Books published by independent publisher IRON Press based in Cullercoats. Includes copies of IRON magazine which ran from 1973 and 1997 publishing art work, reviews, short stories and poetry. The book collection comprises of poetry, fiction and drama and is particularly strong in work from local authors.

This is a small collection of material relating to the James Joicey (d. 1863) mining company, and its successor bodies, which operated several collieries in the West Durham coalfield including pits at Beamish and Tanfield. The material covers the period 1843-1929 and includes an invoice book, letter book, memoranda and copies of leases and plans, including a volume of copies of leases and plans of coal mines and cottages near or at Beamish.

Consists of: Professional and personal letters, both to and from Joseph Crawhall II. Pencil, ink and watercolour sketches created by Joseph Crawhall II, some including annotations. Various printed ephemera from a variety of authors. Various leaflets, notifications, invitations, cards and reciepts relating to Joseph Crawhall II. A collection of woodblock pulls from a selection of original woodblocks created by Joseph Crawhall II. Letters and sketches relating to George Edward Crawhall, brother of Joseph Crawhall II. A genealogical scrapbook relating to the Crawhall family.

Kepier Grammar School was opened by Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 and closed in 1933. The books from its library consist mainly of seventeenth and eighteenth-century works on classics and theology. As well as the classical authors (Euclid, Homer, Cicero, Tacitus, Plutarch, Xenophon et al.), many of the stock authors of the Eighteenth Century are represented: David Hume, Tobias Smollett, Joseph Addison, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, George Lyttleton, Jonathan Swift, Matthew Prior, Alexander Pope and (from the Seventeenth Century) John Locke. Several volumes bear the bookplate of Thomas Griffith, whilst one of the school's governors, Ralph Robinson, presented sixty six volumes to the school in 1742. Valerius Maximus' Cum commento Oliuerii Arzignanensis Vicentini (1500) contains the inscriptions of several former pupils with the dictum: “when you see this remember me“.

This collection contains correspondence of Sir Austen Henry and Lady Enid Layard and Charlotte Maria Guest between 1869 and 1884. One series mainly comprises the correspondence of Enid Layard with her sister Charlotte Maria Guest and a smaller number from Sir Austen Henry Layard to Charlotte Maria Guest. A second series comprises a file of letters from members of the Du Cane family, including letters written by Alicia Marie Du Cane while staying with the Layards in Constantinople. Much of the material relates to Layard and the custodianship of his collection. There is also some published material relating to Layard, photographs of the Layard family, and some associated family and biographical material including objects and artefacts.

Papers of Max Roberts Creative Director of Live Theatre from 1986 to 2017 include his personal collection of Live Theatre documents including play scripts, photographs, correspondence, papers related to the grow and development of the Theatre at their Quayside location, as well as a substantial collection of leaflets and posters from Live Theatre performances.

The Local Illustrations date from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and depict a variety of local scenes and structures, such as schools, hospitals, residences, castles and churches. There are views of Newcastle, Durham, Northumberland, Sunderland; portraits; depictions of local life (keelmen playing cards) and a plan of the Grainger Market, Newcastle.

The collection consists of Herbert Loebl's business and personal records.

The business records contain group papers, sales and marketing files, finance files and general correspondence files for the following engineering and knowledge transfer enterprises with which Herbert Loebl was involved in his lifetime:

The collection also contains a number of annotated scrapbooks which trace the history of Loebl's engineering enterprises through photographs, newspaper cuttings and other ephemera.

Herbert Loebl's academic collection contains his early student notebooks from his degree studies in Electrical Engineering, and notes and source material for his subsequent doctoral thesis and Jewish history research. The collection also includes his certificates and various degree ceremony photographs.

Herbert Loebl received various awards during his lifetime and his personal collection includes photographs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and letters of congratulations regarding his many honours.

The personal papers of local poet Barry MacSweeney (1948-2000), who was an important figure in the Modern Poetry Revival, include manuscripts and published works, correspondence, literature reviews, poetry publications, photographs and newspapers articles.The correspondence includes a range of MacSweeney's friends, fellow poets and family including material from Clive Bush, Pete Bland, Tim Fletcher, Nicholas Johnson, Jackie Litherland, Maggie O'Sullivan, Eric Mottram, Elaine Randall, Jeremy Prynne and Chris Torrence.