Carnegie Hall, January 2006.

I don’t know about you but these days I find libraries strange and unwelcoming places, whereas they used to be warm, silent, and full of books. Now they resemble internet cafes and video rental stores with a second hand bookstall tagged on, if you’re lucky. And it won’t be long either before they have fast food counters selling Oliver Twist’s Hot Sausages and Mustard. Oh, and if you think you can spend a cold January day in a library (especially if you’re a bit down-at-heel, with a wild glint in your eye) and happily read their copy of The Daily Telegraph, forget it, you’ll be out on your ear before you’ve even had a chance to roll a fag; I know, I’ve tried. Libraries no longer feel like a refuge (and a place to discover and read books) but just another retail experience. A sad state of affairs and something Andrew Carnegie - that great pioneer of libraries - would have found just a bit galling to say the least.

Andrew Carnegie? Surely you’ve heard of him? Of course you have. Well, in Stratford, not many people have, at least not the ones I’ve spoken to recently, which included one chap who thought he was a Scottish footballer! But there is one man in Stratford who has heard of him and that’s my old friend John Corvin.

John is an artist and actor (in fact, one of the founding members of the RSC back in 1961) who now spends more time painting than acting and someone who wanted to see his philanthropic hero, Andrew Carnegie, properly remembered for helping to create Stratford’s library 100 years ago. As a consequence John painted a rather good portrait of Carnegie and was determined to see it hanging in the library as a visible reminder of its founder. Easy enough you might think? Well, not really. But more of that later, first let me tell you how the library came about in the first place.

In 1900 the romantic novelist Marie Corelli (AKA Mary MacKay) decided she wanted to build a free library in Stratford bearing her name, which was a noble thought from a woman who’d earned thousands of pounds from her romantic temperance novels. So she contacted an old friend, Fred Winter, a local store owner and part time real estate agent (his great grandson, Guy, runs the store today) to find out the cost of a plot of land adjoining the Technical School in Henley Street, just fifty yards from Shakespeare’s Birthplace. When Fred Winter informed Corelli of the price she immediately changed her mind saying the plot was too expensive. Fred then persuaded the brewer, Archibald Flower, to buy the land, who then gave it to Stratford Town Council with the clear instruction that they contact Andrew Carnegie to see if he would like to build a free library on the site. They, and Carnegie, agreed. So far so good? Well, almost.

When Corelli heard about the plans (which included knocking down some cottages between Shakespeare’s Birthplace and the site of the library to create a fire-break) she complained bitterly, and very publicly, that the cottages were of great historical importance (doubtful) and that the ignorant peasants of Stratford didn’t need a library, especially one built by Carnegie, a man she hated.

The doughty Fred Winter wasn’t going to let her get away with that one and immediately sent off a letter to the Stratford Herald informing its readers, and reminding Corelli, of her desire to build her own library, and her request of him to find out the price of that plot of land in Henley Street. Corelli reacted by denying she had ever spoken to Fred Winter about building a library, let alone the cost of a plot of land in Henley Street.

She didn’t leave it there either but accused both Fred Winter, and George Boyden (the owner of the Herald) of libel and took them to court. Hmm? I fear she doth protest too much.

The case (which created world-wide interest) was heard at Birmingham Crown Court just before Christmas 1903, with the famous prosecuting lawyer, and MP for Southport, Sir Edward Marshall Hall, retained as Corelli’s barrister. Hall - who later became involved in the Dr Crippen murder case - naturally won the legal day, although the jury gave Fred Winter the moral high ground by awarding Corelli just one Farthing in damages.

On the day after the trial Fred sent his secretary around to Corelli’s home to pay her the Farthing. She refused it saying she was sure Mr Winter could a find a better use for it than she.

But Mr Winter did find a better use for it by setting-up his ‘Farthing Fund’ which eventually attracted enough donations to help build a new wing at Stratford Hospital.

Stratford’s Carnegie Library opened in 1905 with the Chief Librarian making sure there were no novels by Ms Corelli on the shelves.

Like Fred Winter John Corvin is also doughty of character and a man who can use language as he does a paintbrush - with panache, colour, and eloquence - whose university was the Ealing Central Library of the hungry 1930s, as were the varied libraries of the many merchant ships he sailed on in the North Atlantic during World War II, including the small library of a Norwegian ship where he discovered H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw, and was able to continue his passionate affair with Shakespeare. Don’t tell John Corvin that libraries are unimportant, or that books are less important these days than computers; and don’t tell him you think Andrew Carnegie is a footballer either otherwise you might find yourself in the metaphorical drink.

And it was John’s simple desire to see Carnegie properly acknowledged by a library that would not have existed without the steel magnate’s generosity that prompted John to paint his portrait and offer it to the library.

But Warwickshire County Council said they couldn’t afford to purchase the painting even though John was going to donate most of the fee back to the library for the purchase of much needed books.

One ex-mayor of Stratford supported John’s efforts, as did several members of ‘The Friends of Stratford Library’, and in the end a secret benefactor bought the painting which now hangs where it belongs.

And the place is now full of young men and women from Eastern Europe (they all seem to work in the hotel industry and are, believe me, extremely efficient) sending emails back home and improving their English by actually borrowing books.

And have you tried reading a Corelli novel?