LibraryofBirmingham

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 9am - 9pm Sat: 11am - 5pm Sun: closed.

[LibraryofBirmingham @LibraryofBham]

What’s on June! Free events and activities at the Library of Birmingham 📚🪐

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#Harborne #PhotoFriday today is this 1910 platinotype print of Harborne Free Library. The library was officially opened on 12 November 1892 and housed in the former Masonic Hall on Harborne High Street. Ref – WK/H6/36 @LibraryofBham @Brumpic

[Library of Birmingham Reader Services @BhamLibReader]

July is Plastic-Free Month. The library now provides designated bins to help you sort your waste correctly. From plastics and bottles to food waste and rubbish—each item has its designated place.

@LibraryofBham @BhamCityCouncil

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#BhamWomen Gwynedd M. Lewis applied to be called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in June 1939. Let’s hope she was successful. Part of our Birmingham Biography Cuttings Collection, Vol. 30 Ref – Birmingham Gazette 16 June 1939 @LIbraryofBham

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

Join us for a talk, Saturday 18 July by Gareth Williams: The Impossible Bomb, the story of the British scientists who aided the Manhattan Project, inc. Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls of Birmingham University: https://t.co/5vwE9aWad0 @LibraryofBham @UoBSchool _Phys @PhysicsNews

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

For today’s blog, we celebrate the inscription of another of our collections onto the UNESCO Memory of the World National Register - https://t.co/vMl9AhOaVS This is one of only 5 new inscriptions to be added in this round of nominations @LibraryofBham @UNESCOUK

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#MapOnATuesday is A.H. Biermann’s Monumental plan of Birmingham, 1871. A coloured street map with pictorial representations of 158 public buildings and subscribing business premises. Ref - MAP/73259 @LibraryofBham

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

Pleased to announce we’re part of the Sounds of the Midlands project to preserve at-risk sound archives across the Midlands. The University of Leicester has been awarded £282,082 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to spearhead the project @LibraryofBham @uniofleicester

[Library of Birmingham Reader Services @BhamLibReader]

Ahead of the USA's 250th anniversary we're listening to BBC Sounds' 'Mr Jefferson’s Library' podcasts. While The National Archives celebrates rare Declaration find, we are sharing works from another founding father, Thomas Paine drawn from our Legacy Collections:

@LibraryofBham

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#SundayShowcase today is Birmingham : A Study in Geography, History and Planning by Gordon E. Cherry. First published in 1994, the book is still requested to this day. An exploration in part on the achievements of civic government. Ref - L 56.4 @LibraryofBham

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#CityOf1000Trades is Martin Billing - manufactures of envelopes, letter - presses, lithographic and copper - plate printers, Livery Street. The company also held premises on Charles Henry Street in the 1850s. Ref - New Illustrated Directory (1858) LF 06 @LibraryofBham

[Deborah Harries @deborahharries]

Treated to glimpse of @LibraryofBham treasures - Shakespeare First Folio, James Watt's experiment notebooks and UK's first female anti-slavery society @UNESCO documents - and discussed with #BirminghamCulture Deputy #CllrRaheemHumphreys and team how to make them more accessible

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#PhotoFriday is the old Birmingham Women's Hospital. First established in Sparkhill in 1871, the hospital relocated to a converted farmhouse on the Stratford Road in 1878 and then a new facility on Showell Green Lane in 1905. Ref – WK/S10/39 @LibraryofBham @Brumpic @BWH_NHS

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

Check out additions to our digital gallery - Preservica Universal Access which includes the ‘Book Marks’ project (MS 5244) - which includes interviews on the impact of libraries on our lives.
https://t.co/jWgMfmZnFT. @LIbraryofBham @PHCooperative

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#BhamOrgan #BhamWomen Christine Smye was the first woman elected president of the Birmingham Organists’ Association in March 1939. Ref – Birmingham Mail 8 March 1939 @LIbraryofBham #BhamOrgan #BOA

[Library of Birmingham Reader Services @BhamLibReader]

The next in-person Book Chat is scheduled for Saturday, July 04. We will be meeting from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in the library.

@LibraryofBham #BookChat

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#HorseRacing #Bromford the race card for the last meeting at Bromford Bridge racecourse on 21 June 1965. The racecourse was opened in 1894 with the first meeting in 1895. Ref - LF 25.41 @LibraryofBham

[Unique Venues Bham @uvbirmingham]

✨ Brum-tastic spaces for your Christmas parties 🎄

If this has you feeling festive already, now’s the perfect time to book your 2026 Christmas Party at Unique Venues Birmingham! 🎅🥂

All 2026 package information can be found on our website: https://t.co/o8vhTA2oia

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#CharlieChaplin To celebrate #GRTHM26, a photograph of travellers on the Black Patch, Handsworth (now Smethwick) in May 1907. Recent speculation has suggested Charlie Chaplin may have been born there: https://t.co/fUHKmzF9mL @LibraryofBham @SandwellCouncil

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

#MapOnATuesday today is the Birmingham Pride route from back in 2000 with a list of venues as part of the #Pride2026 celebrations. Ref – LP 22.85 @LibraryofBham @BirminghamPride @birminghamlgbt

[Birmingham Archives & Collections @TheIronRoom]

Today is #ArmedForcesDay. Here’s a photograph from 2024 with a flag raising ceremony held outside @LibraryofBham. The Lord Mayor honoured the Armed Forces, Birmingham’s veterans, along with the contribution of the serving military https://t.co/Bz5TzOw5i4 @ArmedForcesDay