Minet Library

The Minet Library was built by William Minet and opened in 1890. Minet was a descendant of French Huguenots who immigrated to London in the 1700s, and in 1889 he also gave 14½ acres of land to the London County Council to create Myatt's Fields Park.

The library was designed to be a church hall for St. James The Apostle on Knatchbull Road and to be used by the tenants of the local estate. When Minet's first wife, Alice Evans, died in 1887 before the building was completed, he decided to turn it into a public library in her memory.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ovalpartnership.org.uk/kennington-oval-vauxhall-history/notable-buildings/libraries.html|title=Local History: Libraries|website=Oval Partnership|access-date=3 May 2017}}

The library might have been completed before the nearby Durning Library and South Lambeth Tate Library, but was interrupted when the contractor went bankrupt, Minet was interested in the co-operative movement and decided to form a private company on co-operative lines. The experiment was successful and the library, which was designed by George Hubbard who also designed nearby Longfield Hall, was finished and opened in 1890.{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol26/pp141-145#h3-0005|title=Myatt's Fields, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill: Introduction and Myatt's Fields area {{!}} British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|access-date=3 May 2017}}

Hubbard's octagonal library building, in the Gothic Revival style, was partially destroyed by an incendiary bomb on 8 December 1940 during The Blitz. The fire destroyed 18,585 books. Around 6,700 books were salvaged, and half of those were moved to Longfield Hall where a temporary library was established.{{Cite web|url=http://landmark.lambeth.gov.uk/display_page.asp?section=landmark_fullsize&id=8116|title=Minet Library Bomb Damage, Knatchbull Road, Brixton North|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=4 May 2017}} The Surrey Collection, a collection of archive records established by William Minet, survived the fire because they were housed in a strong room.{{Cite news|url=http://www.brixtonblog.com/spotlight-on-minet-library-2/12046|title=Spotlight on Minet Library|date=1 May 2013|work=Brixton Blog|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en-GB}}

File:Minet Library with Longfield Hall in background, C. 1890.jpg

The library was rebuilt in 1956 and became part of the London Borough of Lambeth public library service and official home of the Lambeth Archives.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8yvCwAAQBAJ&dq=1956%20%22minet%20library%22&pg=PA317|title=British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom|last1=Foster|first1=Janet|last2=Sheppard|first2=Julia|publisher=Springer|year=1995|isbn=9781349118120|language=en}}

In the late 1990s, the library began to suffer from cuts to local council funding, and Lambeth Council proposed closing the library on a number of occasions. This culminated in 2015 with Lambeth Council closing the library (but not the archive) and proposing to contract Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) to convert part of the building into a gym, with a limited library service continuing to operate.{{Cite news|url=http://www.brixtonblog.com/lambeth-council-proposes-to-sell-minet-library/27537|title=Lambeth Council proposes to sell Minet Library|date=2 February 2015|work=Brixton Blog|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en-GB}}

The magazine Private Eye reported in May 2017 that Lambeth Council had begun talking to GLL about contracting them to turn Minet Library and others in the borough into gyms before a plan by library staff and local residents to save the libraries was rejected in 2015.{{Cite news|url=http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2017/05/lambeth-library-campaigners-rally-against-lambeth-council-at-public-meeting/|title=Lambeth library campaigners rally against Lambeth council at lively public meeting|date=3 May 2017|work=Brixton Buzz news, features and listings for Brixton, London|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en-US}}

In May 2016, despite protests by local residents, the Minet Library was closed by the Lambeth Council.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35936909|title=Protesters occupy Lambeth library in bid to halt closure|date=1 April 2016|publisher=BBC News|access-date=3 May 2017|language=en-GB}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/31/lambeth-library-plans-london-budget-cuts-close|title=Lambeth library plans condemned as 'absolute shambles'|last=Walker|first=Peter|date=31 March 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=4 May 2017|issn=0261-3077}} The library reopened in 2017, but with reduced services. It is currently operating as a self-service library.{{cite web |title=Minet Library |url=https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/minet-library |website=Lambeth Council |access-date=10 March 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/what-is-happening-to-lambeth-libraries|title=What is happening to Lambeth's libraries? {{!}} Lambeth Council|website=www.lambeth.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-12-19}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.brixtonblog.com/carnegie-library-opens-some-of-its-doors-again/49615|title=Carnegie library opens some of its doors again|date=2018-02-15|work=Brixton Blog|access-date=2018-07-19|language=en-GB}}

Lambeth Archives and the local history reference collection re-located to a purpose built archive building in Brixton on January 2024.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/lambeth-archives Lambeth Archives]

{{Libraries in London}}

{{coord|51.4714|-0.1052|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Public libraries in London

Category:Libraries in the London Borough of Lambeth

Category:History of the London Borough of Lambeth