A detailed history and analysis of the libraries associated with a major independent working-class move ment in Britain, the co-operative movement' has yet to be written. Their beginnings in the 1820s are briefly outlined, before turning to look more closely at the develop ment of co-operative society libraries from the foundation of the Rochdale Pioneers in 1844 until approximately 1885 when the Co- operative Union Congress pub lished its own report on their growth. Suggestions are made as to how and where the necessary pri mary research into this phe nomenon could be pursued, thereby filling an important gap in British library history.
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