Catalogue description MINET LIBRARY

The site and building of this library were given by William Minet. After the death of his wife Alice in 1887 he offered to present the freehold site which he had intended for a hall for the tenants of the Minet Estate to the Vestry of Camberwell, and pay for the erection of a library in her memory. As the site was so near the border with Lambeth, the Lambeth Library Commissioners agreed to share the running expenses with Camberwell and in fact the library became part of Lambeth when boundaries were adjusted at the time the Metropolitan Boroughs were formed. However, the joint committee ran the library which to some extent remained separate from the rest of the Lambeth system until 1856.

The building was opened on 19 July 1890 by Sir Lyon Playfair M.P., William Minet been opposed to any opening ceremony. However, Mr Minet represented Lambeth on the joint committee until 1933, and his daughter Susan subsequently became chairman. On 8th December 1940 the library was bombed, and only the basement survived. A temporary service was run from Longfield Hall, and from 1941 from the basement, with a temporary building on the ground floor for the children's library. A new building was opened on 18 April 1959.

The library also houses the Coucil's Archives Department. William Minet presented the new library with his extensive collection of books, manuscript, illustrations etc, relating to the county of Surrey (of which Lambeth formed part until 1888, and this collection, known as the Surrey collection, was added to over the years. Fortunately, it was not damaged by the bombing. In 1926 it was recognised by the Master of the Rolls as a repository for manorial documents. A professional archivist was appointed in 1956, but it was not until 1969 that the council formally recognised the department's responsibility for the records of the London Borough of Lambeth and its predecessors.

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