We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.
Treasure 90: Torry and Ferryhill libraries
of 1

Treasure 90: Torry and Ferryhill libraries

Historic Documents
Léa Moreau
This item is active and ready to use
Treasure 90: Torry and Ferryhill libraries
Historic Documents
302
Treasure 90: Torry and Ferryhill libraries
Both Torry and Ferryhill Branch Reading Rooms opened on 19 December 1903 as part of the General Extension Scheme to provide a library presence in what were regarded as outlying areas of the City.

In November 1901 the Council Finance Committee sanctioned the acquisition of a piece of ground at the corner of Victoria Road and Grampian Road where Torry Library would be built. A site was secured at the corner of Fonthill Road and the Hardgate in August 1901 for Ferryhill Library.

Both libraries were supported by Andrew Carnegie who, having previously donated money for the building of the Central Library, promised £1750 for each of the Branch reading rooms.
It was the aim of the Library Committee that the Branches should be "educative and attractive in every sense" and with this in mind the walls were hung with reproductions of works by artist such as Constable, Turner, Joseph Farquharson and others.

The success of the new branches was very apparent from the statistics. In the first nine months of opening, attendance at Torry numbered 31,567 with 63,711 at Ferryhill. Once the delivery stations were set up, book issues (including those for Old Aberdeen) totalled 13,530 volumes of which over 10,000 were fiction. By 1939, Torry and Ferryhill were well on their way to becoming fully established branch libraries.

Take a look at the early history of the libraries in the Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen.
Photographs
TR13_02
Torry Library, Ferryhill Library
Aberdeen Local Studies
Yes
Other Items Like This
Dee Village Electricity Works
Treasure 15: Tramways routes