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Birmingham City Council - Archives Section?

Snowball

master brummie
According to an old web site that I was lucky enough to find I understand that Birmingham City Council maintains a section called the Archives and Heritage Section. Is this true ? and can anyone tell me what they have to offer. I have written to them several times and have not yet had the courtesy of a reply so I'm wondering if this section has been closed down. A common problem for researchers from far away when writing to government departments in the UK is that our letters/emails are frequently used as bin liners, I think I must have filled several recycling bins by now, NHS are by far the biggest offenders.
 
It is not just you Snowball. Since the libraries cut back drastically a year or so ago there are very few staff there and communication with them is very difficult
 
As Mike says it has got harder and harder to contact them. If you just want to know what they have then try here https://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/archives
Even going in, for those of us lucky enough to live locally, it is not as easy to find what you want since the move to the new library. I am sure I am not the only one to think that.
Janice
 
Thank you mikejee and pjmburns(Janice), I'm beginning to understand the problem, another organisation that is giving me the cold shoulder is called the Warwickshire Records Office and their email address suggests this is another government department, does the same problem exist here as it apparently does in the Birmingham City Council ?
 
I have not had problems in the past with Warwick but funding cuts have meant many of these departments are now understaffed. A lot of Warwick records are on Ancestry - it depends what you want.

Janice
 
as already said snowball getting a response from places such as our new library is hard work...i sent them an email back in FEBRUARY asking for some information..they sent me an email back saying they would be in touch with me in about a months time...to date i have not heard from them since...

lyn
 
Incidently Lyn. I spoke to someone today who was in the library very recently, and she says they told her there were to be even more cuts. Don't know how true that is though
 
Not sure if this applies to Central Library but I have just got back from a visit to Hall Green Library. They have a big notice up saying they are closed on the morning of Oct 10th so staff can attend a meeting to discuss "these services". Is this an indication of more cuts? I know some of the staff already work at more than one branch to make up their hours.
Janice
 
Just a quick update on the problems associated with staffing levels at the library. My original enquiry was sent to the Birmingham City Library on July 7th, after not receiving a reply I sent a follow up email on 17th September. They have now informed me that quote "due to current staffing levels we are unable to undertake private research for individuals...." I only wanted to know what records they kept, I did not expect them to spend hours trawling through their archives without my paying something towards the cost - it seems even spending a few minutes of their time in answering basic questions is beyond their current capabilities. They suggested that I engage a private researcher who could visit the library on my behalf. I have now done this but the cost is such that I predict a lot of family researchers, particularly those like myself who live on the opposite side of the world will either balk at the cost or else give up on their research altogether - a great shame and a future loss for all of us who feel we are contributing something to future generations that might like to know a bit more about our combined history than you can gather from the occasional Sunday newspaper articles.
 
snowball..i totally agree with you...not at all surprised at the response you eventually got from the library...before the move to this "new improved library "(thats a laugh) the staff would happily look up anything you required either while you waited on the telephone or if you visited the library in person...they would bring the archives you needed to you on the day of your visit..no appointment needed back then to view archive material not like there is now...you could just go on speck....i used to be a regular visitor to the old library but this new one totally denies the people of birmingham the facilities that a good library should provide..its not the staffs fault..its birmingham city council who are to blame..they wanted to turn this new glitzy building into a show stopper for visitors to the city rather than a library fit for purpose for the people of birmingham...we were well and truely sold down the river with this one...i have not been for about a year now because i dont like the building..the lack of staff and the cut in opening hours but i am going to go probably one day next week simply because i need to then if there is material i want to see i will have to make an appointment to give the staff time to get it out....if there is anything i can look up for you or if you want me to find out about the records you were interested in just let me know and i will happily try to help you...

lyn
 
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I agree with Lyn and have given up going unless absolutely essential. Even the self service stacks take forever these days because of how they operate. We are just very lucky so many Birmingham records are online. New library looks good but as a building not a library. It opened as I retired and I imagined being up there most weeks (or at least months) searching but have only been a few times.
 
Thank you for your kind offer Lyn but as I explained in my last post I have now engaged a "professional" researcher to look for the records I need, I might as well maintain this arrangement at least until he reports back with his findings. I am very conscious of the generous nature of the members and staff of the BHF and feel quite guilty that I cannot reciprocate in some way, after all, you are doing for free what I am quite happy to pay a researcher to do for me. The morality of this bothers me greatly. When I next visit the UK I will be heading for Birmingham and we can at least have that lunch I previously suggested.
 
Lyn and Janice, I agree totally with both of you!. As I have said before those electric cupboards are useless and I think it's bad that people are being denied access to public records, both by these new methods and by lack of staff or their co-operation (I realise it's not necessarily their fault).
I haven't been there now for some time, it doesn't open until 11am. (Last time I checked) so by the time I've managed access to the shelves it doesn't give me much time for research as I have to get back home, I used to arrive at 9am.
Unfortunately not all Birmingham records are on Ancestry or Findmypast so I'm glad I managed to do most of what I wanted before they closed the "proper"
library and built this showplace which is not a library in my opinion!!
(Rant over)
rosie.
 
We all need a rant from time to time! I am concerned as, I think I posted this on another thread, but my local library is closed on Monday morning this week so the staff can attend a meeting about "this service" - more cuts I expect.
Rosie - I know all Birmingham records are not online but we are luckier than some areas.
 
Yes Janice, we are lucky to have them online, some of the districts I searched charge about £5 per look-up, I haven't paid for research yet.
Smethwick Archives have cut their hours too, I didn't know and I was sent away!
rosie.
 
Just what you don't want when you have made a special journey! I always try to check first. The only other place I have visited (a while ago now) was Warwick which now closes for "the first complete week in every calendar month" and also every Monday. So it seems they have cuts as well.
 
Thank you for your kind offer Lyn but as I explained in my last post I have now engaged a "professional" researcher to look for the records I need, I might as well maintain this arrangement at least until he reports back with his findings. I am very conscious of the generous nature of the members and staff of the BHF and feel quite guilty that I cannot reciprocate in some way, after all, you are doing for free what I am quite happy to pay a researcher to do for me. The morality of this bothers me greatly. When I next visit the UK I will be heading for Birmingham and we can at least have that lunch I previously suggested.

hi snowball thank you for your kind words.. please dont feel like that as we do like to help other members when we can so please dont hesitate to ask for help should you need it...all the best with your research..ps look forward to that lunch...

lyn:)
 
Just a bit on the new library a few months ago now i went to the library to look for some photos of nechells i was let into "fort knox" without an appointment i might add and i was helped to find the records which were brought out to me to so that i could search for the photos i found 6 photos that were of use to me , filled out the forms to order the copys went home and waited,and waited,and waited! after 4 weeks still no response so phoned them up and was told they could not find any record of my request, then i recieved an email stating that they had stopped the photo copying service.
So i did not get my photos that i was looking forward to , anyway it saved me some money!
Phil
 
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