Hi, my name is Sarah Browning and I'm a committee member of the Todmorden Antiquarian Society, as well as a library assistant at Todmorden Library and information services assistant in the Local Studies department at Halifax Central Library and Archives. The TAS and the library's local history collections are invaluable assets to the people of Todmorden and abroad and as a public library we are committed to freedom of access. Our archive room is due to be refurbished as part of works to the back of the library (due to start in January 2025 and finish in the summer) and we would like to be able to house these items in glass-fronted lockable cabinets so that the public can have regular access to them - usually they are behind locked doors, and currently they are mostly in storage while we await the building works to be completed.

Council budgets are always tight and so the excess cost of this type of shelving simply does not work within our budget. As these items belong in spirit to the people of Todmorden, I am asking for the people to contribute - if they can - to the cost of replacing the old, insecure shelving with good quality display shelving to allow the full local history collection to be visible and browsable.

Quotes have been sought for the shelving from Uniflex and for 8m of glass-doored, lockable bookshelves the cost is around £10,000.

We do not anticipate that we will get anywhere near that amount of money from this fundraiser, but we're hoping to receive match funding from other sources to make up the shortfall. That though will depend on public support and an identifiable, strong public appetite for us to have ours and the Todmorden Antiquarian Society's local collections on display.

If we are overwhelmed with generosity then any additional funding raised, or any additional funding left over after match funding is obtained, will be spent on other improvements to our local history storage and display; for example, helping fund new drawers for our historical maps collection.

The people of Todmorden are passionate about their history and I hope that a display of public enthusiasm for our ethos of free access and education will lead to a renewed interest in local history in younger people, as well as enabling us to get the display shelving. After all, if you can't see it, how will you know it's there? What might YOU be interested in that you didn't know about before? We want to make sure everyone can see the full breadth of both organisations' assets and share in what they have to tell us. If we can do that then we can continue to work on inspiring future generations to learn more about where they live and who and what came before them.

We can accept cash donations. A box has been placed on the wall at Todmorden Library as you go through the second set of main doors into the building, on your left. Cash will be banked every other week and I will post updates regularly so you can see the total raised, not just raised via this website. See the update from 10th September for a photo of the box in situ.

If you wish to write a cheque, these can also be banked via the library service. Please make them out to "Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council" and write on that back that it is for "libraries - local history shelving" so that finance know who to credit the money to. We would encourage cheques to be handed to a member of staff in person rather than posted or placed into the donations box.

Thank you for reading this far and please comment if you have any questions. ♥️