W. C. Berwick (William Charles Berwick) Sayers

Born in Mitcham, Surrey, on 23 December 1881, W. C. Berwick Sayers built his career in public libraries from the ground up. He began as a junior assistant at Bournemouth Public Library, then moved to Croydon in 1904 to work under librarian Stanley Jast. In 1915 he became chief librarian there and went on to spend most of his working life helping develop Croydon’s library service.

Sayers was known for treating libraries as lively public spaces rather than quiet storehouses. In Croydon he expanded services for children, opened branch libraries, and encouraged lectures, recitals, and exhibitions. He also helped establish library services in hospitals and schools, and his work gave Croydon an international reputation for high standards.

Beyond his local work, he became an important writer and teacher of librarianship. He was especially respected for his work on library classification, and books such as A Manual of Classification for Librarians & Bibliographers and An Introduction to Library Classification helped train generations of library workers. He also served as President of the Library Association in 1938 and wrote a biography of the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a friend of his. Sayers died in 1960.