The University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council collaborated on a £1.7 million plan to revive the city’s almost-forgotten Birmingham Shakespeare Memorial Library, housed in the iconic Library of Birmingham - and the first great Shakespeare library in the world, as well as one which from the very beginning has belonged to all the people of the city.

The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project aimed to:

Unlock the first, oldest and largest Shakespeare collection in any public library in the world

Revive and extend its founding principle that culture should be actively owned by everybody

Inspire Birmingham people and communities to explore, interrogate and improve the collection now

The project was awarded £781,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to open access to the collections and deliver an exciting programme of engaging events for people and communities across the city.

The project was also generously supported by History West Midlands.

Please visit the website for more information: everythingtoeverybody.bham.ac.uk/