Recently representatives from the Friends of the William Salt Library presented a cheque for £15,764 to fund restoration work on original library shelving in the William Salt Library Trustees Room. The shelving was installed in 1918 when 19 Eastgate Street became the new home for the William Salt Library, after the collection outgrew its first home in Market Square. The building has a long and fascinating history which is being uncovered and reinterpreted as part of the Staffordshire History Centre project. 

Caption: Pictured are Richard Hinton, Margaret George and David Jacques from the Friends of the William Salt Library presenting the cheque to Mithra Tonking (Chair of the William Salt Library) & Joanna Terry (Head of Staffordshire Archives & Heritage).

During his lifetime, William Salt, a London banker, collected books, documents, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours and transcripts of Staffordshire where his family originated. After he died in 1863 his widow donated the collection to the county and the library opened in 1872 in Market Square, a site now occupied by Stafford Railway Building Society.

Caption: An inscription on the Stafford Railway Building Society building marking the original site of the William Salt Library in Market Square.

The William Salt Library Trust manages the unique library and its current heritage building with the help and support of Staffordshire County Council. The Staffordshire History Centre Project is a once in a lifetime opportunity to house the collection in appropriate storage conditions, to catalogue items to improve access to the material and to provide a vibrant and viable future use for the 18^th century building.

This generous donation will allow us to restore shelving that will be a key part of the restoration and redisplay of an important room. We are creating a reimagined William Salt Library where visitors can browse books, learn more about William Salt and enjoy the ambiance and significant history of a special and much-loved Stafford building.

As the new History Centre is taking shape the Friends of the William Salt Library will be providing further support through ongoing fundraising.  The Friends were set up as a fund-raising body gaining income from subscriptions and events. Over the years they have devoted a small but steady amount of money for shelving, book repairs and occasional book purchases.

Caption: Historical features, including Edwardian wallpaper, were revealed in the Trustees room, once books and shelving were removed for renovation work.

Whilst work on the Staffordshire History Centre progresses, we are looking ahead to the future when more people will be able to access and enjoy both the collections and the heritage buildings, and the collections will safely housed in modern, purpose built strongrooms, and readily available to researchers and visitors.

Mithra Tonking – Chair of the William Salt Library Trustees