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R E A D IN G

O F F IC IA L

PUBLIC

D IR E C T O R Y .

L IB R A R IE S .

C entral Public Library, News & Reading Room s (Blagrave S treet).—
N ew s room op en from 8.30 a.m. till 10 p.m .; R ea d in g R oom open daily
from 9.30 a.m. till 10 p.m. ; L en din g L ib ra ry open from 10 a.m. t ill 9
p.m .; R e fe r e n c e L ibrary and S tu d en ts’ Room open from 10 a.m. t ill 9
p.m. ; M r, W . H. G reenhough, C h ief L ibrarian.
The L ib ra ry con sists o f R e fe r e n c e and L en d in g D epartm ents, and
contain s about 45,000 volum es ; it also in clu d es sp aciou s R ea d in g and
N ew s R oom s, and S tu d en ts’ R oom , The L en din g L ib ra ry is on th e
open a cce ss plan, as is a portion o f th e R e fe r e n c e Library. The
R e fe r e n c e L ib ra ry contain s a la rg e c o lle c tio n o f Books, Pam phlets,
and oth er p rin ted m atter, as w ell as m anu scripts and prin ts rela tin g
to th e Tow n and N eigh bou rh ood.
The W est Branch L ibrary (O xford Road).
E r e cte d o u t o f funds
(about £ 4,000) p resen ted b y M r. A n drew C arn egie. C on tain s R e a d ­
ing, N ew s, and C h ild ren ’s R oom s, and a L en d in g L ibrary on th e op en
a ccess plan. (N ow taken o v e r by th e M ilita r y A u th o r itie s fo r W ar
H osp ital.)
Caver sham Branch L ib ra ry.— E rected o u t o f fu nds (ab ou t £ 2,500
p resen ted b y M r. C arnegie. C ontains R ea d in g, News, and R e fe r e n c e
R oom s. The L en din g L ib ra ry is on th e open a c c e s s plan, and is open
from 1 till 4 and from 6 till 9 p.m. R ea d in g room s open from 8 a.mt
till 9 a.m.
The L en din g L ib ra ries are n ot op en ed on W ednesday aftern ooon s.
PUBLIC MUSÉUM AND A R T G A LLE R IE S .
Hon. Curators, M r. H. Daw son Barkas, A .R .C .A . ; M r. W . E. B u tler,
F.E.S. ; M r. G. H. R . H olden, M .A ., M.B. ; M r. C. E. K eyser, M .A ., F .S.A .;.
M r. O. A . Shrubsole, f . g . S . ; M r S. S. S tallw ood , F .S .A . ; M r.
M ill Stephenson, B .A . F .S .A . ; M r. J. It. le B. Tom lin, M .A ., F .E .s . ;
M r. H. M . W allis, J.P ., M .B.O.U. ; Su perin ten den t, M r. T. W . M .
C olyer.
The M useum and A rt G a llery are open d a ily (Sun­
days ex ce p te d ), January, F ebru ary, N ovem ber and D ecem ber,
10 a.m. till d u s k ; M arch and O ctober, 10 a.m. t ill 5 p .m .;
A pril to Septem ber, Tuesdays, Thursdays, F ridays and Saturdays, 10
a.m. till 6 p.m. ; M ondays & W edn esdays, 10 a.m. till dusk.
The en tran ce to th e M useum and A rt G alleries is b y a sta ir c a se
leadin g from th e v e stib u le o f th e P u b lic L ibrary. The M useum con
tains th e m agnificent S ilch ester c o lle c tio n , th e re su lt o f tIk
ex ca va tion s ca rried ou t at S ilch ester— th e site o f th e R om an o-B ritish
c ity o f Calleva Atrebatum , w here th e w hole o f th e c it y o f ov e r
100 a cres w as unearthed.
The c o lle c tio n is u niqu e so far as
Britain is con cern ed , and contain s a rch itectu ra l rem ains, hun dreds
o f vessels in p ottery , iron w ork in g rea t v a riety , h ou seh old uten sils,
ornam ents, je w e lle r y in g old, s ilv e r and b ron ze, and num erous oth er
o b je c t s illu stra tiv e o f th e e v e ry day life o f th e p e o p le o f Calleva in
that b y -g o n e age o f Rom an rule. The predom in ant fea tu re o f th e
G eneral M useum is loca l arch æ ology . H ere w e see su bsta n tial
ev id en ce th at R ea d in g and im m ediate n eigh bou rh ood has been th e
homo o f man from v e ry rem ote tim es. Each age from th e Early
Stone A g e is rep resen ted b y num erons r e lic s fou nd in th e
lo ca lity . The Natural H istory D epartm ent in clu d es c o lle c tio n s