Every September we get very excited about the Heritage Open Days festival, which this year runs from 8th – 17th September. This sees thousands of staff and volunteers across England organise events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE…
Tag: special collections
Coronations in our Collections
As King Charles III’s coronation approaches, we take a moment to reflect on the rich history of coronations in our collections. From the earliest days of official record keeping, to the illustrated newspapers of the 20th century, we have lots of interesting material documenting the ceremonies and celebrations surrounding these momentous occasions. Some of the…
The Lady’s Magazine
This week on the blog we hear from Library & Digital Assistant Becky Bavill, who explores and illuminates the rich history of an 18th and 19th-century journal… The Lady’s Magazine – not to be confused with The Lady Magazine – was a popular publication in the 18th and 19th centuries, running from 1770 to 1818…
Do You Believe in Fairies?: The Story of The Cottingley Fairies Retold in a New Installation
‘And then I said, “Those fairies we see – let’s take a picture!”‘ In the summer of 1917, cousins Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright claimed to have seen fairies by Cottingley Beck. The photographs they took would later be described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as having the potential to ‘mark an epoch in human…
Novels That Shaped Our World
To tie in with the BBC 100 Novels That Shaped Our World list we have organised a series of events and workshops to inspire people to read some of the amazing books that feature on the list. Here are just a few examples from our collections that came to mind when we thought of four…
New Armley Research Guide
This week Josh Flint will discuss the new Local and Family History Research Guide on Armley. This Research Guide will be of great use to anyone with an interest in the history of Armley and how that history is represented in the Leeds Central Library Collection. This article will examine interesting images highlighted in this…
The Maurice Rosenbaum Letters: A Leeds Connection
This week, we welcome University of Leeds students Amy Clayton and Lucy Slater as guest authors. Amy and Lucy have been investigating a new addition to the Central Library collections – the letters of Maurice Rosenbaum – over the last few months. Here, they explain who Maurice was and his connection to Leeds and Yorkshire….
Speed-dating our Library Treasures II: Small Books and Big Ideas
by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Central Library You may recall that, during our 2016 Library Fest programme, we trialled a new event: Speed-date our Library Treasures. Put simply, this was an opportunity for the public to engage with a wide range of some of our most interesting and unique stock items, all curated by…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 