The George Williams Memorial Library is located in the ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral and is available for readers and borrowers by appointment. The system for loans provides a standard loan period of eight weeks with a liberal renewal policy for serious research and special problems. The only exceptions are the archive material and the Guild’s annual and triennial reports for which, because of their unique importance, loans are solely at the discretion of the librarian.
A catalogue of the printed books and of the complete archive is maintained on the Guild website. Part of our collection of archive material, held at the Hampshire Record Office in Sussex Street, Winchester, is available for consultation only. The collection there has the call-number 20M94DI.
The Guild’s online archive has the minutes of the Guild Annual Meetings and Executive Committee meetings from 1980 to 2000 (More recent minutes are already available from the Guild’s Document Repository) and a collection of historical articles from The Ringing World about Guild people, places and events.
The major development of the year has been the successful completion of negotiations with the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, and their consulting architect and structural engineer for the enlargement of the cabinet which houses the library. The Guild owes to Hugh Routh an enormous debt of gratitude, not merely for his generosity in providing, building and installing the upper tier of the cabinet, but for his central role in dealing with the Cathedral authorities, in particular the professional consultants. Thanks are due also to Charles Lidbury who helped in various ways on 24 February 2010 when the cabinet was rebuilt. The rebuilt cabinet should now provide accommodation for the Guild Library for the foreseeable future, and it forms a most handsome adornment to the ringing chamber at Winchester.
I have added two volumes of Steve Coleman’s ringers’ Companions to the stock of the Library, to complete the series. Andrew Barnsdale continues to hold recent volumes of the Ringing World which he is binding for the Guild Library.
I am always pleased to assist Guild members and others with an interest in the Guild with their researches, and I should like to thank my colleagues within the Guild and the Winchester Cathedral band for their continuing support.
| Income | Expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £.p | £.p | ||
| Balance b/f | 97.18 | Sub. to Ringing World | 55.00 |
| From Central Fund | 50.00 | Sub. to Friends of the Central Council Library | 10.00 |
| Newsletter Coleman Companions | 23.98 | ||
| Balance c/f | 58.20 | ||
| £147.18 | £147.18 | ||
Bruce Purvis