Stamford Library Catalogue 1907

By Chris Hunt

In these days of computerised digital online catalogues, we forget that at one time the only way to access information was via the printed or written word. In the case of Stamford Public Library, before World War One, it was possible to buy a small booklet containing a full list of its holdings, and this extended to a small printed book. In 1907 the paperback edition sold for three half pennies (old money) and was printed by Dolby Brothers. The previous year’s edition was printed by Taylor and Downs and could be bought in hard back as well. 

 The 1907 the catalogue was split into eight parts: Fiction and Light Literature; Voyages and Travels; Science, Arts and Politics; Theology and Philosophy; History and Biography; General Literature; Poetry and the Drama, and a List of Books on Open Shelves. Whilst Francis Peck’s Annals of Stamford (published in 1727), British Museum Publications and Pictures of Nuremburg were available on request.

Stamford Library still has a copy of Francis Peck’s Annals of Stamford in its Local History Reference Collection; the 1979 EP reprint is on open shelves and is available to borrow.

By the time of the Annual Report in May 1907 the Library had enrolled 1,047 people. During the previous 12 months, 28,279 books had been issued of which 25,169 had been works of fiction. The total holdings of books on March 31^st 1907 were 2,312, and in addition the Reading Room had 275 periodicals.

Chris Hunt

January 2026

Note

The following document is reproduced by kind permission of Lincolnshire Libraries.

The original was printed by Dolby Brothers in 1907, and is part of the local studies reference collection at Stamford Library, www.better.org.uk/library/lincolnshire/stamford-library

A print version can be downloaded HERE

A full printout of the library catalogue can be viewed & printed HERE