The Society's Library
by Peter Draper, Honorary Librarian
Most members will know of the serious fire at Maidstone Museum in June 1977, which began in the room next to our Library.
Because of the decision to restore the building in traditional ways and because of the extent of hidden weakening caused by earlier alterations, the task of restoration has been a most difficult one and is even now not complete.
However, the Society's Room has been transformed by the Maidstone Corporation, in full consultation with your Council, into a room of considerable style and attractiveness. The melancholy tasks of disposing of burnt and water-soaked volumes, their transfer to the County Council's store, and subsequent return are now completed.
The collections have been reorganized, most volumes treated with special polishes, whilst a program of rebinding and replacement continues. The collection of slides, blocks, maps, and miscellaneous documents and notebooks are mostly reorganized.
Individual members are now, therefore, invited to make use of the collections. The Library is open during the normal Museum opening hours, namely 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Monday to Saturday inclusive.
Mrs. W. F. Bergess, F.L.A., a former Senior member of the County Council Library Service and co-author of the Kent Bibliography and Supplement, has very generously given her services to the Society in accessioning and cataloging. She is normally working in the Library on Thursdays from about 10.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. should you require assistance.
The policy which has been adopted, in view of the value of much material and its rarity and the limitations of space, is to put on open reference shelves some 39 series of Journals from other societies in the United Kingdom together with a section devoted to local topographical, genealogical material, etc. Other rare or valuable material is available on request only. Some foreign Journals are also available.
The collections are an enviable inheritance left in trust to us by past generations, the results of whose scholarship and generosity form a remarkable archive.
Adherence to a few simple rules is therefore insisted upon as a prerequisite to entry and use of the library.
a) Admission is at the discretion of the Hon. Librarian, the curator of Maidstone Museum, or the Society's Curator.
b) Admission is for Individual members whose subscriptions are paid up. Membership cards must be shown on demand, and the admissions book signed at the Museum Desk on arrival and departure.
c) The Collections are for examination in the Library only and may not be removed without written permission from the Hon. Librarian. Certain valuable items are only available by prior arrangement.
d) Members will appreciate that smoking, eating, and drinking in the Library are forbidden without the express permission of the Hon. Librarian.
Future plans include the holding of informal Saturday Seminars on specialist subjects and exhibitions of current finds and acquisitions. Other ideas and suggestions are welcomed.