CIRCULATING libraries, formed during the mid-eighteenth century, allowed books to be borrowed for a specified period after payment of a subscription and are familiar to devotees of the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.

Such libraries were popular diversions for young ladies of the Regency period. In 19th century Abingdon these libraries were often associated with booksellers, printers and stationers.

An advertisement in Jackson's Oxford Journal, April 1810, announced that Oxford printer James King intended opening a printing office, bookseller’s, stationer’s shop and circulating library in Abingdon’s High Street.

In 1869, Henry James Brooks, a photographer and bookseller, advertised a circulating library at his High Street shop, currently occupied by EFES, a Turkish barber.

In the 20th century Ely Brothers in Stert Street operated a ‘2D library’ in conjunction with Foyle’s, and books could be borrowed from the Booklovers' Library in Carter’s toyshop, also in Stert Street.

In the 19th century a limited section of the town's population enjoyed access to libraries and reading rooms through membership of trade or political associations, The Literary and Scientific Institute (1843-1862) and the Mechanics' Institute (1854-1879) offered very similar facilities to their members who came from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Both establishments charged a membership fee.

The Abingdon Club, established in 1877, boasted a library of more than 400 volumes, open for members' use on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am to 10pm, plus a reading room well stocked with daily and weekly papers. This facility was available to members on Mondays and Thursdays between 9am and 10pm at its headquarters on the corner of Bridge Street. From the 1840s to the 1880s succeeding proprietors of these premises, demolished in the late 1930s, offered patrons reading room facilities.

Towards the end of the century, the Beaconsfield Working Men’s Conservative Club in Ock Street was opened on the May 29, 1882, by its president Mr John Tomkins. The carved stone panel on the façade depicts prominent Conservative politicians of the day: the Earl of Beaconsfield, the Marquess of Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote. There were rooms for reading, chess and draughts, and smoking.

Current newspapers and periodicals were available to the club’s 400 members in addition to a growing library. The Beaconsfield and the Abingdon advertised their facilities in contemporary almanacs and directories.

It was not until 1891, however, that serious moves were made to establish a Free Library and Reading Room open to all the town’s adult residents. On October 28, 1891, Abingdon businessman Edward Harris wrote to mayor John Tomkins, advising him that there was a fund of £60 available to the corporation "provided that they will as soon as possible establish and support a Free Library and Reading Room for the benefit of all classes".

At the next meeting of the borough council on November 9, a library committee was formed under the chairmanship of the mayor.

On May 2, 1894, Mr John George Timothy West, the chosen architect, presented his plans to a meeting of the governors of Christ’s Hospital, owners of the chosen site in the High Street. Having been approved by the governors, the plans had first to be submitted to the borough corporation and then to the charity commissioners who would make the final judgment. Approval was finally given in October and advertisements for tenders were printed.

The Earl of Abingdon, the High Steward of the Borough, was invited to perform the official opening ceremony on April 15, 1896, which started with a procession from the Guildhall to the library led by the Oddfellows Band.

The Earl addressed the crowds from the balcony above the entrance. Amongst those present was Arthur Preston, a later mayor and well-known historian of Abingdon. The streets were thronged with spectators and many buildings including the library were decked with flags.

The library was managed by the corporation until amalgamation with the Berkshire County Library Service in 1949.

An expanding post-war population soon put a strain on the delivery of a good service and conditions became cramped.

On Saturday, September 25, 1976, the doors to the High Street building were closed and a fortnight later the library reopened in its new building in The Charter.

On the first day 200 new members enrolled and 2,530 books were issued. The wooden panel commemorating the opening of the free library in 1896, which formerly hung in the High Street premises, is now displayed on the staircase wall.

Our Victorian forbears would be rather surprised by the facilities offered by today’s library.