SWANSEA: THREE CHIEFS IN FIVE DECADES

THE ABOVE advertisement appeared in The Cambrian of 20th August 1875, and in the two following editions of this weekly newspaper. Swansea had adopted the Public Libraries Acts at a lively and rather stormy meeting in October 1870. Until December 1874, the matter of establishing a library service lay in abeyance. Then after mounting criticism, particularly in the local press, over the long delay in implementation of the Acts, the Town Council appointed a Library Committee which held its initial meeting on 8 January 1875. Their first important duty was to appoint a librarian.