Librarian Antony Ramm takes a look at Leeds on the day the First World War ended… When the Lord Major Joseph Henry announced to the people of Leeds that “the armistice has been signed and that fighting has been stopped from 11 o’clock this morning,” he sparked celebratory scenes which commenced almost immediately. Crowds began…
Category: Child Friendly
Leeds in the First World War: New Leodis Collection
To commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War, it seems a good time to delve into our Leodis photographic archive to see how Leeds fared during this period. The image below shows a recruiting tram for the Leeds Pals, a volunteer battalion from the business and professional communities of the city,…
The Hallowe’en Special
This week Librarian Sally Hughes talks ghost-busting and all things spooky… With Hallowe’en upon us it’s the perfect time to point you in the direction of our most ghoulish collections here at Central Library. The first place to be is right here at our The Supernatural research guide. You can find all these books on our online…
Yorkshire Cricket History
Librarian Antony Ramm takes a brief look at Cricket resources available in the Library… The Local and Family History department at the Central Library has a strong collection of books and other material relating to Yorkshire and Leeds’ sporting history, the best of which can be seen in our Sport in Leeds Research Guide –…
A Partial History of Leeds Central Library
This last Wednesday, to mark National Libraries Week, four of our Local and Family History team, plus one intrepid volunteer, delivered a talk offering a brief history of Leeds Central Library, primarily derived from material found in several volumes of news-cuttings covering public libraries in Leeds. So, this week on the Secret Library we offer…
Kelly – Directory of the West Riding of Yorkshire
We believe this copy of the 1912 Kelly’s Directory of the West Riding of Yorkshire to be our longest single-volume book. The 1912 Kelly’s Directory is just one in a large collection of such trade directories that the Local and Family History department holds – primarily for Leeds, but also covering the wider West Riding…
A Library at War: Leeds Central Library during WW2
Today we hear from regular guest author Mike Harwood, who tells the story of this building during the tumult of World War 2… ‘Tuesday, 31 October 1939: “Felt energetic so polished several floors and worked fairly hard. Tony came home to lunch at 1.30, and the afternoon somehow slipped away….Went to the library and got…
The Silent Traveller in the Yorkshire Dales
This week we hear from Library Officer, Will Poulter, on a surprising perspective of the Yorkshire Dales… One of the joys of working in the library is that sometimes I come across books that strike me, that I may never have known exist. This happened recently when I came across a modest journal by a Chinese…
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