This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Kirsty Lodge, with a deep-dive into the traditions and heritage of festivities in our region… By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes… Ray Bradbury uses this quotation from Shakespeare’s Macbeth to describe the mix of excitement and fear evoked by the arrival…
Football Fanzines: Creating ‘The List’
Part II of heritage volunteer Pete Slater’s trilogy of articles based on his research into football fanzine history. You can hear Pete talk about that research at a research showcase coming up on June 26 – part of the programme for the Voice of the Fans exhibition, a co-production from Leeds Libraries and the British…
Happy Volunteers’ Week!
It’s Volunteers’ Week 2025 (June 2 – June 8): a chance to celebrate the amazing achievements of our current team of heritage volunteers. Read on for some highlights from the last 12-months! Print collectionSeveral of our heritage volunteers, a student placement and a Duke of Edinburgh volunteer have all been busy working on our print…
Within Our Grasp: The archive as stimulus for a creative response
This week on the Secret Library Leeds blog we hear from a group of students who have been working on a project connected to Leodis, our online photographic archive. As third-year BA (Hons) Photography students at Leeds Arts University, we were invited to explore the Leodis photographic archive at Leeds Central Library and given a…
Football, fanzines and the media today
This week from heritage volunteer Pete Slater, who brings us part I of three articles exploring his research into the rich history of football fanzine culture. You can hear Pete talk about that research at a research showcase coming up on June 26 – part of the programme for the Voice of the Fans exhibition,…
Unearthing Spark: A Student Archivist’s Experience at Leeds Central Library
This week we hear from guest author Lauren Stead, who has been investigating in more detail one of our Central Library’s major collections… As a history student, I believe the most exciting element of research is working with primary sources. By looking at material created by and for people in the past, a deeper understanding…
Hear, read and see the Voice of the Fans
Leeds Libraries and the British Library are delighted to welcome the opening today (Friday May 9) of their co-production Voice of The Fans – a free exhibition exploring the past, present, and future of football fanzine culture. Voice of the Fans features over 50 fanzines and fair few more objects and items. But, as you…
VE Day 80th Anniversary
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, Leeds Libraries have created a gallery of photographs on Leodis, our online photographic archive, showing how the people of Leeds celebrated both VE and VJ Day. But we feel sure there are more images out there so are inviting anyone who may have their own…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 