councillor put forward a plan to demolish the building, or to turn it back into a market hall. Sense however prevailed. The library’s last major change was a refurbishment and the addition of a mezzanine, in 2004
Always busy and always welcoming, Stone Library is open Monday to Saturday.
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