Oldham Council blasted over new name for refurbished library and new town hall

Oldham Council’s leadership team has taken a tongue-lashing from several of its councillors over the decision to rename the newly-refurbished Old Library after a ‘local hero’.

The Old Library was opened to the public for the first time this weekend after a £32m restoration project that included building a brand new council chamber on its upper levels.

At a launch event on Saturday, August 16, council leader Arooj Shah revealed the building would be called the J. R. Clynes Building.

John Robert Clynes, a lesser-known Labour Party leader, was born in Oldham in 1869 and started work at Dowry cotton mill at just ten years old.

Largely self-educated, Clynes became an active trade unionist, an activist on child labour practices in the cotton mills, and later rose through the ranks of the brand new British Labour Party.

Coun Shah stated she chose the name after ‘a man whose story embodies the spirit of Oldham’, referring to his ‘hunger for knowledge and drive to rise above circumstances’. 

And Labour MP Jim McMahon welcomed the name, saying: “[The building] has been named after a historic figure who walked the terraced streets of our town, grew up under the smoke-filled skies and the relentless beat of the cotton mills, and rose to become one of the most senior figures in British politics.”

But political opponents were less impressed by the name choice honouring a ‘barely known Labour figure’ instead of more well-known influential locals. 

Leader of Oldham’s Conservative group, councillor Max Woodvine said: “Other than being born in Oldham, Mr Clynes has absolutely no connection to our Borough, nor the building itself.

“Oldham boasts many brilliant leaders and industrialists such as Sir Winston Churchill and John Platt to name but two.

"There was no consultation at all with the taxpaying public of Oldham on what this building should be called, which I believe is anti-democratic and shameful.”

Opinions were mixed among members of the public. 

Many supported the new name. 

“Looks great. Named after a great man. Moving Oldham forward with brilliant improvements,” Darren Bradshaw commented on a council Facebook post about the new name. 

And Lisa Reads added: “He sounds like an amazing person and apt for a [former] library, since he was self-educated.”

But several others simply dismissed the new name, stating they would prefer to continue calling the building the ‘Old Library’, as it has been known for many years.

One local, Jo Hulme, added: “It needs to be consulted on.

"Personally, I’d much rather it was named ‘The Library’. Or our female history is properly recognised: Beckett or Kenney for our long standing links as a towns folk with workers rights and suffrage.” 

Coun Shah defended her decision to name the building after an ‘underappreciated’ political figure.

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.