Libraries on Titanic

[Hilary Popple]

I'm a librarian too - perhaps we should start a special thread!!!

 

[Jeremy Arment]

Feelings.......meloncholy, sorrow, grateful, happy. Sorrowful that the sinking happened, because he Titanic was a great ship, greatest passenger ship of all time, and it would be quite a spectacle if it were still around today. Grateful that there are documentaries on tv that show there are expeditions being done and recovering items from the ship. Happy that millions are interested in a ship that went down 91 years ago and that some are/might be donating money to the cause so that more may be done to bring the ship back to life and identifying the victims. Quite frankly, I'm an addict of both this site and of the Titanic.

 

[Marykate Viola]

Was there a library in 3rd Class? I don't remember hearing that there was.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Not for 3rd Class, Marykate. Read the other posts above for more details.

 

[Ben Lemmon]

I have a quick question concerning the Second Class library. Is there any record of what books were in the Titanic library, or is that one aspect that can be left up to a fiction writer's imagination?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Is there any record of what books were in the Titanic library, or is that one aspect that can be left up to a fiction writer's imagination?<<

No record that I'm aware of. White Star might have kept one but by now, it's long in the landfill. I expect that they would have had much the same mix of literature you could find in any library kept by the well heeled along with some popular and recently published titles.

As to which ones, your guess is as good as mine. The photos I've seen of the bookcases on the Olympic don't point to a large selection being available. I suspect a lot of home libraries held by people even of modest means would have put it to shame.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Try this thread, Ben:

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5660/97174.html

 

[N Alison]

I suspect a lot of home libraries held by people even of modest means would have put it to shame.

They might but I imagine that it could not have been easy to afford all those hardcovers before the mass production of paperbacks. It still costs an arm and a leg for a hardcover book.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>> It still costs an arm and a leg for a hardcover book. <<

For outfits like the big shipping lines which ran the express mail boats, this would have been seen as a minor expense.

 

[N Alison]

For them perhaps but I imagine for the non-wealthy passengers, it would not have been easy to collect enough for a decent sized family library. Which brings to mind, was it normal for those not from first class to have a family library back in the day?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Wealthy homes often contained a library in the modern sense of a room lined with bookshelves. For the middle classes there might be a small library in the more traditional sense of a glass-fronted cabinet for books in the parlour or drawing room - much like the provision in the 1st and 2nd Class lounges on the Titanic. Working familes would generally own a bible and little else other than cheap, disposable reading matter like newspapers and 'penny dreadfuls'. But for those with the desire (and the time) to read more widely there were public lending libraries in most towns. Even today there are many homes in Britain which contain very few books other than immediately useful ones (like cookbooks) and disposable paperback novels.