A Spring Message from Gladstone's Library

9 March 2021

A Spring Message from Gladstone's Library

It gives me great pleasure to say, “We are really  looking forward to welcoming you back”.

…
A New Year's Message from Gladstone's Library

25 February 2021

A New Year's Message from Gladstone's Library

The latest newsletter from the Library’s Warden, Peter Francis.

…
A Christmas Message from Gladstone's Library

27 January 2021

A Christmas Message from Gladstone's Library

Dear Friends,

I am writing this sitting alone in Gladstone’s Library pondering this fading year and wondering what the next year will bring. Will the vaccine give us hope of a return to normality? 

…
A Covid-19 update from the Library's Warden, Peter Francis

3 October 2020

A Covid-19 update from the Library's Warden, Peter Francis

Writing this is like reaching out to friends you haven’t seen in a long time…

…
On Running and Writing by Charlotte Higgins

5 April 2020

On Running and Writing by Charlotte Higgins

I have an antagonistic relationship with “writing tips” – the ones you find on literary blogs or on Twitter or in newspapers (including, on occasion, the one for which I work, the Guardian).

…
The great book exchange

28 August 2019

The great book exchange

Perhaps you have encountered ‘lending libraries’ in the far corners of the Hebrides or on the bays of Cornwall. These could take the guise of a box perched on somebody’s wall, a wheelbarrow sprouting copies of childhood classics or those big red boxes with well-worn coin inlets, repurposed for reading and the exchange of ideas.

…
The importance of collecting

29 July 2019

The importance of collecting

In an age of single use and throw-away products, we can often find ourselves yearning for something with a sense of permanence. No sooner have we bought the newest, shiniest iPhone than Apple releases the newer, shinier version, rendering our new phone a technologically competent, but intrinsically second-best space-filler. The same is true of cars, of clothes, of practically everything manufactured these days. The only thing that seems not to fit this mould? Books.

…
Gladstone’s Library as a flexible space

28 June 2019

Gladstone’s Library as a flexible space

We can be quite traditional here at Gladstone’s Library: the Reading Rooms are silent study areas; we don’t allow food near the books; and ‘No, we won’t let you take that rare and precious Gladstone Foundation Collection book home with you tonight, Sir – we are not a lending library!’ In other ways though, we like to think of ourselves as quite innovative.

…
300 years of Welsh history: 1719, 1819 & 1919

19 June 2019

300 years of Welsh history: 1719, 1819 & 1919

Wales is a small country with a big presence. Integral to the history of the British Isles and attracting tourists from all around the world, it should be hard to overlook the history of Cymru, however it is often wholly conflated with that of neighbouring England to its disservice. Gladstone’s Library is an international institution, but we are very proud of our Welsh location that was decided by our founder, the former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who was English but spent around 50 years with the Hawarden Estate as his family home.

…
A day in the life of a Graduate Work Experience student

6 June 2019

A day in the life of a Graduate Work Experience student

While it’s totally cliché to say this, no two days are the same when it comes to being a Graduate Work Experience student (GWE) at Gladstone’s Library. However, the motions we go through are pretty similar, and always full of valuable experience!

…