Manchester Central Library: Difference between revisions

The library building is grade II* [[listed building|listed]].<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1270759|desc= Central Public Library |access-date= 7 November 2012}}</ref> A four-year project to renovate and refurbish the library commenced in 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |title=New chapter: £170m revamp of Manchester's Central Library takes shape |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1459693_new-chapter-170m-revamp-of-manchesters-central-library-takes-shape |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=24 September 2011 |accessdateaccess-date=8 November 2011|last=Linton|first=Deborah|publisher=M.E.N. Media}}</ref> Central Library re-opened on 22 March 2014.

Manchester was the first local authority to provide a public lending and reference library after the passing of the [[Public Libraries Act 1850]]. The [[Manchester Free Library]] opened at Campfield in September 1852 at a ceremony attended by [[Charles Dickens]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4586/history_of_central_library |title= Before Central Library: Campfield |publisher= Manchester City Council|accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2014}}</ref>

When the Campfield premises were declared to be unsafe in 1877, the library was moved to the old Town Hall in King Street. The library moved again to what is now [[Piccadilly Gardens]], to the former outpatients wing of [[Manchester Royal Infirmary#Town centre|Manchester Royal Infirmary]] and an old [[YMCA]] hut in 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4586/history_of_central_library/2 |title=Before Central Library: King Street and Piccadilly|publisher=Manchester City Council|accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2014}}</ref>

In 1926 the city council held a competition to design an extension to the town hall and a central library. [[E. Vincent Harris]] was selected to design both buildings. His circular design for the library, reminiscent of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome, was based on libraries in America. The library's foundation stone was laid on 6 May 1930 by the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.<ref name ="DandB" >{{cite web |url= http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4586/history_of_central_library/3 |title=Designing and Building the Central Library|publisher=Manchester City Council|accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2014}}</ref> The library was officially opened by [[King George V]] on 17 July 1934 after he had laid the foundation stone for the [[Manchester Town Hall Extension|Town Hall Extension]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4586/history_of_central_library/4 |title=The Opening of Central Library|publisher=Manchester City Council|accessdateaccess-date=20 November 2014}}</ref>

The library was declared open by King George V on 17 July 1934.<ref name="opening">{{Cite web |title=History of Central Library |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4586/history_of_central_library/4 |work=manchester.gov.uk |accessdateaccess-date=10 November 2011|publisher=Manchester City Council|at=The Opening of Central Library}}</ref> George V declared to the crowd: "In the splendid building which I am about to open, the largest library in this country provided by a local authority, the Corporation have ensured for the inhabitants of the city magnificent opportunities for further education and for the pleasant use of leisure."<ref name="opening"/>

Reports emerged in 2008 that the Central Library needed essential renovation to repair and modernise its facilities.<ref name="problems">{{Cite news |title=£150m to save Central Library |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1056149_150m_to_save_central_library |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=1 July 2008 |accessdateaccess-date=10 November 2011|last=Ottewell|first=David|publisher=M.E.N. Media}}</ref> The library faced [[asbestos]] problems and needed work to maintain its 'structural integrity'.<ref name="problems"/> The Central Library closed from 2010 to 2014 for refurbishment and expansion. During the closure its collections were stored in the [[Winsford Rock Salt Mine]]; some of the books in the stack joined collections at [[Greater Manchester County Record Office]]. Some of its services were available at a temporary location nearby.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4580/central_library_temporary_closure/2|title=Central Library Temporary Closure|work=manchester.gov.uk|publisher=Manchester City Council|at=A new temporary library|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925061441/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4580/central_library_temporary_closure/2|archivedatearchive-date=2011-09-25}}</ref> During renovation, a temporary community library for the city centre was established on [[Deansgate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4580/central_library_temporary_closure|title=Central Library Temporary Closure|publisher=Manchester City Council|accessdateaccess-date=30 April 2010|work=manchester.gov.uk|at=Important information about Central Library|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515210309/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4580/central_library_temporary_closure|archivedatearchive-date=15 May 2010}}</ref> Central Library re-opened on 22 March 2014 after a £40 million re-design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ryder unveils Manchester Central Library revamp |last=Ravenscroft |first=Tom |url=http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/first-look/ryder-unveils-manchester-central-library-revamp/8660574.article |work=Architects Journal |date=25 March 2014 |accessdateaccess-date=2014-03-29}}</ref> The project delivered by [[Laing O'Rourke]] won the [[Construction News]] Judges Supreme Award in June 2015. It was described as an almost impossibly complex project completed on schedule and within budget.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judges Supreme Award: Winner|url=https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/archive/judges-supreme-award-winner-30-06-2015/|accessdateaccess-date=1 July 2015|publisher=Construction News|date=30 June 2015}}</ref>

|accessdateaccess-date = 7 March 2008

The Shakespeare Hall is an ornate chamber displaying local heraldry and with large [[stained glass]] windows. The central window was designed by [[Robert Anning Bell]] and depicts [[William Shakespeare]] and scenes from his plays. Two side windows designed by [[George Kruger Gray]] depict the [[coats of arms]] of the City of Manchester, the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]], and the [[Duchy of Lancaster|County and Duchy of Lancaster]]. The windows were a memorial bequest to the library by Rosa E. Grindon (1848–1923), the widow of Manchester botanist [[Leo Grindon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://authorities.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?AuthRecID=7999274&v1=1&HC=1&SEQ=20100430095424&PID=c96ZLrRs1-FBO-Nv1Z87_HsNPf|title=Grindon, Rosa E. |publisher=Library of Congress|accessdateaccess-date=30 April 2010}}</ref><ref>She was the author of ''Shakespeare & his plays from a woman's point of view'', published in 1930.</ref>

It is the second largest public lending library in Britain, after the [[Library of Birmingham]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchester Central Library reopens after £50m revamp |last=Pidd |first=Helen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/21/manchester-central-library-reopens-50m-pound-revamp |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 March 2014 |accessdateaccess-date=2014-03-29}}</ref>

Beneath the Great Hall were four floors of steel book stacks providing 35 miles of shelving which accommodated one million books:<ref name="stacks">{{Cite web |title=Take a trip through our stacks |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4593/manchester_central_library |work=manchester.gov.uk |accessdateaccess-date=10 November 2011 |publisher=Manchester City Council |at=Explore Central Library's hidden depths |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128074845/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4593/manchester_central_library |archive-date=28 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [http://vimeo.com/8715096 video]. Those floors were only accessible to employees and were environmentally controlled to protect books, many of which are old and fragile.<ref name="stacks"/> The upper two stack floors occupied all the area under the dome. The fourth level, the Archive unit, was in the basement of the building. The lower two stack floors were smaller because the basement theatre took some of that area. In 2011 when the library closed for the alterations, there were 3600 stack columns supporting approximately 45,000 shelves; those columns were rooted in the sandstone rock underneath and supported the Great Hall's reinforced concrete floor. Placed end to end, those shelves would have covered over {{convert|35|mi|km|0}}. The total floor area was about {{convert|7000|sqyd|m2|-1}}.<ref name="mcc_website"/> After the 2010–2014 alterations, many of the former stack books (except rare or valuable or fragile books) are on public shelves.