Printed Material

Rotherham Archives and Local Studies Service has a large collection of printed material covering the Metropolitan borough of Rotherham.

Books and Pamphlets

The local studies collection consists of over 9,000 books and pamphlets, which range in date from the 16th century to date, and cover a wide range of topics and places.  These are available to view in the Archives and Local Studies Service but are not available to loan. A small selection of these books have been catalogued on to our online catalogue.

There are also local history books for loan available from Rotherham Central Library, and a smaller selection in community libraries. View Prism, Rotherham Library Services Online Library catalogue for more details.

Ephemera

This is a collection of written and printed material which is often memorabilia and tends to be of short-term use, examples are trade and sales catalogues, posters, restaurant menus, theatre programmes and all kinds of publicity material.

Ephemera is a particularly useful source of social and business history, and can provide information on places and topics which have little written about them.

Rotherham Archives and Local Studies has a substantial collection of ephemera which is available for public use.

The collection includes material on Rotherham, as well as villages and hamlets throughout the borough. For Rotherham there is a large collection of ephemera on specific subjects such as the churches, elections and local businesses.

Journals and Newsletters

We hold a wide range of Journals and Newsletters in our collection for both local and family history purposes.

Titles include the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, the Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society, the Local Historian, Family Tree Magazine and many more locally published periodicals and newsletters.

A list of Journals and Newsletters we currently collect.

Parish Magazines

We have an extensive current and historical collection of Parish Magazines covering the Rotherham area, with some dating back to the 19th century. These are useful resources for both local and family history, and are generally issued monthly and include both church and village news.

A list of Parish Magazines we currently collect.

Please ask us for details of any historic parish magazines.

Reports

A large collection of local reports are also available for consultation. These include Rotherham Council reports dating back to the 19th century, reports by local organisations and societies, as well as the local health authority.

All reports have now been catalogued onto our online catalogue