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Library’s history brought to life
HISTORY ... Suzanne Chadaway at Hebburn Library with a special display for National Library Week.
PEOPLE were invited to read all about the history of Hebburn Library as part of a major celebration of book borrowing.
To mark National Libraries Day, a display was staged in the library in Station Road, about the history of the building.
Library supervisor, Mandy McConkey, said: “The display included a Gazette cutting about the opening of the library, plus various old photographs.
“The library was refurbished in 2006, when we had to close and provide a limited service from Hebburn Community Centre.”
While the present library opened in 1971, book lovers in Hebburn have been able to borrow titles in the town for more than 70 years.
The first public library was opened on December 5, 1938, further down Station Road, in a building now occupied by Abacus Nursery, and was extended in 1955.
Hebburn Library quickly became one of the most popular in County Durham, with 6,000 books being issued between 1955 and 1970.
Officially launching the original library, Coun Ferguson, chairman of the old Hebburn Council, noted that 2,000 homes had been built in the town since the First World War.
He added: “People in the south of England do not know what we have had to put up with.
“Hebburn has not made bad progress in the circumstances.”
The present library was opened on March 4, 1971, right next to the shopping centre, for greater convenience.
Built at a cost of £27,420, the building covered 7,857 sq ft, with shelving for 10,000 books.
When the library was fully refurbished in 2006, it cost £300,000.
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