Sale Library

The first free library in Sale was situated in the Township School on School Road. Following a generous bequest of £100 from benefactor John Brooks, the library opened in 1887, with 927 volumes. During its first year, the library issued 6,651 books to 463 borrowers.

In the class of boys’ books, the entire stock had regularly cleared out each evening, and the committee suggested that more books of this class should be purchased.

- Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 8 February 1888

A purpose-built library was commissioned shortly afterwards, on the same spot on which the library is still situated, 130 years later. The original building, designed by Mr R. J. M’Beath, was erected on Tatton Road and paid for by public subscription. It was formally opened by Mrs Mary Worthington in March 1891 and handed over to the Local Board. The library at the school was incorporated into the new collection, which also served the township of Ashton-upon-Mersey.

After a long discussion, in which remarks were made on the rowdy conduct of Sale streets on Sunday evenings, a nuisance which was hoped the opening of the library would help put down, the opening was carried with one dissentient.

- Manchester Evening News, 27 October 1892

A technical school was attached to the library, where it was possible to attend classes in art and science, as well as technological, commercial and domestic subjects. The rear of the building was also home to the Sale and Ashton-upon-Mersey Fire Brigade.

In the early twentieth century, the library welcomed radical speakers on the subjects of socialism and women’s suffrage. Lectures were delivered by founding members of the Women’s Freedom League: Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington-Greig, amongst others.

Mrs. Billington-Greig addressed a meeting last night in the Sale Public Library . . . To alter the status of women more was necessary than a share in the control of the political machine. To change the minds and hearts of people was the essential thing.

- The Manchester Guardian, 7 February 1912

During its early years, library members were required to choose their books from a catalogue and order them at the library counter. It wasn’t until a new library building was erected in the 1930s, and the old one demolished, that the public were able to browse the shelves.

“One of the greatest liberties granted to a free civilisation is the liberty to read” said Canon F. Paton-Williams, Rural Dean of Manchester, opening the new Sale Public Library yesterday.

- The Manchester Guardian, 3 November 1938

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, sandbags were stacked high outside the library to protect it in the event of an air raid. In December 1940, in what was known as the ‘Christmas Blitz’ the adjoining Town Hall was hit by enemy bombs.

Sale public library issued 77,073 books in July and August.

- Manchester Evening News, 7 October 1949

One of Trafford Local Studies’ volunteers, Cynthia Hollingworth, worked in Sale Library during the 1960s. Cynthia was kind enough to tell us about some of her memories:

When I started work as a volunteer at Trafford Local Studies, memories of an earlier working life in Sale Public Library came flooding back. I was a library assistant in the early 1960s, and enjoyed it tremendously. The Librarian then was Miss Dorothy Leighton, and her deputy was Miss Mary Eastwood – though first names were never used for anyone over 30! Most of the assistants were in their late teens or early twenties, and we all got on well together.

The library was open 6 days a week, from 10.00 a.m. (though we started work at 9.00 to tidy all the shelves), till 8.00 p.m., with a half-day on Wednesdays, and a 5 o’clock finish on Saturdays, the most hectic day of the week. The only Saturday when it was closed all day was Easter Saturday – and loud were the complaints from readers on the following Tuesday!

There were no branch libraries in Sale then, but in an attempt to provide a more usable local service, it was decided to investigate the possibility of having a mobile library. Accordingly, I and another assistant, Miss Mills, went to Bootle to learn how their mobile service operated. It was a very positive visit, and eventually a van was purchased, and the outlying districts were then better served. Those of us who worked on ‘the van’ soon got to know our regulars, and it was a great success. My most memorable evening was when a lady announced that she’d just heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated. Needless to say, everyone there was stunned, scarcely able to believe such an event.

When new books were bought, they had to be completely processed in-house: that is, they were entered in the stock-books, classified where necessary, and had plastic jackets fitted over paper covers. Card book-pockets and date-labels were added, and the library’s stamp put on. All this, plus dealing with book reservations and requests for loans from other libraries in the region, kept us very busy when we weren’t on counter duty.

60 years on, the old cards and readers’ tickets have been replaced by a digital system, but perhaps the most noticeable difference, apart from the internal architecture, is the noise! In the 1960s, silence was rigorously enforced, except for the younger ones in the Junior Library, and woe betide anyone who broke that rule. The more relaxed ambience now gives a friendlier atmosphere, though the occasional loud toddler-tantrum sometimes makes me wish for the ‘old days’ again! ‘Local Studies’ then consisted mainly of a couple of typed manuscripts kept at the counter for use on request, and ‘family history research’ meant asking our oldest family members for their memories! The ‘old days’ were good times, but we are very fortunate now to have such an excellent facility. In particular, our present-day Local Studies Library is of huge benefit, and one that I value highly.

When the Trafford borough was created in 1974, following the 1972 Local Government Act, Sale Library was incorporated into Trafford Libraries.

In early the early 2000s, the library building was joined by the Waterside building, providing space for Council offices and restaurants.

In 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the library was used to assemble food parcels to distribute to Trafford’s Community Response Hubs.

Sources

F. Byron and M. Partington, Sale in Times Past, (Countryside Publications, 1983)

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 8 February 1888

Manchester Evening News, 27 October 1892

Manchester Evening News, 7 October 1949

The Manchester Guardian, 7 February 1912

The Manchester Guardian, 3 November 1938

Norman Swain, A History of Sale, (Sigma Press, 1987)