The collection of literature relating to Norfolk and Norwich was first mooted on January 15th, 1879, when the Committee resolved that works of interest connected with Norwich should be purchased. This decision was doubtless the result of a recommendation from the Librarian, Mr. George Easter, as Mr. James Reeve, F.G.S., then Curator of the Castle Museum, had suggested to him the wisdom of forming a Local Collection. In April of the following year the Librarian reported to the Committee that he had received during the year 10 pounds for fines, and he requested that he might retain the amount for the purpose of forming a Local Reference Library. The Committee sanctioned his request, and from that time to the present the fines imposed for the detention of lending library books beyond the time allowed for reading have been exclusively devoted to the Local Collection. Mr. Councillor Stanley, a member of the Committee, by way of a commencement, gave "the books containing a complete list of the city and county charities," and the annual report for 1880 stated that "A collection of Books of local interest is proceeding very satisfactorily." The collection had grown in ten years to 1,603 volumes and 1,933 pamphlets. In the annual report for 1893-94 it was stated that the receipts for fines from 1880 to that date had been 620 pounds, and that the collection numbered 2,646 volumes, 3,462 pamphlets, and numerous engravings, maps, portraits, etc. Mr. Easter was mainly responsible for the selection of the books for the Local Collection, and owing to his great enthusiasm in its development the collection comprised at his death in December, 1900, nearly 4,000 volumes and about 5,100 pamphlets. Mr. Walter Rye joined the Committee as a co-opted member in the latter part of 1904, and within a few months the Committee had accepted his voluntary services as a Norfolk antiquary, to compile a card catalogue of the local books and pamphlets. This catalogue he has kept up to date. The collection soon engaged his special attention, and from the time of his joining the Committee until the present year he has been zealous in its development, giving each year donations from his private collection, and working in its interest in various ways. In 1908 he published at his own expense the following catalogues which he had compiled: "Catalogue of the Topographical and Antiquarian portions of the Free Library at Norwich" (81 pp.), "Calendar of the Documents relating to the Corporation of Norwich, preserved in the Free Library there" (22 pp.), "Catalogue of the Portraits referring to Norfolk and Norwich Men . . . preserved in the Free Library at Norwich" (33 pp.), and "Short List of Works relating to the Biographies of Norfolk Men and Women, preserved in the Free Library at Norwich" (34 pp.).