Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
(an occasional outburst)
Contents © Gavin J. Grant
A Slow Way to Riches Based on an article in the Mail on Sunday, Oct. 10, 1999
Have you ever wondered where public libraries came from? In the USA the answer usually starts with Andrew Carnegie. He was one of the first of a new breed of industrialists: rich beyond most people's ken he took his idea and turned it into reality. The libraries he began form the backbone of the present system. He came from Scotland where the idea of private subscription libraries was well-established. Subscription libraries were not only for the wealthy. Self-improvement, religious interests and distance from larger towns led to many small communities forming their own.
The longest surviving of these is in the mining town of Leadhills in Lanarkshire. Their collection of more than 2,000 volumes is about to be cataloged for the first time. The count in the 19th century was over 3,800 items, so although they do not know what, they do know that some things have gone missing.
The cataloging is being carried out with the help of a 700 pound grant from the South Lanarkshire Council. Offers of outside help have been refused.
Valuing the collection will be difficult as some of the books have few equivalents. Items noted are an early copy of Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" and a 1658 Bible produced by the parish minister, James Usher. This last was rediscovered in 1970 during restoration work in an attic. Perhaps the most interesting and unique items are the 'Bargain Books.' They record the deals struck over the years between the employers and the workers. Although workers were often badly treated and cheated (they were paid on the amount of lead they mined, and were often underpaid to keep production costs down - think Nafta and Gatt) these books are the record of burgeoning socialism and the urge to collective action in Scotland.