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The latest news and views from Gladstone's Library.

Christmas Letter From the Warden

by Rhian Waller | Friday, 16th December 2022

The Christmas Newsletter this year is a chance for me to say thank you to you all for your support and commitment to the Library.


    Ancient English Christmas Carols

    by Gladstones Library | Wednesday, 07th December 2022

    In this blog we’d like to highlight an item and writer from the collection, Ancient English Christmas carols, 1400-1700, collected by Edith Rickert

    (by James, Reading Room Assistant)


      Being Together Alone - by author Guy Stagg

      by Rhian Waller | Friday, 02nd December 2022

      I knew from the start where I wanted to sit...  So, each day I made sure I was the first person to arrive, occupying the spot before anyone else could claim it.


        Meet our Writers in Residence for 2023

        by Rhian Waller | Wednesday, 23rd November 2022

        The 2023 Writer in Residence programme at the Library, based in Hawarden, Flintshire, will see writers live and work within the Grade I listed neo-Gothic Victorian building for up to a month.


          A Warm Welcome to Our New Warden - Croeso Andrea!

          by Rhian Waller | Tuesday, 25th October 2022

          This week Revd Dr Andrea Russell became the first new Warden at Gladstone’s Library in 25 years - and is also the first woman to take up the role - an historic moment for this unique place of learning (post in Cymraeg and English)


            Dyslexia Awareness Week 2022 Part Two - Using the Reading Rooms

            by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 06th October 2022

            British Dyslexia Association Dyslexia Week 2022 is this week! It runs until Sunday 9th October, with the theme of 'Breaking Through Barriers'. 

            Using the Reading Rooms if you have Dyslexia. Part two of a two-part series by James. 


              Dyslexia Awareness Week 2022 Part 1 - Working With Dyslexia

              by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 06th October 2022

              British Dyslexia Association Dyslexia Week 2022 is this week! It runs until Sunday 9th October, with the theme of 'Breaking Through Barriers'. 

              Having dyslexia and working in a library could seem a bit of a contradiction - after all, one of the best-known symptoms of dyslexia is a difficulty with spelling, reading, and writing. However, Reading Room Assistant James has other opinions...

              Part one of a two-part series by James. 


              New Scholarships Launched

              by Rhian Waller | Friday, 30th September 2022

              We are very pleased to announce that two new scholarships designed to help researchers uncover and record histories of Black British people, and enslavement, have been launched at Gladstone’s Library.


                Statement following the death of Her Majesty

                by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 08th September 2022

                The Trustees, staff, and volunteers of Gladstone’s Library wish to express our profound sorrow at the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.


                  (Re)introducing the Inklings

                  by Gladstones Library | Friday, 05th August 2022

                  Reading Room Assistant Louise Roberts has uncovered documents that offer a fascinating insight into the broader circle around the Inklings and events at Gladstone's Library...



                    Warden Announcement

                    by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 07th July 2022

                    The Trustees of Gladstone's Library are delighted to announce and confirm the appointment of a new Warden and Director of Gladstone's Library.


                      Farewell to Peter Francis

                      by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 07th July 2022

                      Peter Francis, who joined the Library in the late 90s, has overseen many changes during his tenure. 


                        Fellowship Presented at Founder's Day

                        by Rhian Waller | Wednesday, 06th July 2022

                        Mr Burgess quipped that he thought the fellowship was “basically for good attendance” but added, “Peter and the Library have been kind to me over the years, and both are near my heart, so I am very delighted and a little embarrassed to be offered a fellowship.


                          The Ladies of Llangollen

                          by Gladstones Library | Tuesday, 28th June 2022

                          For this Pride Month's blog we'd like to highlight something from the archive; a letter from Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, otherwise known as the Ladies of Llangollen. 



                            A Room of One's Own by Sarah Watling

                            by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 09th June 2022

                            "At Gladstone’s, I don’t waste so much time working my way back into the world I left at my desk the last time I was there. To paraphrase ee cummings, here I can carry my book with me. I carry it in my head. I am never without it."


                            A Glance At the Letters of Lady Mary Glynne

                            by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 26th May 2022

                            Gladstone’s Library holds a valuable collection of letters written to Lady Glynne after 1800 that I had the privilege of viewing whilst researching society that met in Chester in this period [1]. The picture that emerged, brief highlights of which are set out here, made it more than worth the while.  





                            Beautiful, Borgesian, Benign - a Blog by Writer in Residence Glen James Brown

                            by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 28th April 2022

                            I like the idea of the library as a sentient thing—something that can see inside into our skulls as we struggle with plot knots, school revision, whatever project we are bending our passions towards. And then it shifts itself about—subtly, it has over a century of practice—so the next time we glance at a certain shelf, the answers to our problems are right there, spine out.





                            Mothers in the Archive

                            by Gladstones Library | Monday, 28th March 2022

                            I began to reflect on women’s experiences of maternity two hundred years ago: a time when maternal and infant mortality were far higher than today, when women had limited control over how many children they bore, and when difficult births were typically endured with little or no pain relief.


                            Cataloguing the Anne Ramsden Bennett Archive

                            by Rhian Waller | Friday, 25th March 2022

                            The Anne Ramsden Bennett Archive is the first collection that I have catalogued. It has given me the unique opportunity to learn about cataloguing, and to learn more about the role of women in the publishing industry in the nineteenth century.


                            Caoilinn Hughes on deadlines and serendipity

                            by Louisa Yates | Monday, 14th March 2022

                            "Half-way through my two-week stay at Gladstone’s Library, I felt the need to close my laptop and notebook and to spend a day reading. To anyone who knew what I had to achieve in the following week, taking time away from Microsoft Word would have seemed reckless, if not irresponsible!"


                            Journeys and memories with Timmy Mallett

                            by Rhian Waller | Thursday, 24th February 2022

                            Timmy Mallett comes to Gladstone's Library on Saturday 26th February to talk about his autobiography, Utterly Brilliant - My Life's Journey. This is not his first visit, nor is he the first in his family to forge a connection with the Library. Here, the artist and author reflects on his deep links with the institution, and on the long journey that brought him back.



                              A view from a volunteer at Gladstone's Library

                              by Gladstones Library | Thursday, 20th January 2022

                              "As well as the history of the place, and the variety of voluntary projects that Gladstone’s Library has, the Library boasts some fabulous late Victorian era neo-gothic architecture. A building of monumental proportions, exquisitely opulent, it is well worth every single brick that went into building the place."