The William Morris Society's reference library has grown over the years into an impressive collection of over 3,000 books. As well as the complete works of Morris himself, there are many volumes by his contemporaries with themes covering literature and literary criticism, politics and biographies, as well as Arts and Crafts design including textiles and stained glass. Together with these important historical texts there is also a wide range of relevant contemporary publications in the collection. This burgeoning and valuable asset has been made possible over the years largely thanks to the support and generous donations from society members. Our new Library Development Fund is hoping to improve accessibility and user friendliness in the library. This will enable us to take significant steps in reaching new and broader audiences, create a wonderful learning resource and strengthen our relationship with the academic world.

Thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers the vast holdings of the library have now been catalogued. Our first step in making the library more accessible will be to make the catalogue so it is available to search on-line as you would in a professional library including by author (editor), title, edition, place of publication, publisher, date, pagination, subject terms, ISBN, shelfmark and notes. The search catalogue will be available on-line making it much easier to see the books and publications held by the Society. Funds raised will also enable WMS to develop a team of volunteers dedicated to enhancing the library service, pay for conservation of library materials and enable us to promote the library to a wider audience.

Our target is to raise £8,000 and we are confident we will be able to do this with your support - any amount, large or small, will help us to achieve this. Your gift will help us to raise the money to carry out this vital work. This will enable us to place the library's search catalogue online and undertake associated work to ensure the library's development and sustainability. Having this online presence will raise the profile of the Society and enhance the services we can offer users, as well as strengthening the support and training available to volunteers.