In the first Barber Institute Director’s Report in May 1936, Thomas Bodkin stated that £360 was spent on books up to the date of writing and Dr. Bonser, the University Librarian, was mostly responsible for selecting and cataloguing the material, although a number of valuable volumes were also donated by foreign scholars and Queen Mary.
Originally there was no space in the Barber to keep the books, so the majority were housed in the Main University Library in Edmund Street. This situation continued until 1940 when all the books that had been purchased by the Barber were housed in the Institute along with some books on the fine arts which were lent from the Main University Library. There were 4,063 volumes in the library when Bodkin retired in 1952.
Ellis Waterhouse succeeded Bodkin as Director in 1952 and the library collection grew considerably during his tenure, not least because he donated many books from his own collection. There also continued to be a steady stream of donations from individuals and institutions.
In 1953 substantial alterations were made to the main reading room to increase shelf space. The librarian, Frank Simpson, reported that this had led to a marked increase in the use of the library by university members. By the time Waterhouse left the Barber in 1970, the library collection had risen to 16,149 volumes.
In the early 1990s, after Richard Verdi was appointed as the Director, what had been the Director’s office became a reading room for staff and students. The additional shelf space accommodated material from the University’s main collection. These books were loanable in contrast to material owned by the Barber Trust, which was, by this time reference only except for curatorial and teaching staff. Further reference material including periodicals and rare books were housed in closed stacks in the Institute’s basement.
Further changes to the interior occurred in 1998 when a new access control system was installed. To accommodate this, the librarian’s office was modernised to include an open plan staff area where the Librarian and the Library Assistant were seated. Prior to this, the library assistant’s desk was situated in the main reading room along with 2 student PCs. The photocopier was in the librarian’s office and all photocopying was carried out by staff.
In 2010, the Barber’s rare books were moved to take advantage of improved conditions in the newly-opened Cadbury Research Library, and in 2016, the loan collection was moved back to the Main Library and all material in the stacks was moved to the Research Reserve in the Main Library.
From November 2022, the Barber Fine Art Library has been under the control of the University’s Special Collections.
Further reading