| Admin History | The small lending library of books at North Muskham, Nottinghamshire, was started in 1876 by the Rev. J.W. Hall, vicar of the parish from 1855 to 1902. Originally it was started for children attending the Sunday School but in due course it was made available to all the residents of the village. It is likely that the library was kept in the Sunday School cupboard in the village schoolroom where the Bible class was held on Sunday afternoons. Books in the library were presented by the Hull family, the Rev. Fiennes Clinton, Rector of Cromwell, and Mr J Handley of North Muskham. The books ranged in subject matter from popular novels to Victorian morality tales. With the closure of the Bible class in 1937, the library ceased to function. |
| Custodial History | In 1964, the issue book was discovered in a cupboard in North Muskham Primary School. It was transferred to the University Library in 1983, when the Elston Parish Library joined the University's Special Collections. |
| Description | The collection consists of one manuscript volume, an issue book which is apparently the only surviving record of a private lending library at North Muskham, Nottinghamshire. The volume contains columns that record details of book issue. The title of the books in the library are given along the top of the pages and the names of the borrower, the date of issue and date of return are given in three columns. A newspaper article, from The Guardian Journal by H.J. Chilton in 1964, is included, and describes the discovery of the issue book in that year, and details of the library. |