Wallasey Central Library Centenary Celebrations 30/9/11 and 1/10/11

THE centenary of Wallasey's Central Library will be celebrated next week with a series of special events to mark the milestone.

The library first opened its doors to the public on September 30, 1911 - one of many around the world helped by American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie who provided funding for it to be built.

A specially-commissioned painting of the library and a plaque to commemorate the anniversary is to be unveiled by Mayor of Wirral Cllr Moira McLaughlin.

Councillor Chris Meaden, Wirral cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: "The role Wallasey Central Library plays within the local community is as important now as it was 100 years ago.

"I hope many users of the library, past and present, can join us for the celebrations.

"It promises to be a very special weekend, with events suited to every age group to show just what Wirral’s libraries are all about."

Celebrations will start with a return visit to the library by comic poet John Hegley for a performance this Friday.

On Saturday, there will be a range of activities and events for library-users of all ages starting at 10am. Between 2.30pm and 4.30pm, there will be live music, exhibitions and Edwardian cream teas will be served to visitors.

Winners of the library’s "100 Words" writing competition - which invited people to explain what their local library means to them, will be announced and Mayor McLaughlin will then unveil the painting and plaque.

The original library had been in Earlston House from 1900, next to where the main library building now stands. The then-head librarian, a Mr E A Savage, fought for funding to construct a new, purpose-built library.

Despite having been turned down several times, he eventually secured a donation of £9,000 from Carnegie in 1908 and building work got underway.

Scottish-born Carnegie, who had already funded more than 2,000 public buildings at the time, believed in "helping those who help themselves" and libraries fitted in with those beliefs.

The library was refurbished earlier this year with new windows, revamped exhibition spaces and modernised central heating system.

Tickets for John Hegley’s performance cost £7 and are available from Wallasey, Birkenhead, Bebington and West Kirby central libraries, or can be reserved by telephoning 0151 639 2334.
Wirral Globe

Jane Costello Talk 22nd September 2011

Jane was a newspaper journalist for many years before she became an author, working on titles including the Liverpool Echo – where she started as a graduate trainee – and the Daily Mail.

Until 2007, she was the Editor of the Liverpool Daily Post, a job she held for more than four years. Jane wrote her first novel, Bridesmaids, while on maternity leave and, as well as becoming an instant bestseller, was nominated for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance.

She followed that up with The Nearly-Weds, which was named by the Romantic Novelists’ Association as Romantic Comedy of the Year 2010.

Jane’s books are now sold around the world and translated into fifteen different languages. She recently returned to the city of her birth, Liverpool, where she lives with her two young sons.

She is currently working on a fifth book. Jane Costello.com

Della Robbia Talk by Colin Simpson 20th September 2011

6.30 - 7.30pm
20th September 2011
Wallasey Central Library
Earlston Road
Wallasey
CH45 5DX

A free talk by Colin Simpson, Williamson Art Gallery.

The Della Robbia Pottery was a ceramic factory founded in 1894 in Birkenhead, England. The business was started by Harold Steward Rathbone and Conrad Gustave d'Huc Dressler (1856-1940). Rathbone, son of a wealthy local business man, Philip Rathbone, had been a pupil of Ford Madox Brown, who was one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement. Dressler was a sculptor, potter and also inventor of the continuous firing tunnel kiln. Giovanni Carlo Valentino Manzoni also joined the pottery in early 1894, leaving to establish his own pottery, the Minerva Art Ware Manufacturers in Hanley in July 1895. Manzoni returned to the pottery in June 1898, staying until its closure in 1906.

The pottery was established as a true Arts & Crafts pottery on the lines advocated by William Morris, using local labour and raw materials such as local red clay from Moreton, Wirral. The pottery had lustrous lead glazes and often used patterns of interweaving plants, typical of Art Nouveau, with heraldic and Islamic motifs. Read more on Wikipedia

A large collection of Della Robbia pottery can be seen at the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead.