The East Midlands Parish Library Network
In early 2026, the University of Nottingham Library (Manuscripts and Special Collections) was instrumental in forming the East Midlands Parish Library Network, linking together those institutions who are custodians of a Parish Library, or whose Library is held elsewhere. All Saints Oakham is part of that network, with a Parish Library dating from 1616 that is held at Nottingham University. As a first step in establishing the network, an interactive map of the East Midland libraries has been produced. A screen shot is shown below, that links to the interactive online version.
To further mark the opening of the network, an exhibition at the Lakeside Arts Centre was arranged from October 2026 to February 2027, with some associated talks and lectures. The publicity material is given below.
Harington Bequest and Oakham Parish Library Exhibition publicity and handout
An exhibition to showcase the Oakham Parish Library was held in All Saints church from September to December 2026. It opened on September 12th, which was also a Heritage Open Day. The publicity material for the exhibition and the Open Day is given below.
The exhibition posters and other material
The exhibition itself consisted of eight pull up posters and a number of old bibles and prayer books held by the church that described the Harington bequest, the Oakham Parish Library and the Harington dole. In addition there is a board that features the Oakham Bible – a 13th century bible owned by the church but now in the Cambridge University Library. The record book for the Harington dole was also on show. The pull up posters are shown below. they can be expanded and downloaded if required by clicking on the images.
Photographs
The photographs below show the exhibition itself – the poster boards, a table displaying the Parish Network Map, the Parish chest, where the library was once stored, and a number of old, but relatively modern, prayer books and bibles that were on display on display
At the Heritage Open Day, a number of other exhibitions were also displayed – the Royal Rutland Exhibition (poster boards in the Lady Chapel); the Sermon in Stone exhibition (poster boards in Trinity Chapel) and the Writings on the Wall presentation (in the crossing).
