The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog

Cookridge Street Public Baths

This week, librarian Helen Skilbeck takes a look back at the history of the public baths on Cookridge Street… Directly opposite Leeds City Museum, on the site of Millennium Square, were Cookridge Street Public Baths – also known as the Oriental and General Baths. Opened in 1866, these baths survived for nearly a century until…

Unfinished Business: Women and the Politics of Language (The Language of Politics)

This article by Librarian Antony Ramm forms part of our series to mark the launch of the British Library’s Unfinished Business exhibition. Leeds Central Library is hosting a virtual version featuring inspirational local women past and present, events that have shaped the experience of women in the city and items from our special collections that…

Black History Month 2020: People of Leeds

During October the majority of our content on the Secret Library blog will focus on Black History Month, including links to relevant resources held at the Central Library and signposting to external organisations, most specifically relating to Leeds, its history and heritage. Each week will have a different theme – Research, Events, Social Justice, Windrush and…

Black History Month 2020: Social Justice & Activism

Black History Month 2020: Events

National Libraries Week 2020: The Staff of the Central Library

The penultimate piece in our week of articles celebrating the history of the Leeds Library Service – this time, taking a light-hearted look at anecdotes from staff who have called the Central Library home… ***** Library (noun) – ‘A place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (such as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films)…