Stories from small museums

by Fiona Candlin, Toby Butler, Jake Watts

During the late-twentieth century, the number of museums in the UK dramatically increased. Typically small and independent, the new museums concentrated on local history, war and transport. This book asks who founded them, how and why.

In order to find out more, Toby Butler, an expert oral historian, and Fiona Candlin, a professor in museology, drove around the UK to meet the individuals, families, community groups and special interest societies who established the museums. The rich oral histories they collected provide a new account of recent museum history - one that weaves together personal experience and social change while putting ordinary people at the heart of cultural production.

Combining academic rigour with a lively writing style, Stories from small museums is essential reading for students and museum enthusiasts alike.

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kylie Calderon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pre-ordered this book after attending a guest lecture by Lianne McTavish at my university. I love it so much! The stories of small museums across the UK are all so lovely, and it shines a light on family stories and perspectives not often featured by big national museums. I especially love the local museums section.

[milo in the woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

stories from small museums is a really well done dissection of the museum boom in the second half of the 20th century. it's organised by the type of museum being referenced, and the project is a collation of years of research from all three authors and a lot of interviews. i thought it was very well written, and very accessible for an academic text. it was very engaging and the authors are good at creating an atmosphere, and represent the interviewee's very positively.

I really adore oral histories, svetlana alexievich is one of my favourite authors and her books are all collections of interviews organised topically. that is my one wish with this book; i would have preferred if we had gotten more original quotations from interviewee's. i find the perspectives of ordinary people in academic contexts to be extremely valuable and i would have been interested in hearing more from them. i would also have been interested to know the specific questions asked by the authors.