24 October 2007
Shoe Lane Library celebrates 25th birthday
To celebrate 25 years of serving the public, Shoe Lane Library
is holding a birthday bash on Thursday 25 October 2007.
Highlighting the importance of libraries in society, Chairman of
the City of London’s Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery
Committee, Stephen Quilter, will open the celebrations before an
audience including representative users of the Library, staff past
and present, and Members of the Court of Common Council.
The reception will showcase the services on offer at the Library
– including its programme of children’s events, its range of
multimedia resources, reading groups, regular literary events and
author visits.
The library first opened its doors to the public on 25 October
1982 and since then has welcomed nearly three million
visitors. It underwent major refurbishment in 2005, creating a more
convivial space for library users and staff. The Library has a
current membership of over 9200 and lends almost 200,000 items each
year to its 130,000 visitors.
Chairman Quilter said: "The Shoe Lane Library is one of our most
vibrant community facilities and, we would like to thank our
thousands of regular users for their support.
“But we also need to look to the future and I would encourage
potential new users – whether City residents or those working in
the Square Mile – to visit us and see the wide range of services we
offer," he said.
Ends
Notes to editors
The 25th Birthday reception will take place in Shoe Lane
Library, Hill House, Little New Street, London EC4A 3JR
Tel 020 7583 7178 on Thursday 25 October 2007, 6.30pm –
8.30pm.
Press are welcome to attend. For press information or photos of the
event, please contact Cubby Fox at City of London’s Press Office –
Tel 020 7332 3451.
About Shoe Lane Library
Shoe Lane Library, managed by the City of London Corporation, is
situated in the heart of the Square Mile just off Fleet Street.
Opened in 1982 it has a stock of over 42,000 books – including
collections of children's books, books in large print, foreign
fiction and some spoken word recordings including language courses
- 4,500 music CDs, and 2,000 videos & DVDs. It organises
two reading groups which both meet once a month for an hour;
Tuesday evenings at 5.30pm and Thursday lunchtimes at 1.00pm.
Membership is free and new members are always welcome.