The Birmingham Law Library was founded in 1831, by the Barristers and Attorneys practising in Birmingham and the neighbourhood. This is supported by annual subscriptions. It contains nearly 6,000 volumes of Law Works, Reports, Acts, etc. It is in Wellington Passage, Bennett’s Hill. An admirable Catalogue of this Library has been compiled by Mr. Thomas Horton.
The Mason College in Edmund Street, opened in 1880, has now a very choice Scientific Library. It is especially rich in English and Foreign Serials, Transactions, Journals, Magazines, Reviews, Reports, etc., of which Mr. S. Allport the Librarian published a Catalogue in 1883. It owes much of its high character to the late Dr. Heslop, who took great interest in its formation and gave three-fourths of the books.
Other Libraries.—Among the Libraries of the past should be recorded: (1) The Mechanics’ Institution founded in 1826, and carried on till 1842. It had a Reference and Circulating Library with a Reading Room for the use of the members. (2) The Artisans’ Library, founded in 1831, open three evenings a week. Of smaller Libraries, the Parochial one of St. Martin’s, founded by the Rector (Dr. Miller) in 1850, was far above the average character of such Institutions; it was located in Inge Street, and was much used.
News Rooms, either with Libraries or alone, were not numerous in the early part of this century. In August, 1808, the first subscription News Room appears to have been opened at Messrs. Thomson and Wrightson’s Stamp Office, New Street, open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Four London Daily Papers, Lloyd’s List, Prices Current, one Sunday, three Provincial, and three Birmingham Papers, with Reviews and Magazines were provided.
A Commercial News Room was established in 1823, by a number of gentlemen, who took Shares of £20 each to erect a Building and carry on the work.
A News Room of large size and importance was built in 1825, in Waterloo Street, corner of Bennett’s Hill, where the old County Court stood, and where the Inland Revenue Office now stands. As this contained all the leading London Periodicals and Foreign Newspapers, Shipping, Commercial and Law Intelligence, files of important Papers, London Gazette, Times and local Journals, it may almost be included among our Libraries.
As a contrast with this, the only News Room of that time, there are now Nine, in addition to the Reference Reading Room, viz.:—Three Subscription, the Old Library, the Midland Institute, and the Exchange respectively, and six free News Rooms, viz., the Central News Room, and five Branches in different parts of the town.
The Free Libraries of Birmingham.—These were originated, and are sustained, by the municipality, at the cost of the ratepayers, by the levying of a rate of a little over one penny in the pound on the rents or rateable value of the Borough. This rate produces £9,500 a year and maintains the principal or Central Libraries, which include Reference Department of 80,000 volumes, Central Lending Library of 25,000 volumes, and a News Room used regularly by about 5,000 readers a day. It also maintains three Branch Libraries of 10,000 volumes each, with capacious and well supplied News Rooms, and two others of smaller dimensions opened only at night. Altogether these various departments issue more than 2,000 volumes, and accommodate in the Reading and News Rooms more than 11,000 readers daily.
These Free Libraries were commenced tentatively and modestly in a leased house and shopping in Constitution Hill (or Northern part) in 1861, some doubts apparently existing then whether such institutions were really needed or would be appreciated here.