Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
@thefnl.bsky.social
Friends of the Nations’ Libraries, or FNL, awards grants for acquisitions to regional and national archives, libraries and museums. www.fnl.org.uk.
Pinned
Applying for grants | Friends of the Nations' Libraries
www.fnl.org.uk
*Apply now* for acquisition grants for rare books, mss, archives, fine bindings etc. UK's national, regional, local and specialist collecting institutions are eligible. Next trustees' meeting is soon, so apply now if you have an acquisition in your sights & need support.
www.fnl.org.uk/apply
www.fnl.org.uk/apply
Delighted we could support the acquisition of these rare newsletters and ephemera that capture a pivotal moment -when ordinary tenants fought for dignity and security amid rising rents, overcrowding, and inadequate repairs under relaxed rent controls.
@senatehouselib.bsky.social has acquired a unique collection of bulletins published by London tenants in wartime #London thanks to a generous grant from @thefnl.bsky.social
#libraries #archives #ephemera #WorkingClassHistory #WW2
See here for more👇
#libraries #archives #ephemera #WorkingClassHistory #WW2
See here for more👇
Senate House Library acquires fascinating collection of wartime tenants’ rights bulletins
Senate House Library Head of Collections Lucy Evans on how a Friends of the Nations’ Libraries grant allowed the purchase of unique wartime publications by working class Londoners
www.london.ac.uk
January 9, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Delighted we could support the acquisition of these rare newsletters and ephemera that capture a pivotal moment -when ordinary tenants fought for dignity and security amid rising rents, overcrowding, and inadequate repairs under relaxed rent controls.
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
A rare first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), annotated by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel, has been jointly acquired by Christ Church, Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries!
Read more: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/2026/jan/alice-acquisition
Read more: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/2026/jan/alice-acquisition
January 8, 2026 at 4:51 PM
A rare first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), annotated by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel, has been jointly acquired by Christ Church, Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries!
Read more: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/2026/jan/alice-acquisition
Read more: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/2026/jan/alice-acquisition
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
Thanks to our 2020 grant @uonlibraries.bsky.social conserved the collection of Thos. Hine, Nottingham Architect, dating from 17C-19C. The collection was too fragile for access but it's now been digitised & the online catalogue was just launched! mss-cat.nottingham.ac.uk/Calmview/
December 20, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Thanks to our 2020 grant @uonlibraries.bsky.social conserved the collection of Thos. Hine, Nottingham Architect, dating from 17C-19C. The collection was too fragile for access but it's now been digitised & the online catalogue was just launched! mss-cat.nottingham.ac.uk/Calmview/
More press coverage for this brilliant find! www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history...
History of Cambridge area brought to life as rare book returns to city
The book is thought to be the only of its kind in existence, giving an insight into daily life in one part of Cambridge
www.cambridge-news.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 8:17 AM
More press coverage for this brilliant find! www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history...
Great coverage for a great find! Delighted that @thefnl.bsky.social could help!
Cambridgeshire Archives has bought The Terrier of John Chettoe's Property in Chesterton from a private owner in South Africa. The document offers a snapshot of life in an 18th century village which is now a suburb of Cambridge. 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chesterton historical land survey offers snapshot of village life
An 18th Century survey reveals details of life in Chesterton before it became a Cambridge suburb.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Great coverage for a great find! Delighted that @thefnl.bsky.social could help!
We’re delighted we could,thanks to generous donors, buy Charlotte’s Book of Ryhmes (sic) in 2022 and donate it to Brontë Parsonage to join the others we donated to BPM in 2021 from the #BlavatnikHonresfieldLibrary! The reading, when we welcomed it back to the UK, of 2 of the poems was magical.
A #tinyjoy to take you into the weekend. I just learned that 13- year-old Charlotte Brontë's TINY book, A Book of Ryhmes [sic] (it measures 9.5 cm by 6 cm) contains a poem titled "A Thing OF fourteen Line's. commonly called a" (& her tiny handwriting made the next word illegible.) #BookHistory
November 29, 2025 at 8:14 AM
We’re delighted we could,thanks to generous donors, buy Charlotte’s Book of Ryhmes (sic) in 2022 and donate it to Brontë Parsonage to join the others we donated to BPM in 2021 from the #BlavatnikHonresfieldLibrary! The reading, when we welcomed it back to the UK, of 2 of the poems was magical.
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
We've got some HUGE news! We've DOUBLED in size overnight! Not only have we added "some" more Cairo Genizah fragments, but "ALL" of them @theul.bsky.social !!!
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
November 28, 2025 at 10:06 AM
We've got some HUGE news! We've DOUBLED in size overnight! Not only have we added "some" more Cairo Genizah fragments, but "ALL" of them @theul.bsky.social !!!
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
#Museum30 theme 27 is #achievement. It’s been remarkable achievement for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library to have undertaken major restoration of 17th century building. Help us achieve next phase to redevelop Undercroft to create accessible welcome, interpretation, engagement and exhibition…/👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:10 AM
#Museum30 theme 27 is #achievement. It’s been remarkable achievement for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library to have undertaken major restoration of 17th century building. Help us achieve next phase to redevelop Undercroft to create accessible welcome, interpretation, engagement and exhibition…/👇
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Librarian
The Library of the Scott Polar Research Institute is one of the most comprehensive collections of published polar information in the world. This highly specialist reference collection, which attracts
www.cam.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍
📜
📜
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!
#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
We are so pleased to share that Beckford’s Tower and Museum has won two awards in this year’s Bristol Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards:
🏅 Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award: Bronze
🏅 Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Gold
A huge well done to our brilliant team who have made this possible 👏
🏅 Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award: Bronze
🏅 Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Gold
A huge well done to our brilliant team who have made this possible 👏
November 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
We are so pleased to share that Beckford’s Tower and Museum has won two awards in this year’s Bristol Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards:
🏅 Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award: Bronze
🏅 Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Gold
A huge well done to our brilliant team who have made this possible 👏
🏅 Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award: Bronze
🏅 Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Gold
A huge well done to our brilliant team who have made this possible 👏
Delighted to help @theul.bsky.social acquire this important archive. Levy's life was sadly short but she wrote 3 vols. of verse, three novels & more. Oscar Wilde saw ‘a touch of genius’ in her stories. She is increasingly recognised as an important late-Victorian writer & pioneering social figure.
The archive of enigmatic 19th-century writer Amy Levy has a new home at Cambridge University Library.
Find out more: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc
Thank you to our supporters, including: @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.
Find out more: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc
Thank you to our supporters, including: @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.
November 14, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Delighted to help @theul.bsky.social acquire this important archive. Levy's life was sadly short but she wrote 3 vols. of verse, three novels & more. Oscar Wilde saw ‘a touch of genius’ in her stories. She is increasingly recognised as an important late-Victorian writer & pioneering social figure.
Delighted that we were able to award a grant to help @leedsunilibraries.bsky.social acquire this important archive!
Today, we are celebrating the archive of the wonderful Peepal Tree Press, an archive that we are so blessed to have at @leedsunilibraries.bsky.social and @lulgalleries.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Delighted that we were able to award a grant to help @leedsunilibraries.bsky.social acquire this important archive!
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December.
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December.
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.
Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
A big thank you to everyone who attended our curator-led tour of Spineless Wonders yesterday. Both in person and online. Spineless Wonders is still running until 29 November so there’s still plenty of time to see it!
October 23, 2025 at 2:27 PM
A big thank you to everyone who attended our curator-led tour of Spineless Wonders yesterday. Both in person and online. Spineless Wonders is still running until 29 November so there’s still plenty of time to see it!
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
Watch this excellent video of the conservation of a letter by Sir Joseph Banks, 1773. NMCT gave a grant to @josephbankssociety.bsky.social to make this possible; Yeaseul Jung was the conservator (and filmmaker).
vimeo.com/1129479950?f...
vimeo.com/1129479950?f...
Conservation of the Sir Joseph Banks letter of 1773
Conservation of letter from Sir Joseph Banks about the 1773 Polar exhibition. The project was funded by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust (www.nmct.co.uk)…
vimeo.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Watch this excellent video of the conservation of a letter by Sir Joseph Banks, 1773. NMCT gave a grant to @josephbankssociety.bsky.social to make this possible; Yeaseul Jung was the conservator (and filmmaker).
vimeo.com/1129479950?f...
vimeo.com/1129479950?f...
Christopher de Hamel, expert in medieval manuscripts, gave a 'magnificent' lecture this week on the 13th-century Sarum Master Bible. The packed lecture was at @salisburycathedral.bsky.social, to which FNL donated the Bible last year. The Bible is on display in the Cathedral until 2nd November.
October 23, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Christopher de Hamel, expert in medieval manuscripts, gave a 'magnificent' lecture this week on the 13th-century Sarum Master Bible. The packed lecture was at @salisburycathedral.bsky.social, to which FNL donated the Bible last year. The Bible is on display in the Cathedral until 2nd November.
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
This 1200's copy of Peter Lombard's Sentences has many marginal notes. This copy was made by a professional and use by at least one of the Worcester monks (WCL F8 f.3r).
October 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
This 1200's copy of Peter Lombard's Sentences has many marginal notes. This copy was made by a professional and use by at least one of the Worcester monks (WCL F8 f.3r).
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
The programme for this years annual conference Scotland's Archives and Records: Celebrating Success is now live!
Join us to hear an inspiring lineup of speakers from across the sector as they share their achievements on a range of exciting topics.
View: www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/sca-a...
Join us to hear an inspiring lineup of speakers from across the sector as they share their achievements on a range of exciting topics.
View: www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/sca-a...
SCA Annual Conference 2025 Programme is Live - Scottish Council on Archives
13 October 2025
www.scottisharchives.org.uk
October 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The programme for this years annual conference Scotland's Archives and Records: Celebrating Success is now live!
Join us to hear an inspiring lineup of speakers from across the sector as they share their achievements on a range of exciting topics.
View: www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/sca-a...
Join us to hear an inspiring lineup of speakers from across the sector as they share their achievements on a range of exciting topics.
View: www.scottisharchives.org.uk/latest/sca-a...
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
Celebrating archival collections in Cambridge and beyond, join us for the 2025 Sandars Lecture Series by Joan Winterkorn MBE.
11 & 12 November, 5-6pm.
🎟️ Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs
11 & 12 November, 5-6pm.
🎟️ Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs
October 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Celebrating archival collections in Cambridge and beyond, join us for the 2025 Sandars Lecture Series by Joan Winterkorn MBE.
11 & 12 November, 5-6pm.
🎟️ Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs
11 & 12 November, 5-6pm.
🎟️ Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs
A wonderful addition to CUL's collections and a fantastically generous donation from Herbert Kretzmer's family.
💫Today marks the 40th anniversary of the London premiere of Les Misérables! We are honoured to hold the archive of Herbert Kretzmer, the renowned lyricist of the English language version of #LesMis.
🔎Learn more: loom.ly/V0cRKHg
@cam.ac.uk
🔎Learn more: loom.ly/V0cRKHg
@cam.ac.uk
'Born under a rhyming planet'
Archive of famed Les Misérables lyricist Herbert Kretzmer has a new home at Cambridge University Library
loom.ly
October 8, 2025 at 10:10 AM
A wonderful addition to CUL's collections and a fantastically generous donation from Herbert Kretzmer's family.
This IS good news!
Good news 📣
Walsall #Archives is extending its opening hours to include Fridays and the first Saturday of every month! Offering residents, researchers and history enthusiasts more opportunities to explore the borough’s rich heritage.
#ArchivesWM
Walsall #Archives is extending its opening hours to include Fridays and the first Saturday of every month! Offering residents, researchers and history enthusiasts more opportunities to explore the borough’s rich heritage.
#ArchivesWM
Walsall Archives extends opening hours to welcome more visitors | Walsall Council
Walsall Archives extends opening hours to welcome more visitors
go.walsall.gov.uk
October 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
This IS good news!
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
Behind the Scenes Experience! See areas of the record office not normally accessible to the public including our strongroom, conservation studio and view some of our favourite documents.
📅 7 October 2025
⏲️ 10:00-11:30
🎫 £7, booking essential buff.ly/4L4EDrm
#behindthescenes
📅 7 October 2025
⏲️ 10:00-11:30
🎫 £7, booking essential buff.ly/4L4EDrm
#behindthescenes
October 2, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Behind the Scenes Experience! See areas of the record office not normally accessible to the public including our strongroom, conservation studio and view some of our favourite documents.
📅 7 October 2025
⏲️ 10:00-11:30
🎫 £7, booking essential buff.ly/4L4EDrm
#behindthescenes
📅 7 October 2025
⏲️ 10:00-11:30
🎫 £7, booking essential buff.ly/4L4EDrm
#behindthescenes
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
For this week’s blog, Archivist Nicola opens the page on the work she has been doing to safely move the archives and local studies collections from Sutton Coldfield Library to the Library of Birmingham - theironroom.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/s... Image Ref: BCU/13 #LibraryofBham #RoyalSutColTC
October 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM
For this week’s blog, Archivist Nicola opens the page on the work she has been doing to safely move the archives and local studies collections from Sutton Coldfield Library to the Library of Birmingham - theironroom.wordpress.com/2025/09/29/s... Image Ref: BCU/13 #LibraryofBham #RoyalSutColTC
Reposted by Friends of the Nations’ Libraries
Staffordshire History Centre www.expressandstar.com/your-world/2...
Popularity of new history centre amongst county’s archives service successes
High visitor numbers, thousands of volunteer hours given, well-attended events and strong customer satisfaction at the new Staffordshire History Centre are amongst the successes of the county’s Archiv...
www.expressandstar.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Staffordshire History Centre www.expressandstar.com/your-world/2...