The latest information I have received, Jim Lancaster (Bury, Lancs.) From: Chris Sent: Monday, December 16, 2013 4:41 PM To: nigelrjneil@googlemail.com ; secretary@lancashirehistory.org ; bruce.jackson@lancashire.gov.uk ; mike.coyle@btinternet.com ; jmcrosby@waitrose.com ; agcrosby@waitrose.com ; derrickwalkden@btinternet.com ; bill_shannon@msn.com ; david.dburgess@demon.co.uk ; davidms@uwclub.net ; EHeslewood@preston.gov.uk ; pogsonf@hope.ac.uk ; Holt.haslingden@googlemail.com ; lancaster.jim@zen.co.uk ; greenhalgh46@btinternet.com ; peter.shakeshaft@btinternet.com ; petebamford.lytham@virgin.net ; sam.riches@lancaster.ac.uk ; smbailey@uclan.ac.uk ; tedlight@talktalk.net ; ga.foster@btopenworld.com ; andrew.walmsley@lancashire.gov.uk ; christine.wilkinson@lancaster.as.uk ; zoe.lawson@talktalk.net ; landypublishing@yahoo.ukco.uk ; martin.ramsbottom@btinternet.com ; ocookson@sky.com Subject: The Talbot Library St Walburg's Preston To: Lancashire Archives Friends of Lancashire Archives The Lancashire Local History Federation The Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society The Lancashire Archaeological Society The Lancashire Placename Survey Users of the Talbot Library >From Christine Storey and the many friends of the Talbot Library. The Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt Rev Michael Campbell OSA, has taken the decision to close the Talbot Library; December 13th 2013 was its final day of opening to the public. The Talbot Library was formed by the late Bishop Brewer of Lancaster in 1992. He had recognised the importance of preserving the mass of unique archival material and books, all of the utmost importance to the history of the Catholic Church, currently being stored in rooms, attics and cellars in Presbyteries across the north of England and the Midlands. Bishop Brewer arranged for priests to search their premises for any material which should be stored in a more suitable environment and to have it all transported to the Talbot Library. I was a volunteer in the early days, with Margaret Panikkar, who has worked at the Library as a volunteer for the past 21 years, until the day of its closure. As the material was collected, we spent our time unpacking the dozens of boxes which arrived on a daily basis at the old school building - now renamed the Talbot Library - to be dusted off, catalogued and stored. After 21 years the result of Bishop Brewer's initiative is a collection of Catholic material unparalleled in the north of England, available to anyone who wishes to use it. The decision to close the Library having been made, the question is - what are the plans for the future of the collection? It is hoped that this email will help to raise awareness of the value of the Library and the magnitude of its loss, should it be closed permanently or even broken up and sold. The main question is - what are the plans for its future? Christine Storey