Town's library marks 'momentous' 100th anniversary

Staff at a town's library have been celebrating its 100th anniversary by reflecting on its past and future.

Ipswich County Library's Northgate Street building officially opened on 3 September 1924.

Information advisor Ellie Hart said it was "very exciting" the service had reached a century and hoped it would continue to evolve.

"We're not just libraries anymore, we are community hubs. We have to move with the times to still exist in them," she said.

Ms Hart knows Ipswich County Library's history in depth, having studied it as part of an apprenticeship project.

She said: "It was your typical public library of the time, it was open to the residents and you had to live in the borough to borrow the books.

"If you were a child and you wanted a library card, it wasn't your parents who had to give you permission, you had to go to your teacher and prove you were a good enough reader."

Ms Hart added she believed it was important that libraries kept modernising to survive.

"I'm hoping that they will just get bigger and brighter and more people realise what they can get from their local library, providing them with access to things that they might be able to get elsewhere.

"So whether that be books, learning, a safe and warm space. Whatever they need."

Suffolk Libraries offers literacy programmes, digital inclusion activities and a health and wellbeing service.

Ipswich County's executive manager Charmain Osborne said books were "still at the heart" of the service but it offered much more.

"We've had gigs, fashion shows, quizzes, we do all sorts of things," she said.

The library has hosted several events and exhibitions to mark the centenary.

Communications manager James Powell described the anniversary as "a momentous occasion".

"This is one of our biggest libraries, so we want to celebrate this with the whole community," he said.

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