The Adopt Scheme

The Dr Williams’s Library Adopt Scheme is concerned with helping those collections among DWL’s holdings which are at risk.

Created and managed by the conservator, assisted by a small group of volunteers (some of whom are experts in their fields), the Adopt Scheme aims to widen and develop the collection care programme for the archives, rare books and works of art in Dr Williams’s and the Congregational Libraries. The conservation department hopes to preserve a wide range of works and bring them to the attention of an audience happy to help with financial support and scholarly study.

The scheme is non-profit-making and all sponsored contributions go exclusively to preservation and conservation work. If you wish to adopt an item featured here or if you would like to know more about the Dr Williams’s Library Adopt Scheme, please let us know by emailing the conservator.

This scheme has given rise to a number of events in the form of lectures and exhibitions, some held at Dr Williams's Library, but also further afield, including Trinity Congregational Church in Brixton, London. Events will form part of a series of events entitled Dissent and Culture.

So far, a wide range of items have been adopted including manuscript notebooks, printed books, maps, and portraits. All adopted items will be photographed before and after work is carried out, and accounts by their adopters will be published on the website. If adopters wish to speak at Dissent and Culture Events about their choice of adoption, please contact the conservator.