Stirchley Library in Pictures

Exterior view of Stirchley Branch Library. Photographed by Lewis Lloyd in 1913. Held by Birmingham Archive.

Opened in 1905, Stirchley Library is one of Birmingham’s ten Carnegie libraries, built with funding from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to bring books and learning into local communities. Designed by architect John P. Osborne, the library is a fine example of Edwardian civic architecture, with its red brick, stone dressings, and distinctive gabled frontage.

Inside, the library once featured a traditional entrance desk where librarians presided, while light filtered through skylights and tall windows to illuminate the reading rooms. Over time, spaces have been adapted – but the …

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Local Green Spaces: The Robin Garden

This summer, the library’s reading challenge is “Story Garden” — and we’ll be sharing a series of posts about local green spaces: some tucked out of sight, others hiding their secrets in plain view.

We begin just behind the library itself, in what’s sometimes called the Robin Garden, named for the painted robin perched on a wooden stump. This space is cared for by the Fruit & Nut Village, who’ve transformed it into a vibrant patchwork of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and other useful plants.

Plum (Prunus domestica).

This tucked-away green space is full of surprises. While many …

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