MichaelBully, on 13 April 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:
Should just add that the Librarian at Hove Library during the Great War established an extensive archive with regard to the Great War dead, collecting obituaries, asking relatives for information and photographs.
Excellent. My previous post shouldn't in any way be read as a criticism of librarians and staff. On behalf of the Drill Halls project, I've been in dozens of local libraries across the country and almost all have been wonderfully helpful; most have almost taken it as their personal quest. I suppose it's a rather out of the ordinary challenge.
In contrast to a local history society who professed deep uninterest and told me to go out and find a World War One veteran. In 2006.
I have no doubt that some plaques in some libraries were put there originally. I hope your search for examples is productive. But when a civic building is demolished, then the library is seen as the obvious second home. How many towns have their original library, though? If your town has an original, atmospheric library with stained glass casting patterns on the floor, and it's been adapted to modern technological demands, you're lucky. Like the drill hall, the library is often a casualty of town redevelopment.
Gwyn
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