Hull Subscription Library closure and sale

Abstract

THE HULL Subscription Library, founded on 7th December 1775, has closed in the year of its; bicentenary and its remaining stock and various fittings were sold by auction on 11th November 1975 by ,Northern Book·Auctionsof Allerthorpe, York.! ' The fortunes of the library had been declining sinc'e the turn of the century. Whereas in 1875 the members: had refused ,'to countenance the ~ithdrawal of 5,.0.00vol'Umes,~,believing the library had an important function in conserving literature; by I'g n~and' subsequently they were compelled to sell .offsome .of the stock to alleviate their' financial difficulties. Further 'sales 'followed and some 1.0,.0.00books were lost in 1943 when the Hull Royal Institution, which had heen its home for 88 years, was bombed. After the bombing the library , . occupied' a succession of temporary premises finally being housed in Carmichael's shop in George Street, about a quarter of a mile from its first home in Thomas Browne's b.ookshop in B<}wlalleyLane. In its heyday, the stock had reached 8.0,.00.0but· by last year only 16,000 volumes remained to be auctioned though a quantity of dilapidated stock was otherWise disposed of. In 1900 there'were 595 members, but by 1975 there were only 200. It was estimated that to make the library economically viable in the mid1970s, the annual subscription would have had to have been raised from £7 to £25, and although some members were prepared to pay this, it was reluctantly decided that such'a, sum was unacceptable and the library wouldqflave to close. Although the Hull Subscription Library was. ultimately the victim .of economic inflation, it had, in common with others of its' type, suffered from the growth in pbpularity and status of the public library. Unlike those subscription libraries suchcts the London Library, the Leeds Library and. the Newcasde Literary and Philosophical Society, which survive, the' Hull Subscription Library had been unable since the war to offer the attractions .of adequate accommodation or a book-stock noted for its' antiquity or rarity, and had in fact become simply a popular. circulating library.