Stowe Library in Buckinghamshire

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2nd the LIS class visited the library at Stowe School, part of the larger estate of Stowe House and its National Trust gardens. The estate is exactly like something you'd see in a Jane Austen movie adaption and in fact, the estate has been used in several popular movies. The neoclassical architecture is amazing and the house, the school and the library itself each have an interesting and colorful history. 

The Stowe House is larger than any picture I could ever show - over 400 rooms. And it is undergoing extensive renovations. The preservation trust was created in 1997 and they work to raise money for specific projects before completing them. In the 1960s it was determined that the gardens were becoming too much upkeep for the estate to manage, so in the late 1980s the gardens were turned over to the National Trust to maintain - over 1,000 acres. 

In regards to the school, the preservation trust is working to restore rooms to their former glory while still ensuring they are functional for students. For example, the current "cafeteria" was once a very, very large guest chamber. However, such a large bedroom isn't very functional for a school that serves 1,000 meals a day, so that room will not be restored to a bedroom. Stowe School is a coed boarding school with over 90% of pupils being full time boarders during the school term. Most of the remaining pupils live nearby and attend Stowe on scholarship.

The library itself has an interesting history. Its contents have been sold a couple times over since the late 1700s in order to help irresponsible owners remain financially solvent (along with the rest of the estate's contents). Right now, the only original fixtures in the library are the built-in bookcases and the restored (and impressive) plaster ceiling. This is a working library, meaning that this library (that was once also used as a dining room) is used by the students daily with World Book encyclopedias intermingled with the very old books in the gallery. Although none of the photos show it, there are also computers for student use (they were taken out for a "Leavers' Ball" held the night before). 

The school started as a boys' school in May 1923, with 99 pupils. It only recently became a coed school for ages 13 until they finish their studies at age 18. Current yearly tuition rates are about £33,000 a year. The tour guide paused for a moment after telling us that to allow us to calculate that in USD - almost $57,000 a year. As she put it, "we're not the most expensive, but we're up there."

The current librarian told us that the library was initially set up by a qualified librarian, but then suffered years of neglect before another qualified librarian was brought in in the 1980s. She said that even so, when she came to be the school's librarian (along with her husband, who also works at the school), the library was a "sad place." She, along with the preservation staff, have worked hard to make it a functional, inviting place for students and teachers.