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The National Chess Library (Britain)
July 27, 2021
The National Chess Library has arrived safely at its new home in De Montfort University in Leicester. Here is a link to a light-hearted blog post by David Millns at DMU
https://library.dmu.ac.uk/archivesbl...-Chess-Arrival
in which he says —
‘After many lockdown related delays, recently we were able to take in the library and archive of the English Chess Federation – nearly 200 crates of books! The Library is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the history of chess or looking to pick-up some tips for their own game. The books and journals will be catalogued in due course, but for now the collection can be browsed on the open shelves: just make an appointment via archives@dmu.ac.uk …’
A simple catalogue entry from Katharine Short can be found here – https://de-montfort.epexio.com/records/S/012
_______
A short history of the library from the ecforum.org.uk
"The National Chess Library, the third largest public chess library in the world, was officially opened yesterday at the University Centre Hastings by former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke MP. The English Chess Federation library now has a permanent home in Hastings [...] This was a landmark occasion in the history of chess and the best way to secure the future of the library is to invest in its continued growth. I appeal to everyone who can help to do so by donating their own collection of chess books to the National Library. This can be done by individual donations of duplicates, if you are downsizing or by legacy."
So what happened?
I suspect a lack of resources at its current home to provide cataloguing helped to bring about the state of affairs.
I visited the National Chess Library in the Resource Centre at the University Centre Hastings when I went to the Hastings tournament in 2010-11. Most of the books on display were crammed onto bookshelves in a small room, but they weren't in boxes in a basement. 7000 looked about right. There were some very old (and very valuable) books there. From what I remember, the items had been catalogued. Not sure if that is online, but I definitely remember using the catalogue there to find and look up the oldest chess books they had. It was a perfectly usable resource. Has that changed in the three years since?
(2014) The question I would have is why the current location was trumpeted as a 'permanent location' when it seems it has turned out not to be so. If it requires specialist librarian services, or funding, to promote the resources, why was that not considered at the time? (I will register over there at some point, but am trying to calm down first).
I'm guessing, but I believe that what has happened is loss of interest by the institution based on a fairly small number of people visiting to make use of it (I visited it once in 2008). I have spoken to someone who has used it since and he complained that much of the material had been moved to a basement (for reasons of space) which made it a lot less convenient to use. A subsidary problem is that a lot of recently received material is stored in a rather musty room/ storage facility owned by Hastings Council and we are about to lose use of that too (I think).
The National Chess Library is a real asset and it will be a great pity if a home can't be found for it. I believe that Nigel Short and David Anderton are on the library committee
(2017) The library stock has now been moved from the store in Eastbourne to our new office on the first floor of The Watch Oak. I would like to thank Marc Bryant, Julie Denning, Paul Kelly and Ollie Willson for their collective hard work in achieving this. There are over 200 boxes, some of which weigh in excess of 40 kilos, all of which were manhandled up two flights of stairs.
The next stage is to complete the cataloguing process by getting books onto shelves. We hope to do the majority of this work during one week in September – having the shelving delivered, then moving and sorting through boxes for either display or storage in the loft as a duplicate. We are looking for a handful of reasonably fit volunteers to come to the office and help.
If you have an interest in the library, wish to help, and are free for a week commencing Monday 11th, 18th or 25th of September, we would like to hear from you. We will pay for four nights Bed and Breakfast, and you will be able to claim a daily subsistence allowance as well as reasonable travel expenses.
Please contact me via email, or by letter to the Watch Oak if you are interested, by no later than Monday 7th August.
(2019) The latest statement on the ECF library would appear to be the following item from the board's strategy statement presented to the AGM in October this year: "Work with De Montfort University Leicester to manage the transfer of the library from the Office to the DMU Special Collections facility."
July 27, 2021
The National Chess Library has arrived safely at its new home in De Montfort University in Leicester. Here is a link to a light-hearted blog post by David Millns at DMU
https://library.dmu.ac.uk/archivesbl...-Chess-Arrival
in which he says —
‘After many lockdown related delays, recently we were able to take in the library and archive of the English Chess Federation – nearly 200 crates of books! The Library is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the history of chess or looking to pick-up some tips for their own game. The books and journals will be catalogued in due course, but for now the collection can be browsed on the open shelves: just make an appointment via archives@dmu.ac.uk …’
A simple catalogue entry from Katharine Short can be found here – https://de-montfort.epexio.com/records/S/012
_______
A short history of the library from the ecforum.org.uk
"The National Chess Library, the third largest public chess library in the world, was officially opened yesterday at the University Centre Hastings by former Home Secretary, Charles Clarke MP. The English Chess Federation library now has a permanent home in Hastings [...] This was a landmark occasion in the history of chess and the best way to secure the future of the library is to invest in its continued growth. I appeal to everyone who can help to do so by donating their own collection of chess books to the National Library. This can be done by individual donations of duplicates, if you are downsizing or by legacy."
So what happened?
I suspect a lack of resources at its current home to provide cataloguing helped to bring about the state of affairs.
I visited the National Chess Library in the Resource Centre at the University Centre Hastings when I went to the Hastings tournament in 2010-11. Most of the books on display were crammed onto bookshelves in a small room, but they weren't in boxes in a basement. 7000 looked about right. There were some very old (and very valuable) books there. From what I remember, the items had been catalogued. Not sure if that is online, but I definitely remember using the catalogue there to find and look up the oldest chess books they had. It was a perfectly usable resource. Has that changed in the three years since?
(2014) The question I would have is why the current location was trumpeted as a 'permanent location' when it seems it has turned out not to be so. If it requires specialist librarian services, or funding, to promote the resources, why was that not considered at the time? (I will register over there at some point, but am trying to calm down first).
I'm guessing, but I believe that what has happened is loss of interest by the institution based on a fairly small number of people visiting to make use of it (I visited it once in 2008). I have spoken to someone who has used it since and he complained that much of the material had been moved to a basement (for reasons of space) which made it a lot less convenient to use. A subsidary problem is that a lot of recently received material is stored in a rather musty room/ storage facility owned by Hastings Council and we are about to lose use of that too (I think).
The National Chess Library is a real asset and it will be a great pity if a home can't be found for it. I believe that Nigel Short and David Anderton are on the library committee
(2017) The library stock has now been moved from the store in Eastbourne to our new office on the first floor of The Watch Oak. I would like to thank Marc Bryant, Julie Denning, Paul Kelly and Ollie Willson for their collective hard work in achieving this. There are over 200 boxes, some of which weigh in excess of 40 kilos, all of which were manhandled up two flights of stairs.
The next stage is to complete the cataloguing process by getting books onto shelves. We hope to do the majority of this work during one week in September – having the shelving delivered, then moving and sorting through boxes for either display or storage in the loft as a duplicate. We are looking for a handful of reasonably fit volunteers to come to the office and help.
If you have an interest in the library, wish to help, and are free for a week commencing Monday 11th, 18th or 25th of September, we would like to hear from you. We will pay for four nights Bed and Breakfast, and you will be able to claim a daily subsistence allowance as well as reasonable travel expenses.
Please contact me via email, or by letter to the Watch Oak if you are interested, by no later than Monday 7th August.
(2019) The latest statement on the ECF library would appear to be the following item from the board's strategy statement presented to the AGM in October this year: "Work with De Montfort University Leicester to manage the transfer of the library from the Office to the DMU Special Collections facility."
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