Woodbrooke Trustees announced in February that they had agreed with the University of Birmingham Special Collections to transfer significant parts of Woodbrooke’s library collections on a permanent loan basis.
This comprises the Bevan-Naish Collection of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century books, tracts and broadsides and the Quaker collection of books, pamphlets and theses relating to Quaker subjects. This transfer will ensure that this material will be accessible for research and learning in the future – including by Friends conducting their own research as well as our students who are part of our PhD programme with the University of Birmingham.
The library at Woodbrooke will close to all access from Monday 26 June to enable the move to take place. It will take about two months to complete the move. We envisage that the material that is being transferred will be available at the Cadbury Research Library from early September. We are in the process of contacting all registered readers who have books on loan, asking them to return these to Woodbrooke, if you are a current borrower please look out for this email.
Trustees and staff are working on the most appropriate way of rehoming the rest of the collection. Our intention is that as much material as possible will remain in Quaker ownership or will be offered to other libraries.
You can view our Library catalogue online here.
For any enquiries about the library, please contact us via library@woodbrooke.org.uk
Transfer of the Woodbrooke Library FAQs
The Quaker Library
The Quaker Library consists of about 10,000 items dating from the 17th century to the present day. All substantial British Quaker publications are stocked, as well as many more ephemeral items from Britain and many important books from abroad. Full runs of major pamphlet series, over 100 current and past Quaker periodicals, audio-visual material and a number of relevant PhD theses are also kept.
Download the Quaker periodicals catalogue
Friends House Library
The Library of the Society of Friends, based at Friends House, is one of the largest Quaker collections in the world. It includes books, journals, manuscripts and visual resources, as well as the archives of the central organisation of Quakers in Britain.
Friends House library catalogue
Local Quaker history
For local Quaker history, we suggest that you contact the Library of Birmingham which holds the archives and records of Central England Area Meeting (previously Warwickshire Monthly Meeting).
