Radstock Museum has been awarded a £3,000 grant by Midsomer Norton Town Council to help with the creation of a new Local History Reference Library.

The museum has a collection of around 2,000 books and journals dealing with local historical topics. They are currently housed in locked storage units to which access is restricted, especially during exhibitions.

The grant will pay for the purchase of two purpose-built bookcases, which will be located in the museum's research room, so that the books will be open to browsing and accessible to anyone wishing to explore aspects of the history of the old Somerset Coalfield area.

The grant application was supported by the Midsomer Norton Society and the Paulton History Society, and assistance in setting up the library has been offered by David Bromwich, the Honorary Librarian of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society.

The museum already provides a local research facility, available on Tuesday mornings each week, and research assistants are on hand to deal with enquiries. The new library will enhance this existing service. The museum catalogue now holds details of over 30,000 items in the local collection, including around 8,000 local photographs, all of which can be searched and viewed on screen.

Museum Trustee and Librarian, Tom Randall, thanked Midsomer Norton Town Council and said: "This is a project we have had in mind for several years. We now have the means to make it happen and we hope to have the library available by the end of the year."