FIFTY PENCE COIN TO COMMEMORATE 150 YEARS OF PUBLIC
LIBRARIES
The Library Association warmly welcomes the
announcement that the
Royal Mint is to issue a special fifty pence piece to
celebrate the 150th
Anniversary of the 1850 Public Libraries Act which
established public
libraries throughout the country.
The design for the new coin will be selected by the
Royal Mint Advisory
Committee, chaired by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. A
version of the
coin for collectors will be issued in January 2000
and it will be made
available at face value through most banks and post
offices later in the
year.
Sherry Jespersen, Director of Communications said,
"We are delighted
that the 150th Anniversary of the first public
libraries is to be marked in
this way. Britain's public libraries are our most
widely used and popular
cultural institution and represent one of our great
national treasures."
The Library Association will be co-ordinating a
national celebration of
the Anniversary throughout 2000, working closely with
public library
authorities on a range of exciting projects.
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