CITY LIBRARIAN Available to Purchase

In 1946 F. G. B. Hutchings succeeded R. J. Gordon as City Librarian of Leeds after three years as his deputy. By then Gordon had greatly improved the Leeds library system, bringing it up to the best standards of the time, building attractive new branch libraries, and achieving adequate coverage of most areas of the city. Leeds always had a large acreage, larger by far than more populous cities like Manchester or Liverpool, and even in the 1920s and 1930s it was pursuing a very extensive programme of slum clearance and building large new housing estates. In part consequence of this its full‐time branches have always been supplemented by a large number of small part‐time libraries, many in hired premises.