The Old Library apartments, Avenue Road, Leamington ? complete
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Old Library apartments, Avenue Road, Leamington ? complete by Robin Stott as part of the Geograph project.
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The Old Library apartments, Avenue Road, Leamington ? complete
Image: © Robin Stott Taken: 18 Sep 2016
Lending libraries were a popular feature of the early spa town. The first Free Library was opened in 1857 and moved from site to site. In 1902 the Corporation built this, the Free Library, Technical Institute and School of Art. An art gallery and museum extension, right, was built in the 1930s. Library, art gallery and museum moved into the converted and restored Royal Pump Rooms around 2000. After a few years occupation by community groups, the old library was sold for redevelopment as apartments: big rooms, high ceilings. I have fond memories of the time when, newly hooked on local history, the trusting librarian would lock me in to the dusty glazed cubicle that housed the local history collection, mostly stacked on the floor, to find whatever I could. The Local Studies area in the present library, by contrast, is excellent: there are books about "wickedest man alive" Aleister Crowley, and forensic pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, both Leamington men, and a wonderful collection of early guide books.
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Image Location
Latitude
52.286101
Longitude
-1.536853