FOR 55 years, Florence Hodgson has been the custodian of a part of library history.

Tucked away in the bedroom of her dales home are thousands of books, which make up the oldest subscription library in the UK.

The library, in the main street at Westgate, in Weardale, County Durham, is also the last of its kind in the North.

At an extraordinary meeting tonight, the trustees of the Westgate Subscription Library will vote on whether the institution should be dissolved and its assets distributed in accordance with the terms of the trust, bringing to an end a once-important part of Weardale - and UK - history.

The library dates back to 1788.

"Lead miners and their families developed a thirst for knowledge and started buying books," said Brian Turnbull, secretary of the library.

"It was a bit like a book club, with miners using their houses on a rota basis as the library."

It was not until 1839 that the present permanent library in Westgate was bought, by public subscription.

Brian Hunter, a deputy headteacher who lives across the road from the library, said during its heyday in the 1930s, the library had up to 300 members.

It has always only opened for an hour on one Saturday of each month, said Mr Hunter, "so it took three desks to cope with the customers in those days".

The tastes of library book borrowers have also altered drastically over the years.

In the early days, books about religion - Methodism was arriving in the dale - and travel were very popular, along with Victorian romances.

But, in the mid-1950s, cowboy books by writers such as Zane Grey and Max Brand were in vogue.

Mr Hunter and the trustees do not believe there are any rare or valuable books among the present collection, of more than 3,000.

But there are volumes, such as a picture atlas of Australia donated by Mr P Longstaff JP, of Shepparton, Victoria, in 1899, "in remembrance of his native dale", which it is planned to offer to local organisations, such as the Weardale Museum.

The library, which has not been used for years, is kept in a bedroom of the house occupied by custodian Ms Hodgson, who was decided to move to a new home.

It is likely that the building, which is badly in need of modernisation, will be put up for sale.

"It is sad to be leaving after so many years," said Ms Hodgson yesterday. "In the early days, it used to take me a week to dust all the shelves.

"I can remember as many as 140 people coming for books when we first moved in. I think that television was one of the main reasons for people taking less interest.

"But I still like a good read myself, particularly good romances."

Unfortunately, this is one love story which seems unlikely to have a happy ending.