Fire and flood: the saga of Richmond Lending Library
As those who use it know, Richmond Lending Library is currently closed for repairs. All of our library buildings need upkeep, and buildings sometimes close for longer to allow for…
Making History 2: Moments in time
Do you want to help record the COVID-19 pandemic for posterity? Documents collected now will form a key part of how future generations understand the pandemic. To this end, the…
Making History: Life in Lockdown
In times like these, where everyday living suddenly changes, everything feels a little surreal. Part of that is the knowledge that we're living through history - in the future, these…
Discovering Richmond upon Thames Libraries
Did you know that here in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames we have thirteen libraries? They range from the small and cosy Kew Library to the grand Teddington…
Follow the Drum: Christmas 1917
Springbok Blue December 1917 To celebrate Christmas one hundred years ago in 1917, it was necessary for people to dig deep within their own personal reserves of strength as the…
Archive Explorers 2017
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to explore deep into an archive, traversing historical documents to discover what life was like in the past? That’s precisely what…
The Battle of the Somme: contemporary sources – Part 1
On the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme we take a look at the contemporary sources that are available in the Information and Reference Library. In part…
Timeless and enduring: the Dora Lewis letters
Patricia Moloney, Heritage Assistant, reflects on and describes the experience of cataloguing this fascinating collection of letters for Richmond upon Thames Local Studies Library & Archive. Background The latest archival…
New additions to the Local Studies collection
Regular visitors to the Local Studies Library & Archive will know that we were closed for two weeks at the beginning of December. During this time, Local Studies staff were…
Anatomy of a book [Part 1]: the outside
Ever wondered what the numbers above the barcode on a book are? Or why hardbacks are sometimes called cloth? Or what the loose cover that wraps around a hardback is…