Warwickshire Libraries have created displays around the county on the theme of working life in the past.
Amongst the well-known occupations like farming and coal mining, there were lesser-known jobs available to Warwickshire people including taxidermy, leather making, brewing and cement making. Displays also include information about traditional jobs like hairdressing, policing, working for the fire service, railways, the post office and many more.
The displays are created from material within the local history collections held by many libraries in the county and include photographs, books, and other material. Sometimes little is known about a photograph on display so this is also a way of trying to find out more from our customers about the people or places in the photographs. They can be seen at Alcester, Atherstone, Bedworth, Coleshill, Kenilworth, Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby, Southam and Stratford libraries from the 10 September for a month.
For those who want an overview of the counties past occupations you can see a selection in a special online exhibition via the library website.
Cllr Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Economy & Place, said:
“Each September, the selected libraries display photographs and other material from our historic collections highlighting some of our favourite or most interesting resources. We are hoping that our customers will enjoy finding out something new about their local area including those who may be self-isolating at home, via the online exhibition.”
Customers are also welcome to borrow books from the accompanying book displays and staff will be able to help with any local history enquiries.
The displays can be seen in the above libraries during September and a larger display featuring boards from a wider area will be touring around all county run libraries next year.
For information about library opening times, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/libraries