Free Library (Bharat Bhavan), Mill Road, Cambridge

One of the many fine Victorian buildings which still survive on Mill Road is the old Branch Library, which opened in 1897.

From books to Bhajans

Since 1998 the Indian Community and Cultural Association (ICCA) have made this special building their home and created a Holy Hindu shrine within its walls. The old library building has made a fascinating transition from books to Bhajans, a Hindu song or hymn.

Lending libraries existed in Cambridge from the 18th century as private members clubs. The earliest was probably the Bull Book Club, founded in 1748, which met weekly and had a library of over 2000 volumes. With the passing of the Public Libraries Act in 1850, local authorities were able to finance free public libraries out of the rates. Cambridge was the seventh town in England to implement the new legislation, opening its Town Library in 1855.

The Town Library was a great success, under the guidance of Mr John Pink, Cambridge’s first librarian; a post he was to hold for more than 51 years. Public pressure mounted for a branch library in the expanding Barnwell district of Cambridge. A low-roofed tile shed off East Road opened in 1875 as the Barnwell Reading Room. But soon plans for a more suitable home were made.

‘A handsome, light building’

The Barnwell area of Cambridge was growing, and by the late 19th century it was estimated there were around 12,000 people living there. A site on Mill Road was sold to the Town Council for 10 shillings by the Guardians of the Poor. Architect Frank Waters of Sidney Street, Cambridge, produced the designs for the new building at a cost of £128. It was built in red brick by local builder Coulson & Lofts for a cost of £1,619, with a further £80 spent on fittings.

The Mill Road Branch library was officially opened on Wednesday 2nd June 1897, by Mayor Horace Darwin. The Cambridge Chronicle newspaper described “a light, handsome building … admirably constructed” in red brick and Mansfield stone, topped with an octagon cupola with amber glazing. It also reported on the opening ceremony where 270 local dignitaries attended a buffet and art exhibition. The building was decorated with fairy lamps and coloured lights spelling ‘VR’ in a crown, in honour of the Queen.

A poster of 1897 described the new building as, “One large room, one half forming the Reading Room and the other half the Lending Library. Every provision has been made for the comfort and convenience of borrowers and readers, and separate tables are set apart for the use of the ladies.”

The main room was divided into a Reading Room, with magazines and periodicals, and a Lending Library. The first Librarian, Mr Henry Robinson, was paid £65 per year, with a deduction of £5 for the cleaning. The library was open Monday to Saturday. Books were issued to borrowers either to read in the reading room or to take home, and in its first year it is recorded that 19,052 books were borrowed.

A century of reading

From the outset, Mill Road Library was well-used by the local community and was open over 50 hours each week. It was not until 1923, however, that an open access system was introduced, whereby borrowers were free to browse the bookshelves. Before this, books had to be requested by the borrower, who consulted a catalogue. During World War Two, the Library was closed during ‘black-out’ and narrowly avoided a direct hit when bombs were dropped near Mill Road Bridge in January 1941. Yet, by the end of the war the number of books issued had risen to 158,000 per year.

Photographs taken in 1955 show changes to the interior, most noticeably a false ceiling to lower the heating costs. Also shown is the issue desk and the evidence of the old manual system, where borrowers’ library cards were set in long wooden issue drawers, which many people fondly recall.

Many local people have fond memories of regular visits to the library as children. As far back as 1903, Mr Pink established a very popular evening reading room for “clean and well-behaved children”. Local Cambridge author Fred Unwin called the Library ‘My University’, a title which was later used by Dr Henry Tribe in his history of the building.

From the late 1960s there were reductions to the opening hours of Mill Road Library and years of debate as to its future. A report of 1971 found extensive repairs and modernization were needed. However after 1974 the library service was due to be transferred to the new County Council. In spite of fierce local opposition, the library finally closed its doors in March 1996. The building was used for three winters as a night shelter for the homeless for the charity Winter Comfort. Local groups bid for a long-term lease, and in 1998 the Indian Community and Cultural Association have were confirmed as the new tenants, and so began a whole new chapter for the building.

Library memories

“My first memories of it were when I was taken to become a member, by my father, when I was seven. My first impressions were not good. It was very dark inside with the wooden shelves and very little outside light filtering through. The shelves were full of books with no brightly coloured sleeves. None of this deterred me from borrowing books. At that time you had your own individual ticket into which the slips from the books which you were borrowing were placed. The other thing that struck me was how quiet it was. You could literally hear a pin drop as everyone was talking in whispers. I took full advantage of the reading room where I was able to read the comics ‘Hotspur’ and ‘Champion’ which I was not allowed to have at home.”  Mr Peter Wright

“I used the Mill Road Library till I went into the RAF for National Service. I remember ‘old men’ reading newspapers and keeping warm in the reading section. Now I’m the old man and have to travel to the Central Library for my books. Things don’t change!”  Mr Derek Wilkin

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Census Information & Time line

17 May 1897 – The Mill Road Branch Library was officially opened, providing the rapidly growing Petersfield and Romsey districts with their first permanent public library. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 17 May 1897.)

5 October 1898 – The annual report of Cambridge Public Free Library recorded that the Mill Road Branch held 6,600 volumes. New reading rooms had also opened elsewhere in the town, demonstrating the success of the public library movement. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 5 October 1898.)

26 September 1899 – Library statistics showed that 293 new borrowers had joined the Mill Road Branch during the year, underlining its popularity and the growing demand for books among local residents. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 26 September 1899.)

13 July 1900 – The scrapbook records further developments at the Mill Road Library, reflecting its continuing role as an important civic institution. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 13 July 1900.)

1901
Free Library

2 December 1903 – A children’s reading room was opened at the Mill Road Library. Demand exceeded expectations, with children queuing outside for admission. Contemporary reports praised both their behaviour and the educational value of the new facility. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 2 December 1903.)

3 December 1903 – Newspapers welcomed the children’s reading room, noting that it encouraged reading, cleanliness and good behaviour while providing a safe place for young people after school. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 3 December 1903.)

9 December 1905 – Cambridge Corporation completed its new Municipal Store Yard on land behind the Mill Road Library, strengthening the library’s position at the centre of an expanding civic complex. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 9 December 1905.)

1913
Cambridge Free Library and Reading Room Mill Road branch
H J Robinson, librarian

5 September 1913 – During debate over extending the Guildhall, speakers argued that investment in suburban reading rooms was equally important, pointing to the busy Mill Road reading room each evening as evidence of its value to the community. (Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 5 September 1913.)

1923 Open-access shelving introduced, allowing readers to browse the bookstock for the first time.

1941 Library closed during wartime black-out restrictions and narrowly escaped damage when bombs fell near Mill Road Bridge.

1955 Interior altered, including the installation of a false ceiling to reduce heating costs.

1968 Newspaper reports recorded that borrowing had declined following the introduction of parking restrictions on Mill Road, which librarians believed discouraged some readers from visiting.

1971 A survey concluded that the building required extensive repairs and modernisation.

1973 Cambridge City Council approved a programme of improvements, but the work was postponed later that year because of Government restrictions on local authority capital spending.

1975 Refurbishment plans were revived and the library reopened with improved facilities.

26 August 1977 – A public campaign was launched against the threatened closure of Mill Road Library. One of six branches under threat because of Government spending cuts, the library was said to require £15,000 of repairs. Campaigners argued that the Romsey area contained the city’s highest proportion of elderly residents, many of whom depended on the library as a daily reading room because they could not afford newspapers and magazines. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 26 August 1977.

20 January 1978 – Mill Road Library was proposed as the pilot venue for an innovative scheme combining library services with wider community use. Plans suggested that libraries could also serve as meeting places, advice centres, political and legal surgery venues, and social centres for young mothers and older people, helping generate additional income while preserving library services. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 20 January 1978.

3 March 1978 – Cambridgeshire County Council announced that no branch libraries would close that year. Savings elsewhere in the budget enabled the threatened closures of Mill Road, Milton Road and several village libraries to be postponed while maintaining book stocks. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 3 March 1978.

27 February 1979 – The long-awaited scheme to combine Mill Road Library with a community centre received formal approval. The refurbishment and extension plan, developed after strong public opposition to closure, aimed to modernise the building while reducing running costs and was intended as a model for similar dual-use projects elsewhere. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 27 February 1979.

17 September 1979 – While the library building was being repaired, the temporary mobile library parked outside received a parking ticket and was forced to move to Great Eastern Street. Councillors protested that the isolated replacement site would make the service much less accessible and feared it might have to close altogether. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 17 September 1979.

19 April 1980 – Following a £30,000 refurbishment, Mill Road Library officially reopened with a new lease of life. During five months of renovation staff had operated from the mobile library. The refurbished building now included a new community meeting room replacing the former reading room. Councillor Jean Ganczarski, who had opposed closure three years earlier, welcomed the transformation. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 19 April 1980.

22 April 1986 – Campaigners prepared to lobby councillors as another report recommended closure of Mill Road and Milton Road libraries, arguing that they were no longer in the best locations to serve the public. Local councillor Anne Campbell insisted that Mill Road remained an essential neighbourhood facility whose users could not easily travel to the central library. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 22 April 1986.

25 April 1986 – Mill Road Library faced its second major closure threat in eight years. Labour councillors organised a campaign to save the branch, while Alliance councillors launched a petition opposing closure. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 25 April 1986.

9 November 1989 – County councillor David Wolfe launched a further campaign against proposals to close Mill Road Library. He argued that the library had served the community for ninety-two years and was becoming even more important with the growth of housing at Ditchburn Place and Thoday Street, bringing increasing numbers of elderly residents and young families into the area. Mike Petty Archive: Cambridge Mill Road Scrapbook 1897–1990, 9 November 1989.

2007
In 2007 Cambridge Untold magazine interviewed many Mill Road people including Suresh Patel who was overseeing the transformation of the old Library into the Bharat Bhavan.

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Sketching Cambridge by Michael Large

Read more about the opening of the library on Lost Cambridge:

The opening of the Mill Road Library, Cambridge – June 1897 (Part 1 – the library & attendees described)

The opening of the Mill Road Library, Cambridge – June 1897 (Part 2 – the speeches)

Mike Petty Archive (Mill Road Scrapbook MP0035): contemporary newspaper reports, 1968–1975 (Inventory references MP0035-0268, 0277, 0278, 0283 and 0284).