Cautious welcome to options for library

ANANGUS community group has given a cautious welcome to plans for the development of a historic Victorian library.

Members of Edzell Library Action Group (ELAG) said they were pleased that Angus Council’s neighbourhood services committee had opted to further explore options for the town’s Inglis Memorial Hall but are continuing to press for a lending service.

The building is in line to be revamped into a tourist attraction.

However, local people want to see a library with a part-time member of staff reinstated.

In a joint statement, Duncan and Jean Smedley of ELAG said: “It must be remembered that no decision has been made as to what exactly will happen.

“A stand-alone Victorian library is only one of the ideas which the council are considering.

“The council have repeatedly assured us that all options will be considered and we hope that this will indeed be the case.”

The Inglis Memorial Hall was recently upgraded by Historic Scotland to a category A-listed building because of its status as a rare and unusual example of a surviving 19th Century library.

If restoration plans do go ahead, the hall could be restored to its original 1898 layout.

The library consists of a collection of some 6,000 volumes, gifted to the village by Lieutenant Colonel RW Inglis at the end of the 19th Century, and is considered to be the best preserved example of a Victorian public library in the UK.

Mr and Mrs Smedley added: “Combining the elements of the historic library and a modern lending library in the old library room is just one of the options.

“The eventual decision must be based on the requirements of the trust and be in the best interests of the local community.”

The building also contains the original Cotgreave Indicator Issue System, which contains loan records, printed catalogues and lists of regulations.

ELAG’s members have been fighting for the return of a designated library service since the hall was closed down in 2010.

At the moment Edzell is served by a mobile library that tours the rural communities of Angus.

Forbes Inglis launched his new book, the Sea Enriches: A Gable Ender’s Trawl Through Time, at Montrose Museum on Saturday. From the time of William Wallace through to the emergence of North Sea oil, the sea has been good to Montrose and its...

From left: May Sutherland, Tim Willits, Mitzi Butler, Jim Willits and Ed Thomson in the bell-rope room.