Who were the borrowers?
The borrowing book recorded the names of all those who took out loans from the library. The first borrowing book covers the period from the first loan in November 1901 to March 1915, during which time there were 3,810 loans taken out, more than five a week.
The diverse records in the Quarry Bank archive allow us to match the borrowers' names with other data held on them. We know that the library was popular with mill workers, manual laborers, shop assistants, domestic servants, dress makers, boot makers, house wives, students, farmers and gardeners, as well as clerks, teachers and store managers.
Together with Dr Ruth Colton from the University of Manchester, we've been researching which kinds of books readers preferred and have built up a picture of popular tastes among the workers. Follow the link below to find out more about the different genres in the Workers' Library.