Forming the final part of a multi‑million‑pound 1940s-1960s development project, Black Country Living Museum has moved and rebuilt the impressive Woodside Library, brick-by-brick, from its original location to the new high street of this award-winning living history attraction.

From Wednesday 18 March, visitors will be able to step inside the restored library for the first time, exploring shelves stacked with more than 6,500 donated and collected books spanning from how‑to guides and classic fiction to children’s favourites including Enid Blyton, Ladybird books and Biggles adventure stories.

The Library is the final piece of the development to open, following other fascinating buildings including Wolverhampton’s Elephant & Castle Pub, Stanton’s Music Shop of Dudley, Marsh & Baxter pork butchers of Brierley Hill and many more iconic local names. For the first time, visitors will enjoy the opportunity to explore the 1940s-60s development in full.

Detailed research, along with objects and memories shared by the local community, have helped bring the building back to life. The library’s story centres on 1963, a standout year when Dudley’s libraries embraced colourful new paperbacks, expanded gramophone collections, and introduced innovative children’s reading initiatives.

Carol King, Deputy Chief Executive at Black Country Living Museum, said: “Woodside Library forms the jewel in the crown of our extensive 1940s-60s development. We’re incredibly proud to have worked with so many communities, investors and stakeholders to save this iconic building and bring it back to life here at the Museum. Without their support, this simply would not have been possible.

We’re especially grateful to those who have helped us populate the library’s shelves with books, as well as those who shared their memories of the library with us to help bring the story to life faithfully.

Not only is it an architecturally beautiful building, it also holds beautiful stories from pioneering reading schemes for children to momentous wedding receptions for local happy couples. We can’t wait to open the doors and welcome our visitors in.”

Visitors will be able to enjoy a peaceful corner of post‑war life, meeting new historic characters and flipping through pages of history in a building rebuilt with community spirit at its heart.

Originally gifted to the people of Dudley by the Earl of Dudley in 1894, this long-cherished hub for learning served local communities for over a century before closing in 2008. The library now starts a new chapter thanks to the passion and stories from the community who helped to save it, standing proudly as the tallest architectural structure in the museum’s new town.

Find out more at bclm.com/woodside-library.