Expert's plea over unique library's future
EDZELL'S library is one of Scotland's most important and its closure could result in its historic collection and indexing system being irreversibly damaged by neglect, a leading expert has warned.
The library in the Inglis Hall was bequeathed to the community of Edzell by Colonel Robert W. Inglis in 1898, but Angus Council last month announced plans to close the amenity as part of budget cuts and replace it with a mobile provision.
The village's residents are up in arms over the move and a petition has been circulated around the village, attracting approximately 300 signatures in just a few days.
It was expected to be handed over to Angus Council leader, Bob Myles, at Monday night's meeting of Inveresk Community Council.
Aside from the loss of the book lending service and internet access the library currently provides, villagers are concerned about the future of the historic Inglis collection itself - which is almost entirely complete with its stock of around 6,000 volumes - and the almost impeccably preserved Cotgreave issue and indexing system.
Their plight has won the sympathy of Dr Peter Reid, the head of the department of information management at The Robert Gordon University of Aberdeen.
Dr Reid, who supervised a student research project into the Inglis Hall library in 2004, feels it is "almost unique" in the UK and believes its survival is largely thanks to the fact it has remained open to the public.
He said: "In cultural terms, this is a remarkable surviving example of Victorian philanthropy and one of the most important libraries in Scotland.
"The library is almost unique in Scotland and what makes it so important is that it is a library gifted by an individual to the community.
"It is largely intact too, just as the philanthropist intended it to be. That is pretty rare.
"It also has a Cotgreave indexing system and there is a whole generation of library professionals that haven't encountered one of those before.
"There is only one other that I can find that is on public display, and that's in County Kilkenny, Ireland."
Dr Reid said he does not know what plans Angus Council have for the library, but said he hopes the welfare of the collection and the Cotgreave system is properly considered before action is taken.
He said: "I do appreciate the difficulties of pressing financial matters, but it would be immensely sad if a collection that has survived for 110 years is to be broken up, as it is such an important example of a late 19th century library.
"If it's moved elsewhere, there may be more chance that it will suffer from benign neglect."
Angus Council last week said it was currently investigating how to best provide access to both the Inglis bequest collection and to the original Cotgreave issue system.
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