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Devon Libraries Centenary Collection - Part One: Fiction

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  This year (2024) marks the centenary of a county library service in Devon. The first county librarian was appointed in 1924 and a county library HQ set up in Colleton Crescent. It would be a while until Exeter got a public library of its own, however. A free library had been a part of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum since its opening in 1868, but there was a need for a dedicated building to meet ever increasing need and the expanding collection. A Carnegie Trust grant was offered in 1909 for the construction of a new site, but it wasn't until 1924 that agreement was reached for a plan to build in the grounds of Rougemont House. Things didn't exactly proceed rapidly from that point. A foundation stone was laid in 1928, but it wasn't until October 1930 that the new library had its official opening. It's life was fairly short. On the night of May 5th 1942, it was burned out by the fires started by incendiary bombs dropped during a German bombing raid. All but one of the
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Furry Friends and Farmyard Labourers, Aquarium Drifters and Four-Legged Companions: A Selection of Pets and Domesticated Creatures

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  Here's a new display of books from the stacks in Exeter Library, beneath the stairs. It was suggested by Laura, who noted the large number of books on pets and domestic and farm animals which we have down in the stack. I'm not sure that every breed of dog is covered, but there are certainly a good number, from tiny bag-peeking lapdogs to huge loping hounds. Plenty of cats too. I have tried to keep a balance, but as more of a cat person my natural bias may have crept to the surface.  Anyway, here you'll find pampered pooches and worshipped cats, heavy workhorses and helpful companions, axolotls and zebra finches, furry friends and scaly shimmering swimmers, cocks of the yard and grazers of the meadows, faithful guard dogs and fickle felines, playful puppies and capricious kittens, high-bred best in show and back street scrappers, haughty horses and hauling donkeys, vivarium exotics and goldfishbowl circlers. So enjoy leafing through a selection of books on domesticated ani
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