Library Memory

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  1. Tim Stubbings says:
    I'm never sure where Heyworth St ends and St Domingo's starts (maybe I had one foot in each) but taken with St George's behind me.
  2. Bill Wilkinson says:
    I lived on Priory Road( of Heyworth St. ). Born 1948. Went to Venice Street school and left age 15. First job in furniture factory , a few minutes walk from the library. I found the library a haven as I studied to take my first ' o ' level ( night school ). Eventually earning an degree from Liverpool and Masters from Manchester. I loved the stillness and atmosphere...I recall quite a number of men reading the newspapers. I hope it has a future , but not sure of it's specific use.
  3. Dr Karen O'Brien says:
    I attended lovely St George’s school and have some deeply treasured memories of my early childhood. I loved school. I remember playing in the school yard when the overhanging trees signalled the change of seasons. I love the old walls that surround the school and church and have the loveliest memories of my sister and I walking along Northumberland Terrace wrapped up against the cold. I remember clearly going through the side door in the playground to go to St George’s Church every Thursday. The library, too played its part, facing the school off Heyworth Street it was a revelation to me as a little girl. I was in awe of its fabulousness. I remember being especially impressed with the fact that I could freely ‘borrow’ books, which I did regularly. I loved the library. It is indeed a treasure. Often, I return to my memories and recreate the world I belong to. These are some of my dearest memories. . St George’s school set me up for a very successful academic career. I live in Sydney, Australia now but love to revisit my earliest cherished memories. I would like to be involved in protecting the library. Please let me know how I can help protect the building and help recreate the learning hub that it once was.
  4. Anne-Marie Callaghan says:
    We lived in Heyworth Street. I can remember getting my first library book. I had to prove to the librarian that I could read! I loved the building, the atmosphere and they joy of new stories every week
  5. Paul Walker says:
    I went to St Georges school opposite and we would often go over to the Library to choose an book of our choice, read it over the weekend and talk about it the next week during class. I would love to see this building restored back to it's former glory as it is because of buildings like this and many, many more around our City that gave me a great interest and love of architecture.
  6. Jean K Gale( nee Emmett) says:
    I taught at Roscommon Street Secondary in 1963-4! For a newly qualified teacher unused to a crowded city it was quite an experience- and education! I have vivid memories, the strongest being that, as the date will show, it was the rise of Beatlemania. It seemed that every exercise book had JPGR scrawled on it. We took a small group of students on a school trip to Rimini, Italy in the Easter holiday.
  7. Iris Lee (nee Burnside) says:
    I enjoyed reading all the memories of your contributors. I was born in Priory Terrace and went to St. Georges School but the May 1941 blitz when I had just become 7 meant I was never able to enjoy using it. I think I was only just getting to grips with reading - the war had a lot to answer for! But I do remember thinking what a grand building it was and am sorry to hear of its condition now. My Fathers business continued into the 60's but I never lived there again. I do hope something good will come of the effort to restore it.
  8. Claire says:
    I spent much of my childhood in Everton library. I remember the librarians would always check to see if your hands were clean before they’d let you take the books. Happy days. This is where I developed my life long love of books. I’m 63 now and still look back with great affection on those times. It was one of the few places where poverty was no bar. A literary feast.
  9. Joseph O’Reilly says:
    I lived in Sir Thomas White Gardens and also attended Our Lady Immaculates in 1960’s ans early 70’s. The library was a constant in my life, from the Junior section through to the Adult section later on. As a school quiz team we used to go to the library to have competitions against other local schools. The Library manger and staff always seemed fierce but were very helpful when you asked for a particular book or reference file. I loved the Biography sections as it was very large then, fuelling my enjoyment to this day of biographies. My sister still lives nearby and I drive past the Library every now and again. Therefore any project to bring the beautiful building back to life would have my support and would be an asset to the area.
  10. Karen Davies says:
    I lived in Tommy whites from 1976-1982 as a small child. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad John Davies taking me here every Saturday morning….the most beautiful building! I would spend hours reading topsy and Tim! Always intrigued by the adult library!
  11. David Lowry says:
    Loved going there as a kid. my auntie Amy was at the laying of the foundation stone she was about 5 at the time, with my great grandparents she lived in clarence grove
  12. Christine Morris says:
    I lived in Loraine Street and visited Everton library regularly with my mother who was an avid reader. It was a wonderful place, warm, quiet and packed full of books waiting to be discovered. I have been to a lot of libraries over the years but none of them compares to Everton library. The fact that it had to close is heart breaking.
  13. Polly Moseley says:
    Thank you to Sam from Stratus Imagery, Bootle, for capturing drone footage of Everton Library on a beautiful day this summer. The footage is particularly good of the roof and the views over Anfield. We will be using this on the next phase of contacting funders to support the establishment of a trust to manage the restoration. We are still waiting to hear from Liverpool City Council about a schedule of works to protect the building from further rain, wind and pigeons. (When I say, we, I am referring to the people who have supported the work done to date, led by PollyPort CIC, on building the case and raising funds for restoration - they are too many to mention here, include local residents, charities, groups, businesses and professionals in the field of surveying, architecture and restoration.)
  14. Jean Malcolm says:
    I lived closed to this library and have many fond memories of spending hours there as a child. We did not have money to buy books so this library was a godsend as I loved to read. It would be fantastic if they could restore this wonderful building.
  15. chris moss says:
    My grand parents Stan and Ellen Moss owned Mosses shop on Netherfield road, when they sold the shop in 1951 they moved to West Derby where they lived for many years until eventually they moved to Maghull, my gran lived to be 104. My dad will know a lot more information than me if you require it
  16. Ken Rogers says:
    Everton Library courtesy of the Liverpool Record Office
  17. Ken Rogers says:
    A nice view of the old Everton Library from the St George's church yard.
  18. Ken Rogers says:
    The following group of comments about Everton Library, and the image, came from a discussion thread on the excellent Liverpool History Society Facebook platform. Larraine Brookfield: Beautiful building they should make use of it again Liz Linacre Wojcik: I was watching an old black and white film the other day filmed around St George’s church and I could see this tower in the background and all the old streets sloping down the hill, such a shame if this went also. Mike Sumner: New chapter for this gem, please. Provided so much pleasure for me as a boy. Chris Jenkins: Very unusual building, but nice. Molly Caton: Please do not demolish this beautiful building. Jeff Rawlinson: There are strong moves to do something with this building. The council will have even less money after 64% cuts over the last 6/7 years. There are developers who want it ,but for it to remain as a public use space is the sticking point and let's face it, the whole area needs to keep gems like this in one of the most deprived wards in the country (I live in Everton). Brian Gibson: Pianist Russ Hamilton lived down the road on the right. Thomas Lamb: I seem to remember the mayor Joe Anderson a couple years ago saying they were looking into refurbishing it, but it now looks like they have gone for a refurbish on the Carnegie building on Green Lane. Patricia Wilcox: Stunning detail on the exterior. The Florence Institute in the Dingle went the same way, but a local Friends of the Florrie mounted a campaign to get it restored and got funding. It’s now fully open as a local amenity. I’m sure they would be only too glad to advise how they did it. Del Breingan: Isn't it odd that the Council chooses to ignore these amazing buildings and favour erecting multi-coloured Lego brick monstrosities? Edith Evans: What a damning indictment of the Council. Grade 2 listed, but left to rot. I'm aware of the 'shortage of funds' but surely something can be done. Same lack of concern with the fabulous Wellington Rooms on Mount Pleasant. James Parry: Demolition by neglect. Pete Stephens: If the council were to give the building to a local not-for-profit organisation it might be possible to get a grant to bring the library back into use.
  19. Phil Turtle says:
    I was a pupil at Our Lady Immaculate Primary school in the 1960s and was a frequent patron of the Library. I have fond memories of the warm and friendly Library staff. I regarded the Library as a home from home.
  20. Frankie Owusu says:
    I was Doreen Cooper, you were Doreen Connor. We both went to Queen Mary High School in the 60’s. We were best friends until we were going home, getting off the number 19 bus outside the library, we became ninja warriors. Our role to be the first to get into the the Enid Blyton bookshelves and get out hands on her latest offering. The Famous Five, the Secret Six, it didn’t matter. That new book was our goal. I loved that library. Then it was off home to curl up with a cuppa, a bicky and a book. We went our separate ways after finishing school. Where are you now Doreen Connor? Are you like me heading straight for the new book shelves in your local library..
  21. Ken Rogers says:
    Very interested in those property deeds. Well done for saving them.
  22. Dave Wood says:
    In 2003 when I visited the library, I saved a load of Georgian and Victorian property deeds (indentures) and a statistics book used by the librarians in WW2 from a pigeon poo encrusted drawer that had water leaking on it from a hole in the roof. Not sure how the deeds ended up in the library, as it didn't open until 1896. I informed the council about them, but they never got back to me and in 2005, I informed a councillor who attended the inaugural meeting of the Friends of Liverpool Monuments, but he never got back to me either. They've been in a filing cabinet ever since.
  23. Sylvia Davies nee Williams, says:
    In the 1960s I remember playing street games like rounders tick, and skipping. This was in Sampson Street where I lived. It was great times and all the kids played together happily while mums chatted on the doorstep, great memories.
  24. Lynda Swindells says:
    In the early 1960's on rainy dull days the little band of children from my street (Abbey Street) off Heyworth Street, Everton would decide it was library day We would go get our lending cards and a few pennies for the bus and off we would go. It was only two stops on the 25 bus to the library on the hill but it was part of the adventure. Climbing up the old worn steps, in we would go, all quiet and well behaved each moving to our favourite shelves... our imaginations running wild. You could choose two books each, so careful picking was in order. I always loved the big heavy children's encyclopedias full of pictures of wonderful places,wild animals and plants so was one of my choices. Next was mysterious myths and legends. I love a good mystery...still do! Arms full of our books we would file out to have the books stamped with the date of return, then back on the bus home . Curled up in front of the coal fire.. our library books feeding young brains with knowledgeable facts that I still remember to this day... I am 70 years old..so yes, very fond childhood memories of this library in Everton. Such a beautiful building and such a shame it is wasting away. Please save it for the future.
  25. Tom Kirby says:
    I remember .. The little brown card envelope they put the book marker in signifying that you had THAT book out .. the system worked well .. if the staff didnt drop the box of cards on the floor 😬😬 Everton Library is a special place. I think we could have 2 (?) books out at a time .. A wonderful building with much meaning forvthe locals growing up in the area . Long may it be used in whatever form is decided in the future for this beautiful building .
  26. Ken Rogers says:
    Everton Library Reading Room in the 1900s. This picture was uploaded to the Old Netherfield Road Memories Facebook platform by Denis Hargreaves, a great reminder of the way it was when the library enabled people in the community to read the local newspapers as well as select one of thousands of books.
  27. Ken Rogers says:
    An unusual view of the historic Everton Library from the roof of the adjacent St George's 'Iron Church'. Picture: Mark Loudon.
  28. Ken Rogers says:
    Everton Library from Heyworth Street looking at its distinctive tower.
  29. Ken Rogers says:
    As a boy, I lived a few hundred yards from Everton Library in nearby Melbourne Street. I discovered the building as a five year old in 1953 and was an ever-present up to about 1958 when I was ten. Like all libraries, it had this aura about it. We might have been noisy, excited kids in the surrounding inner city streets, but once we walked up the steps of the Everton Library and stepped across the threshold, we knew we were in a special place, full of treasures. We all knew the unwritten rule that silence was golden and tiptoed around in the children’s section in search of our own individual literary favourites. I couldn’t get enough of the ‘Just William’ books, the stories of the ‘Famous Five’, and kept coming back to borrow Enid Blyton’s ‘Magical Faraway Tree’. I would later write 12 books myself, and I’m convinced it was those happy hours spent in Everton Library that inspired me and encouraged me to eventually become an author and a journalist. Some books were like gold dust. If you found one of Enid Blyton’s famous Noddy books, it was as if you had won the lottery. I always struggled to secure one of these titles and often wondered if the ‘Naughty Pixies’ were somehow under instruction to make them invisible to everyone except the good girls and boys. What did that say about me?
  30. Beryl Nevin says:
    Like Ken Rogers I lived in Melbourne Street. I was a bit older than Ken, but I also used to go to Everton Library for my ‘Noddy’ books. I have told this story many times and so my family all laughed when I read Ken’s Liverpool Echo column about Everton Library. My confession is that I used to hide two ‘Noddy’ books at a time under loose floorboards in the library, so each time I went back, I would just swap them. Sorry Ken, I think I was that naughty pixie you refer to!
  31. June Cain says:
    I now live in Wales, but I’m from the old Everton district. Every early evening in winter, we went to the wonderful Everton Library where we would read every Famous Five book. This library educated me and my friend through the books and the film shows they put on.
  32. Marge Boden says:
    In the 1950s I lived a stone’s throw from the library. As young girls do, I had a very innocent meeting with a local boy, but it didn’t go down too well with my strict father who spotted us together. Following a row, I was actually shown the front door and found myself outside Everton Library late at night. Of course, the building was all locked up with the large iron gates at the bottom of the main entrance steps tightly shut. I climbed over and took shelter at the top of the steps, sleeping there all night before getting myself together the following morning and actually going to work at Littlewoods! I can smile about this Everton Library memory now and I’m proud of my wonderful family.
  33. Kate Binnion says:
    I was placed in a children’s home after the death of my mum and reading was a nightmare. I always found it hard to read out loud when the teacher asked me. Nine times out of ten I ended up in the corner of the classroom. The library was the place that helped me overcome these issues.