The Word Hoard small press library was established in 2002, with the intention of building a representative collection of non-mainstream and non-commercial publications, and, once the collection is big enough, opening it to the public. To start the collection, we received substantial donations from Arts Council England, Yorkshire, and from Word Hoard member Alexandra Krysinski, and the collection is growing slowly through further donations. (For us, the only financially viable way of building the collection is through donations.) A number of presses have kindly placed the library on their review lists, and we are always looking for more to do so; reviews of some new publications that are donated are featured here onsite (more to follow).

The library concentrates on poetry publishing, but also features a selection of fiction and other genres where the publisher is a small press. It's hard to define a 'small' press, but we would say this means a publisher who publishes books out of the love of publishing, rather than for profit, who concentrates on work that is often outside the mainstream, and whose books are largely unavailable in public or university libraries.

We concentrate on collecting books from Britain, but we also try to attract donations from overseas, wherever practical. We are especially interested in radical and experimental work. If you would like to make a donation of a book or books, please contact us. As the collection develops, we will make a catalogue available.