Hidden gems at library's open day

By Freya McClements
BBC News

Maura Craig is the senior librarian at the Central Library in Derry

From photographs of hundreds of shirt factory workers leaving Tillie and Henderson at the end of a hard day, to copies of 19th century newspapers, Derry's Central Library has a lot more than just books.

These are just some of the hidden gems about to be revealed on Friday, when the library throws open its private archive to the public.

Containing everything from maps dating from siege times to modern Council minutes, the archive aims to be as complete a record of life in the city as possible.

Maura Craig is senior librarian at the Central library on Foyle Street.

"We're letting people see items that are normally closed access," she explained.

"People can come and ask to see them, but they don't always know what's here, so this is about giving the public access to material they wouldn't normally see."

The books in the collection are all related to Derry or Donegal.

This photograph of the killer whale 'Dopey Dick' is just one of many in the collection. Pic courtesy Central Library

"We try and keep a copy of every local book published," said Maura.

"Obviously some of these are valuable, particularly the older ones, but it's also because local books are so popular - we could put them out on the shelves, but they wouldn't last a week.

"We also keep copies of local periodicals such as 'Community Mirror' or 'Waterside Voices'.

"These are things that don't often get kept, so it's about preserving the history of the city for the next generation."

The collection contains many items of particular interest to genealogists.

"We have the 'Derry Almanac' from as far back as 1871.

"It lists all the streets and who lived there, so if you're looking for your family and you think they lived in, say, Ferguson Street, you can look it up and check.

"It doesn't give as much information as, for example, a census, but it's a great starting point," she said.

Photographs are also a large part of the collection.

"We recently acquired the Bigger McDonald collection, which is a huge collection of photographs from the early 20th century.

"These are all on CD at the moment, and we're hoping to put up an exhibition on them later this year.

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"We have everything from scenes of emigration to Dana - and, of course, many photographs of buildings that are no longer there.

"Rossville Flats, Tillie and Henderson's shirt factory, and Boom Hall... the photographs are a valuable record of what the city used to look like.

"There are pictures of Boom Hall in its glory days, with parties going on and cars parked outside.

"Now it's just derelict - but it's useful for the current generation to see how things used to look.

"We're interested in every different aspect of the city's life, and we try to keep a copy of everything we can that relates to it," Maura said.

The archive at the Central Library, Foyle Street, Derry, will be open to the public from 10am-4pm on Friday, 26 September.

For more information contact the library on [phone].