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Last update 5 January 2009
Read more, and download the Summer Newsletter for 2008,on the news page!
Welcome to the new pages of the Association of Independent Libraries (AIL), your doorway to a world of fact and fiction, literary culture and heritage, entertainment and study, news and views, leisure pursuits, information, shared interests, inspiration and ideas, hospitality, companionship, conviviality and refreshment.
You can get to all the information you need about the AIL from this page. If this is your first visit to the site we recommend a glance at the introduction just below to see what the Association is all about. To start find out about individual member libraries, please turn to the AIL Directory.
The Association welcomes new members! Please contact us for details.
The Association of Independent Libraries was founded in 1989 to further the conservation restoration and public awareness of a too little known but significant section of our cultural heritage. Equally important remains its aim to develop links between its constituent members by means of co-operative agreements, newsletters, social gatherings and meetings.
The founding members of the Association were all institutions that began life specifically as independently funded subscription libraries. They were founded between 1768 and 1841 in a period when there were no rate-supported libraries and no university libraries outside Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh and Oxford. However, more and more people were reading and books were very expensive to buy, so groups of individuals combined together to form libraries which could be both of everyday use and of increasing value in the future. Many of the Association's members also provided other facilities for their members including museums, adult education and dining facilities. Several continue to do so.
The members of the Association have grown in number since 1989 and now include libraries of historic foundation that would not necessarily have met the original criteria. Amongst these new members are libraries that have been preserved by means of funding from partner institutions (for example the local university) and those that never had subscribing members (such as the town libraries). Recent new members include the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, Library & Archives, Central Catholic Library, Inc., in Dublin, Thomas Plume's Library in Maldon, the Sybil Campbell Library and the Bishopsgate Institute in London. Crucially, all members agree that the provision of a library is a key part of their activity and should subscribe to the aims and objects of the Association.
The largest and best-known member library is the London Library, which houses one million books and serves over 8,000 members just two minutes from Piccadilly Circus. The smallest is the Tavistock Subscription Library which houses just 1500 books in a restored portion of a tenth and eleventh-century abbey building. The oldest is Chetham's Library, founded in 1653 for the benefit of the people of Manchester.
Together, the Association's members possess over two million books and have many listed buildings in their care. Many also possess charitable status. They combine the preservation of their historic collections and beautiful buildings with the supply of the latest books and periodicals, a personal service to their members and research facilities for non-members. The majority still retain their independence and all of them possess individual characteristics which are valued by regular users and occasional visitors alike.