Altrincham Library

Altrincham Library had humble beginnings, dating back to the establishment of the Altrincham and Bowdon Literary Institution in 1847, which was housed in small premises on Victoria Street.

A well-selected Library, a Reading or News-room, Lectures and Evening Classes, to supply the young men of the neighbourhood, opportunities of mental cultivation and improvement, at a cheap rate, at the same time that it affords to the adult inhabitants a rationable and agreeable mode of spending their leisure hours.

- The intentions of the Literary Institution, quoted in Alfred Ingham, A History of Altrincham and Bowdon, (Mackie, Brewtnall and Co., 1879), p.179

The library proved popular and soon required larger premises. A new building was erected on George Street in 1852, paid for by subscription. It included a large news room, as well as three classrooms. Local people could attend classes, as well as technical education courses.

With the passing of the Public Libraries Act, the Literary Institution agreed to transfer the building to the Local Board in 1892.

The Technical Instruction Act 1889 allowed a rate to be levied to aid technical and manual instruction, and further classes were provided at the Library. Extensions were made and the new enlarged building opened to the public on 5 May 1894. While the building work was being carried out, the library was temporarily housed in Oddfellow’s Hall on Market Street, practically on the same spot that the new library is today [2021]. Museum spaces were later added.

“Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life,” a book stated to have been attained from the Altrincham Free Library, was handed to Mr Justice Bankes at the Cheshire Assizes on Monday as a specimen of the stories read by James Arthur Hyde, a sixteen-year-old lad, who was sentenced to three years’ Borstal treatment for burglary. The prisoner’s father handed the book to the judge, intimating that books had led to the boy’s downfall.

- Bridlington Free Press, 24 October 1913

A children’s library was opened in 1928, containing around 3,000 books. Lectures for children were held over the winter, with around 6,000 attending during the 1934-1935 season. During the Second World War, the children’s library had been taken over to civil defence purposes, but was re-opened in the summer of 1946.

Branch libraries were opened in Broadheath and Timperley. As Bowdon Urban District Council paid into the Altrincham Library service, Bowdon was also served by a part-time branch.

The Florence Beckett Lecture Hall was opened in February 1934, named in honour of Altrincham’s librarian, who had recently retired in 1933 after forty years of service. In October 1934, the John Newton Art Gallery was opened by the Earl of Stamford.

Because of a ratepayer’s request, a Communist newspaper will be displayed in Altrincham library.

- Manchester Evening News, 7 December 1955

In the 1960s, following the example of other libraries, Altrincham established a picture lending scheme. With £150, the Libraries Committee purchased reproductions of famous paintings, ranging from Old Masters to modern artwork, which library members could take out on loan for two months.

Considerable interest has been shown in this scheme, which was successfully launched during November. All pictures are now on loan.

- Altrincham Library Committee minutes, 10 January 1966. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. ALT/1/1/15/5/3

In the late 1970s, the George Street building was demolished as part of the town centre redevelopment. The new library on Stamford New Road was opened to the public in October 1979.

In December 2018, the new Altrincham Library on Pott Street began welcoming visitors, and was formally opened by Mayor of Trafford, Councillor Tom Ross in February 2019.

Sources

Don Bayliss (ed.), Altrincham: A History, (Willow Publishing, 1992)

Bridlington Free Press, 24 October 1913

Alfred Ingham, A History of Altrincham and Bowdon, (Mackie, Brewtnall and Co., 1879)

Manchester Evening News, 7 December 1955

Chas Nickson, Bygone Altrincham, (Mackie & Co Ltd, 1935)