City Libraries

Over the past 30-odd years I feel all politicians (including the local ones) have lost their way. My thoughts are that they now supply a service only to larger businesses and developers rather than the local community.

I find it odd that the district of Chapelfields has never had a library of its own. When I lived there I had to use either Earlsdon or Central Libraries.

Why would someone be promoted to a position beyond their capabilities ? If they were a supporter of a leader making a leadership challenge possibly. Coventry City Council is extremely political, and quite frankly I doubt the competence of many of the members of it, on both sides of the political divide. The library at The Ricoh is a blatant example. I would question many decisions made both as a council and in their roles in the community. A particular issue for me is the decision to allow the development of Finham Park 2. It is not needed on that side of the city, it will cause traffic chaos where it is situated, and as predicted it has led to the closure of a local school.

So sorry to hear about the plight of your branch libraries. Here in Devon we are similarly suffering and at the moment some are surviving with the help of staffing by volunteers to save the cost of salary payments. You may already be aware, but a man named Andrew Carnegie, an outside benefactor, gave the sum of £10,000 to open the Coventry branch libraries in 1913. In recognition of this he was granted the honorary freedom of the city.

Yes, coventry49 - Andrew Carnegie is a longstanding member of our list of "Famous Coventrians"

Carnegie (Scottish by birth) funded thousands of libraries in the US, UK and in a few other countries (Including mainland Europe and Commonwealth countries). Coventry's central library wasn't a Carnegie library. Surprisingly, most of them are still in use as libraries. The concept seems to me to be a little 'lost' these days. As a service I'm not sure what they are offering - internet access, somewhere to keep warm or a poor selection of old books and a few racks of films that you can see on Freeview?

Hi all I am sure that you are spot-on there, as most of us on line have almost immediate access to so much info. I suppose at the back of my mind is the thought for the plight of homes that are still void of the internet & in some "deprived areas" there are a lot of them. The Ricoh library was as much an information centre, as a book lender & time after time when I walk past, has always seemed well used.

Perhaps this is the Hertford St library, mentioned in the historical entry by Dutchman that predated the Gulson library!

I have just read an article in a 1948 Coventry Telegraph that a temporary library was being built in Radford on the corner of Moseley Avenue and Lawrence Saunders Road, out of 4 ex army huts. If I am not mistaken this temporary library is still there 70 years later !

I know Moseley Avenue well Anne but trying to remember where the army huts would be, however, I am off and going to have a look.

Oh yes, found it, but now realize it was the Baptist Hall in my youth clubbing days. More fond memories, thank you Anne.

Hi Dreamtime. Radford Baptist Church was built in 1931, It has since been added to and then rebuilt so it looks nothing like the Church we remember, I used to go to Sunday School there in the early 50's but then I went to St Nicholas when the new church was built there. I am not very religious but I think I just liked the singing! The library which was made of the army buildings is next door to the church. There is a triangular island opposite at the junction of Lawrence Saunders Road and Moseley Avenue that I can remember used to have a phone box and a police box. I think it is just recycling bins now. Here is a picture of the library, you can still see that it is the original "temporary" building made of army huts but still looks quite smart. You can just see the new church behind it. I have also found a picture of the old church. I seem to remember a pool which was covered when not in use that they obviously did the baptisms in. I never saw one. Did you live in Radford then Dreamtime? What era? I went to the youth club at the Congregational church on the Radford Road. Radford Baptist Church. Now called Lawrence Saunders Road Baptist Church Radford Library I have added the clipping, you can clearly see they are the same huts.

I found this library sticker in a book, can anyone tell me where the library stood?

I am thinking of Beaumont Crescent (off Holyhead Road). Used to be an annex there for Moseley Avenue School. Could have been a temp. library later on. Opposite the old Alvis works.