PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Bill Best Harris, as he was more usually known, was born in December 1912. He was educated at Howard Gardens, Cardiff, south Wales, and joined the Cardiff Public Libraries service, where he made a name for himself through his work in the library located in the notorious dockland area of Tiger Bay. On June 18th 1935 he got an appointment as Senior Assistant Librarian with Plymouth City Council. He was elected a Fellow of the Library Association in 1937. During the Second World War the Plymouth library was destroyed, along with a large number of its books. While this was happening, he was serving with the Royal Engineers, where he became a Staff Sergeant. He was also responsible for the formation of the Army Command Libraries (one to each command throughout the army), an idea that was later taken up by the Royal Navy. He returned to Plymouth just at the time when its City Librarian, Mr F C P Cole, was retiring and in Bill Best Harris took over that post in January 1947. The main library was at that time housed in the City Museum because of the damage done to its own part of the building and he had the task of re-establishing the Central Library and opening new branches on the housing estates that were constructed to the north of the City. He was particularly keen on providing facilities for children and was responsible for the allocation of space within the rebuilt Central Library for a Children's Room. Up until and beyond his retirement in March 1974, he broadcast, wrote about and lectured on the history of Plymouth. He was devastated when thieves stole his notes on a history of the south east Cornwall area where he lived. William Best Harris died in January 1987 at the age of 73.
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