Waltham Library, 1873? - 1970?

Waltham Library was established during the rush to open suburban libraries in Christchurch in the 1870s, which was prompted by Provincial Council grants of money for the purpose from 1873 onwards. It was always a small institution and for many years, was more of a workingmen’s club than a library. Committee discussions tended to focus on the activities of the Social Room, with its billiard and card tables, rather than the work of the library. Although there is no record in the Press, it seems the library closed around 1970, at the same time as the Addington Library. These small community run institutions were regarded by the City Council as superfluous, once the Spreydon branch of Canterbury Public Library was opened in 1971.

Establishing a Library in Waltham

Waltham residents held a public meeting in the vestry of the Wesleyan Chapel to discuss the establishment of a library in the district on 24 July 1873. The meeting was called largely because Sydenham residents had held one earlier, and Waltham did not want to be left out ¹. A committee was elected, and charged with finding a suitable site on which to erect a building. The first chairman was Enoch Henry Banks (1835-1923), a grain merchant who was later to be actively involved in several industrial exhibitions. Unlike Sydenham (whose library did not open until 1903), Waltham was successful in its bid to secure a government grant. The Provincial Council allocated them 200 pounds, with another 50 pounds for books. A building was constructed in Waltham Road, and by 1876, when the Provincial Council was abolished, it was operating as one of five suburban libraries in the city. A further grant of money was received from the central government as part of its public library support programme in 1878.

The library seems to have had a modest membership for most of its existence. During the 1890s, between 50 and 90 subscribers were recorded, with around 80-100 volumes added to the collection each year. Unlike many community run libraries, there seems to have been no longstanding officeholders on the committee. There were several presidents during the 1890s, including James McCleary (1842?-1914), James Buchan Sim (b.1864), plasterer James Clyma Jell (1841?-1927), builder Robert James Duncan (1868?-1946) and R. Fisher. Carpenter John George Munns (1852-1910) was one of those who served as secretary. Brigadier-General A. W. Andrews, who donated a large collection of non-fiction books to the library in 1934, said at that time that he had been one of the library’s first secretaries. Like the Woolston library, Waltham employed a paid librarian. During the 1920s, this was Mr. L. Sutcliffe. An honorarium (it was 3 pounds in the 1920s and 1930s) was also paid to the secretary each year.

How the Library Was Run

As with many of the community run libraries in Christchurch, most committee members and subscribers were tradesmen and “mechanics” (unlike the first members of the Christchurch Mechanics’ Institute which became Canterbury Public Library), so the library developed into a workingmen’s club. Because the library work was carried out by a paid staff member, the committee tended to focus on the work of the Social Room, which was supervised by one committee member each weekday evening and on Saturday evenings. Billiards and snooker tables were available and card evenings were held regularly, members paying a few pence each to play. During the 1920s, challenges were issued to other community run libraries and workingmen’s clubs to compete in tournaments. Other events were also organised to assist with fund raising, including a dance and a jumble sale. Finances remained tight, however, and at the annual meeting in 1927, Sutcliffe himself suggested that the librarian role be suspended, as there were hardly enough members to justify the expense. The committee declined this suggestion, but in March 1929, Sutcliffe was sacked, after it was said that certain subscriptions had been misappropriated by him.

Winifred Jane Woodcock (b.1909), the daughter of local builder and committee member, Frederick Woodcock (1876?-1954), took over in a temporary capacity. At the annual meeting in April that year, she was elected to the position at a salary of 23 pounds a year. This arrangement lasted until 1931 when a difficult financial situation meant that the librarian’s work was taken over by committee members on a voluntary basis. At the same time, the committee refocused on the library as the important part of the institution, moving the book collection and reading room into the front part of the building, and the Social Room to the back. Afternoon hours on Wednesdays were introduced, with a committee of ladies to act as librarians (until then no women had served on the committee), and a large order was placed for new books by well-known, modern and popular authors in order to attract more subscribers. Subscriptions were raised from 6/6 per annum to 8 shillings, although they were reduced again the following year. Old age pensioners paid 4 shillings per annum.

By the mid-1930s, the library seems to have been flourishing, with a 50% increase in subscribers (although they still numbered under 200). In 1936, Linwood Library committee members noted in their Gazette that Waltham Library was a pleasure to visit, with a bright, neat appearance and the books always well displayed ². The following year, nearly 400 new books were added to the collection, 2 pounds being spent on non-fiction for every 12 pounds spent on fiction. The library was also catalogued for the first time, but unlike many of the larger suburban libraries, it did not include a children’s collection.

Little is known of the work of the library after the Second World War, as no minutes have survived and there are almost no reports of annual meetings in the newspapers. The president in 1955 was Mr E.V. Smith and the secretary Mrs J.S. McGeorge ³. The library was apparently closed about 1970.

Footnotes

1. 1. Lyttelton Times, 25 July 1873, p. 2e
2. 2. Linwood Library Gazette, v.1, no.8, May 1936, p. 8
3. 3. Press, 24 February 1955, p. 14

Sources

• Linwood Library Gazette, v.1, no.8, May 1936, p. 8.
• Press, 1890-1899, 1954-1970.
• Waltham Library. Minutes and ledger, 1922-1939. Arch. 117, Christchurch City Libraries.
• Wood, D.E. The Christchurch Metropolitan Library Service, 1852-1948. MA thesis, Christchurch, 1950.