h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After 'Horrible Histories', 'Lousy Libraries' presumably...?

I agree that libraries are far, far more than book lending services. They are galleries, tourist information offices, museums, theatre booking agents, video rental shops and much, much, much more.

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Sorry - posted to wrong thread!

Thanks for telling me about Reims - I'll add this at once!

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We have one near here http://www.stpete.org/mobile/Mirror_Lake_Library.asp

I have often driven by, it is still in operation, but I have personally always used the Main Branch, which is in the opposite direction.

If you can give me an idea of the sorts of things you are interested in I might stop by and see if anyone there knows anything about it.

FS

The book The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian, about an incident which almost brought down the Irish government, revolves around a Carnegie Library in Mayo, and the book includes a few interesting tidbits about how Carnegie's scheme worked. (I think it was in Laois that the locals protested that they didn't want a library, and dangerous foreign books.) Fascinating book.

The library in Tullamore is certainly not Carnegie.

TRiG.

I'm after as much information as possible, really, but ideally not just names and lists. I'd ideally like to know a story behind each library – either personal remembrances, what the library means to you – or its story as a whole. Something to make it stand out from being a name on a list of over 2,500.

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Anyone else know of any more Carnegie Libraries near them?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Carnegie_libraries_in_Europe#United_Kingdom

Any Help

I got a nice picture of the one here in town with the dogwood tree in bloom. Also, our librarians are celebrating 100 years of library. yay

18 were built here in NZ.
12 of the buildings have survived.

2 are still libraries (11% compared to 3.5% in USA)
[ that's according to http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/interactive/carnegie-libraries ]

Here's one survivor: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21017/carnegie-library-building-hokitika

Okay, does anyone have anything more to say about any Carnegie Libraries near them? I'm hoping that after one more fact-finding push this will be ready to put into PeerReview by the end of the year.

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According to Wiki

>>1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in Britain and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and others in Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, the Caribbean, Mauritius and Fiji.<<

So there are none near me. HTH.

*double take*

Serbia?!?!?

Ah yes - Serbia. That was one of Carnegie's libraries founded after the Great War by the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace. A library was founded in three of the worst-affected cities, presumably in the hope that this would help promote a greater understanding of differing viewpoints and generally help make people intelligent enough to prevent such a war from occuring again (rather than help people design bigger and even deadlier weapons).

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Brentford, Middlesex, has a Carnegie Museum that was actually opened by Carnegie himself.

http://www.brentfordtw8.com/default.asp?section=info&page=localhistory020.htm

the only other I know is Lambeth Library, Herne Hill.

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/carnegie-library

When I lived in South London, my local Library was created by a bequest of £5,000 by Sir Henry Tate, of the Sugar refining dynasty of Tate and Lyle. He also bequeathed monies for libraries in Balham, South Lambeth, and Brixton. This was probably because he lived at Park Hill, by Streatham Common.

It is interesting how Henry Tate and Abram Lyle came together.

Henry Tate began working for his brother, Caleb, in his grocery business in Chorley, Lancs at the age of 20. He earned enough that, by age 36, he'd his own chain of six store in Liverpool.
When he was 40 he met John Wright, a sugar refiner and formed a partnership, but this failed. However he continued with his two sons, Alfred and Edwin, and so the Henry Tate and sons business came into being. He expanded the business, and by being innovative, increased white sugar production to over 400 tons a week. However, he knew he needed to operate from London to be truly profitable, opening a refinery at Silvertown, East London, where Tate and Lyle still operate today.

He died in 1899, bequeathing a large proportion of his wealth to many good causes, possibly his most famous bequest is the donation of his art collection to the Nation, being the base of the Tate Gallery's collection in Pimlico today.

Abram Lyle's story is appreciably different, but convergent, obviously.

Born in Greenock, Scotland, he started work in a law firm at 12 years old, from where he joined his Father's business of coopering, or barrel-making. From this base he teamed up with John Kerr and his shipping business. It didn't take long before they had the largest fleet operating out of Greenock.

Being both in the coopering and shipping business, he soon began refining sugar in 1865, when he. with other partners, bought Glebe Sugar Refinery.

When John Kerr died, he sold his shares and, Like Tate, looked for a site in London, settling on Plaistow, East London, less than 2 miles from Tate's refinery.

There was a syrupy residue left from the refining process that went to waste but, by refining it, he produced 'Goldie' a sweet, golden, sticky syrup which was put in small wooden casks and sold to employees and locals. However word spread of this sweet syrup and it was only a short time before a tonne of syrup wear being shifted weekly in wooden barrels. From there it went to dispensers that were installed in grocery stores until, in 1885, the product was sold in tins. Golden Syrup is still manufactured in Plaistow to this day.

The two companies merged in 1921, although each retained it's own speciality market, with Tate's concentrating on sugar, especially the niche market of sugar cubes, while Lyle's continued with Golden Syrup. In 1950, Lyle's also added Treacle to their stable, being the molasses equivalent to Golden Syrup, but much more viscous.

An interesting aside. The logo for Lyle's Golden Syrup is a dead lion with bees hovering over the carcass and the motto 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness', a biblical reference to Samson who slew a lion and saw bees create a honeycomb in the body. It also reflected Abram Lyle's own beliefs.

However, these 'bees' were eventually believed to be droneflies (Eristalis tenax) or hoverflies, related to houseflies and bluebottles, which mimic drone bees. It is thought that the hatching flies rising up from the dead carcass give the impression of bees. Confused about where the honeycomb part comes in. Poetic licence?



MMF

Ah... Once again this thread and the subject of libraries
in the early 20th century style strikes me on a personal
level. Here's why:

The old Halifax Public Library built in 1950 or so with
its giant statue of Churchill on the lawn where students
and hippies lounge and feed from chip trucks nearby:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/629338.jpg

The new public library built last year across the street
with no lawn, no statue, no taste... :

http://plandaction.gc.ca/sites/default/files/halifax_library_tn.jpg


~jwf~

It was quite the thing to do if you were wealthy - on the Isle of Wight, the Seely family finally opened the County Seely Library in Newport in 1895 (it had not been legally possible to open an Isle of Wight free library before the passing of the 1892 Public Libraries Act), contributed to the Town of Brading Free Library as well as smaller reading rooms in various villages such as Brook and Brighstone. John Rylands also built a library at what was then the hamlet along Haven Street (the village of Havenstreet since 1950), but that's sadly since closed.

(The names are of course political. Brading is the size of a village, but has long claimed town status and never hesitates to call itself 'Brading Town'. That the library in Newport was the County Seely Library was to reinforce the fact that the Isle of Wight is its own county, completely independent of Hampshire. Many Isle of Wight institutions opened in late Victorian times had 'County' in the name to stress how Hampshire is not a part of the Isle of Wight, such as the Isle of Wight County Press and Royal Isle of Wight County Hospital).

My home town of Sandown was the only Carnegie library on the Island, and apparently was run entirely independent of the County libraries until 1974.

Was that building designed by someone playing Jenga?

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Oh, and MMF, although I did indeed eat Golden Syrup yesterday, this bluebottle at least doesn't mimic drone bees, honest.

Bzzzzzzzz.......

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I altered the article slightly, and it now contains a rude word. I had the whole 'This entry has been blocked as it contains a word which other users may find offensive. Please edit your entry and post it again.' message, all because I added a reference link to the article on ' Blossoms and the American Dream'. I deleted the word 'T-rd' but it is still in the link, and apparently that's fine.

I never realised it was a particularly offensive term.

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Would you like a nice photo of our local Carnegie library building with a tree in bloom out in the front yard? Just send me an email or leave a note on my ps.

Now in Peer Review! See: F48874?thread=8311834

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