T46 – Summary – Ramsbottom Heritage Society

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The transcript is an interview with Bill Bennion as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.

This summary covers Bill Bennion’s schooldays, wartime experiences, career path, library work, and reflections on changes in libraries over decades.

Early School Years & Evacuees

Bill recalls children from a Manchester Catholic school being evacuated to Ramsbottom during WWII.
They were billeted with local families and had their own classroom with a teacher from Manchester.
He befriended one evacuee, Tony O’Grady.
He attended St Joseph’s School, built in 1928, which had around 6 classes in the upper school and 2 in the infants.
Classrooms had desks with inkwells, folding benches, and movable partitions.
Discipline was very strict, including corporal punishment by teachers and the headteacher.

Wartime Childhood

Local bombs and doodlebugs made children very aware of the war.
Schools held patriotic “War Weapons Weeks,” with parades and songs to raise savings.
Gas masks had to be carried, and children practised air raid drills in brick shelters.
At the start of the war, schools closed temporarily and children were taught in private houses.
A neighbour, Mrs. Longinotti, hosted lessons in her home; her Italian husband was later interned and died when his ship was sunk.

Leisure & Daily Life

Free time included youth clubs, Boy Scouts, and playing in streets and fields.
Cinema was a major entertainment: cowboy films, adventure serials, and children’s matinees.
Tickets cost around sixpence, and cinemas were full of noisy children.
Christmases were modest due to rationing: chicken was considered a luxury, and sweet rations were small.
Children often relied on grandparents for extra sweets.

Education & Progression

In 1944, Bill sat for the Lancashire County Scholarship (later the 11-plus) and passed.
He went to Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, travelling daily by bus.
School uniforms were limited during the war (just a cap, as blazers required coupons).
He studied until age 17, aiming to be a history teacher, but left school when his mother fell ill and his father insisted he earn money.

Early Career

First applied to the District Bank (unsuccessfully).
A careers officer directed him towards library work.
In 1946 he became a Junior Library Assistant at Bury Library.
Duties: issuing books (using the “brown card system”), shelving, dealing with requests, and helping with catalogues.
Started on £2 19s per week, paid in cash. Men earned more than women for the same work.

Library Career

Worked 38 years at Bury Library (plus 2 at Burnley).
Progressed through posts: Reference Librarian → Lending Librarian → Deputy Chief Librarian → Chief Librarian & Arts Officer.
Trained through day-release courses in Manchester, taking exams in cataloguing, classification, administration, and book selection.
Qualified to Fellowship level in the Library Association.

Library Practices & Changes

Early cataloguing used Brown’s Subject Classification, later replaced by the Dewey Decimal System.
Fiction was shelved alphabetically by author, though there was debate about separating genres.
Book selection involved working with specialist booksellers, balancing popular demand with quality.
Over time, the library became more professional, hiring more qualified librarians.
Services modernised: from closed-access shelving and large newspaper rooms to open shelves and token issuing systems.
Managed challenges such as homeless people using the library, and growing demand that caused long queues.

Later Years

Oversaw Bury Library through significant reorganisation and modernization.
Emphasised adapting to user needs, while maintaining a strong professional service.
Served as Chief Librarian and Arts Officer for about ten years until retirement.