To coincide with our new exhibition, Leodis: 400 years of Leeds in the Leeds Libraries Collection, which runs from Wednesday 16 September – Wednesday 11 November, Leeds Libraries are hosting a wide variety of workshops and events. All events are free but must be booked in advance. Maud Hummerston: the Storyteller of Leeds, Thursday 17…
Category: Leeds Central Library
LEODIS: 400 Years of Leeds
Discover 400 years of Leeds’ history through the inspiring collections of Leeds Libraries – from 17th century manuscripts to football fanzines, via rare maps, photographs, film footage, memoirs, newspapers, pamphlets, and, of course, books. Explore some of the city’s richest treasures and learn more about how Leeds Libraries have preserved historically significant archives for past,…
Who Was Maud Hummerston? Leeds Libraries’ first Female Librarian
This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Rosaleen Williams, who uncovers the life, career, and incredible achievements of a pioneering Leeds librarian – now rightly celebrated as part of the newly refurbished Central Library. This article also forms #28 in our People of Leeds series. The ground floor of Leeds Central Library has…
The Charter of 1626 and Leeds in the seventeenth century
This week on the Secret Library we mark the 400th anniversary of the Leeds Charter of 1626 with a new research guide covering resources at our Central Library for exploring this important century… On July 13 Leeds will celebrate 400 years since the signing of the town’s first Charter in 1626 – a historically significant…
A Selection of Botanical Treasures
Here at Leeds Central Library, we recently hosted a treasure handling workshop to show off a few more of our botanical items that we could not fit in our current exhibition – Unearthed: The Power of Gardening – at Leeds Central Library until 29 October 2025. First up was Flora Londinensis by William Curtis. This…
Heritage Open Days 2025
This week we take an in-depth look at events at Leeds Central Library during the Heritage Open Days Festival 2025. Local History Open Day Running on Saturday 13 September, 11.00am – 2.00pm in the Local and Family History Library, the Open Day is a chance for librarians to exhibit some of our most cherished and…
Unearthed: The Power of Gardening
Unearthed: The Power of Gardening is a new, free exhibition at Leeds Central Library running from 10 September – 29 October 2025, exploring the transformative, enriching and sometimes radical power of gardening. Inspired by the British Library’s major exhibition and following successful visits to Armley, Rothwell and Compton Road Community Hubs and Libraries, Unearthed celebrates…
The Chimney Corner: Secret Books from the Secret Library #10
The latest in an occasionally-regular series exploring books and other items selected from our vast collections. In this entry Librarian Antony Ramm looks at a collection of materials illuminating a late 18th century election in Yorkshire… Our previous entry in this series looked at a slim 18th century volume of Yorkshire topography. In this current article we remain in the…
