In May 1935 the Rushden Echo and Argus reported many improvements in Rushden Library. These improvements were mainly down to the librarian Miss Marion Perkins who had been appointed to the job barely six months previously against much opposition from some members of the Council.
Miss Perkins was well educated and had been to university but she had two things against her as far as some of the councillors were concerned. Firstly she was the daughter of a councillor, Mr. Leonard Perkins M.B..E., and secondly she was female! Several councillors thought the job should have gone to a man, because there were a lot of unemployed men in the town, but the Library Committee refused to change their minds and Miss Perkins was appointed, starting on 1 November 1934.
By May 1935 hundreds of old books had been cleared away and 557 new books received. A classified list of the books was being prepared so borrowers could tick off the ones they had read, then if it became necessary the librarian could select books for them. The lists were to be available for twopence.
The Library Committee had paid £3 to join the East Midland Regional Scheme which meant that books could be borrowed from other libraries through the bureau. All it would cost was the postage. Many people had already used the scheme. Names could also be put on a waiting list for a particular book, and a post card would be sent when the book was available. This service cost one penny. The scheme was very popular and 37 post cards had been sent in that May alone.
Opening hours had been extended and new borrowers enrolled.
It seems that the Library Committee had made a good choice.
Two pennies, the cost of the classified list of the new books.
Rushden born author, H. E. Bates, was very popular, and his new book “The Poacher” was in great demand.
H. E. Bates
Herbert Ernest Bates was born in Rushden on the 16 May 1905, the son of Albert and Lucy Bates, and he was the first boy to be Christened in the new Wesleyan Methodist Church in Park Road. He attended Newton Road School and later went on to Kettering Grammar School.
He left school at 16 and became a junior reporter with the Northampton Chronicle, based at the Wellingborough branch office. He then took a job as a clerk for a leather merchant in Rushden and it was during this time he wrote his first novel ‘The Two Sisters’. In 1925, when he was just 21 years old, he found a company willing to publish this book. He died in 1974, just six months after receiving a C.B.E.
The Poacher by H. E. Bates, from the Rushden Museum collection of H. E. Bates books
Park Road Wesleyan Church where H. E. Bates was Christened
Newton Road School