Jackie Winter
AUTHOR

Jackie Winter

History | Sports & Outdoors
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Jackie is writing a book about Boots Booklovers Library. Most people look blank when she tells them this but she can't help being fascinated by obscure social history. There used to be libraries in most Boots stores and the last one closed in 1965. They were very popular during the inter-war years, when half a million women signed up to became Boots Booklovers. Now as obsolete as Bile Beans and the Penny Dreadful, the libraries are gone...but not quite forgotten. Working in Boots library was considered quite prestigious and their "young ladies" enjoyed an enviable status in the community. They tended to view themselves as a cut above their colleagues who doled out aspirin and sticking plaster. It was even rumoured that library work increased a girl's chances of marrying into the upper crust. There was a two tiered borrowing system, with Class A subscribers paying a much higher subscription than Class B subscribers and they were served at different counters. Only highly trained members of staff were let loose on Class A borrowers. The libraries were immortalised in John Betjeman's Westminster Abbey: "Think of What Our Nation Stands For, Books from Boots and Country Lanes, Free Speech, Free Passes, Class Distinction, Democracy and Proper Drains."
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