The main objective of the friends is to assist the William Salt Library’s preservation programme, and help with improvements to the Library’s facilities in terms of purchase of stock, improvements to storage facilities and conservation.
The core of the Library is the huge collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and transcripts built up by William Salt.
The William Salt Library continues to collect and preserve printed books, printed ephemera, pamphlets and illustrative material relating to Staffordshire.
The Library’s collections represent an outstanding resource for the study of local and family history in Staffordshire.
Staffordshire County Council together with the Trustees of the William Salt Library have outline proposals for building additional storage for archives and for improved public areas within the Record Office.
The proposals would see the WSL archives being housed in the new archive storage at the Record Office, and production of documents at the new Record Office desk. The library’s books will in part be relocated so that they are accessible to researchers in the Record Office, and in part will remain on the ground floor of the WSL building – this split is still to be worked up in detail. The main rooms on the ground floor will be reserved for meeting spaces, and the upper floors will be used for rented office space, providing the Trustees with some income for the collection and its care.
An application for financial support was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2016, and approval to work up the proposals in detail was received. The Friends of the William Salt Library supported the application, though with some minor concerns unresolved (see Downloads), and are contributing to the process of working up the detailed proposals.
The William Salt Library is a registered charity (no. 528570) and is supported by Staffordshire County Council. It is administered by an independent trust and run in close conjunction with the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. The core of the Library is the huge collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours, and transcripts built up by William Salt (1808-1863), a London banker during his lifetime.
The William Salt Library continues to collect and preserve printed books, printed ephemera, pamphlets and illustrative material relating to Staffordshire for present and future generations.
The Library’s collections represent an outstanding resource for the study of local and family history in Staffordshire and are available for consultation by the public.
