A very significant library birthday

It is not every day that libraries have significant birthdays, but here in Horbury, West Yorkshire, just such an opportunity has occurred. For it was on 14 February 1906 that our Carnegie Library was opened before a large group of local dignitaries.

In the summer of 2025 the members of the Friends of Horbury Library committee were aware that Horbury Library would celebrate its 120th anniversary the following year. Appropriately this would fall on Valentine’s Day (because doesn’t everyone love their local library!)

Deciding how to celebrate

Ideas of what could be done to celebrate the occasion came thick and fast. We would invite the Mayor, we had to have a special cake, we had to have the award-winning Horbury Victoria Band and we had to ensure there were special events for young people so that memories would be made for a new generation 120 years on from the award of Andrew Carnegie’s £2000 grant towards the library.

What we were certain about was that we wanted (and needed) the active involvement of the various Horbury community organisations and businesses.

A project plan was drawn up, led by the Friends Group, more than six months in the planning. The Library Service had said ‘it’s your party’ so we were given relative free rein in terms of ideas.

Funding was key. The Friends have a small bank balance not sufficient to cover our potential plans, so money had to be raised. The 120th anniversary was announced to the public via an ex-library book sale at the Horbury Summer Street Fair, jointly run by the Friends and the Horbury library team. That provided our first significant injection of funds.

The Friends are a constituted group, so able to apply for funding not available to the statutory library service. In Horbury we have the historic Horbury Common Lands Trust that awards grants to causes that benefit the people of Horbury. Our plans seemed tailor made to their award criteria and our application was successful to particularly finance our ideas for children’s and older people’s activities.

Support from local business

Local businesses supported the plans. A magnificent four-tier book cake was donated by the local baker (Boulby’s), who said that his family have been in Horbury for 200 years so wanted to contribute to the party. The prizes for the commemorative bookmark competition were provided by the local bookshop, and the winning entries were printed by the local printer. Biffa, the local contracted waste management company delivered recycling crafts sessions free of charge. The Horbury History Group mounted an exhibition on the history of the library, drawing on council minutes preserved in the West Yorkshire Archives, revealing those arcane rules that were in place in early 20th century public libraries (blacking out the horse racing information in newspapers, for example).

A memorable day for Horbury Library

As in 1906, Valentine’s Day in 2026 was a memorable day for Horbury Library and indeed for Horbury itself. The Horbury Victoria Band struck up ‘Happy Birthday’ as the Mayor cut the amazing cake. The crowded library was entertained by the band, enjoyed slices of cake and took part in the many activities as well as chatting to old and new friends they met on the day. It was particularly pleasing to see the mingling of local personalities, businesses and civic dignitaries (our local councillors were as always fully supportive) and senior staff of the local authority all brought together within the walls of our library.

The planning and drawing together all of the strands was not always straightforward. Some ideas did not make the cut and we had to be realistic as to how much we could deliver as a committee of seven, although non-committee Friends took on the judging of the commemorative bookmark entries, photography on the day and tombola management.

The partnership between the volunteers and the library service was already positive but the 120th celebrations brought closer together the Friends group, the Library Service and crucially, the local community. 

Community driven from the cake to the printing to the band, the celebrations showed how libraries can be an effective vehicle for community celebration.

The Friends of Horbury Library can be reached at friendsofhorburylibrary@gmail.com.