Belfast Central Library is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

in Royal Avenue,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, Northern Ireland. Opened in 1888, it was one of the first major public library buildings in Ireland. A competition for the design of the building was won by architect William Henry Lynn in 1883 and it was built by H & J Martin builders. Designed to reflect the ambitions of the growing city of Belfast, its architecture is a fine example of a public building at the height of the

Victorian age In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

. On a black

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

base, the Dumfries red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

exterior with a slightly

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italia ...

feel, houses a three-floor interior with a sweeping staircase, a pillared

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc ...

, and a fine

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a ...

d first-floor reading room. The top floor originally included a museum and art gallery. The building is a notable part of the 19th-century cityscape of modern Belfast. It survived undamaged through the Belfast Blitz of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

of the late 20th century. The library is in the library and Cathedral Quarter, on the edge of Belfast City Centre and close to the Belfast Campus of the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. Two additional buildings were added to the site in the 1960s and 1980s, providing staff accommodation and extra storage. These reflect the growth in the book stock of the library in the intervening decades. A newspaper library is in the 1980s building and accessed from Library Street. The Library is now run by Northern Ireland Libraries, a public authority covering the whole of Northern Ireland. Belfast Central Library houses a range of sections, including a lending library & Information and Business library still based in the original reading room. A Belfast, Ulster and Irish Department & Music Library on the top floor. It is a major provider of IT facilities on the ground floor providing free internet access.

Special collections

The Library has a number of special collections, including a fine book collection, the library and manuscripts of

Francis Joseph Bigger Francis Joseph Bigger (1863 – 9 December 1926) was an Irish antiquarian, revivalist, solicitor, architect, author, editor, Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. His collected library, now ...

, the manuscripts of the eccentric

Amanda McKittrick Ros Anna Margaret Ross (née McKittrick; 8 December 1860 – 2 February 1939), known by her pen-name Amanda McKittrick Ros, was an Irish writer. She published her first novel ''Irene Iddesleigh'' at her own expense in 1897. She wrote poetry and ...

and the manuscripts of the Ulster playwright Sam Thompson. The Northern Ireland Music Archive is a computerised database housing recordings, scores and other materials relating to music created by Northern Ireland composers/artists. The Archive, which was funded and developed by the

Arts Council of Northern Ireland The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ealaíon Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots language, Ulster-Scots: ''Airts Cooncil o Norlin Airlan'') is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland. It ...

houses music from the contemporary/classical genre, as well as folk and traditional materials from the

Geoff Harden Geoff Harden (8 July 1943 – 4 September 2006) was a journalist, broadcaster, recording engineer and folk music promoter. Born in Kent, England, Harden moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1966. He became well known on the music scene in Be ...

Archive.

Northern Ireland Screen Northern Ireland Screen is the national screen agency for Northern Ireland. The agency's purpose is to promote the development of a sustainable film, animation and television production industry.About Us > Overview Northern Ireland Screen website, ...

has also placed an access point to their Digital Film Archive in the Lending Library. Along with Linen Hall Library, Belfast Central Library houses the repository for the Northern Ireland Publications Resource (NIPR), which collects and catalogues all of Northern Ireland's titles published since 2001.NIPR (Research and Special Collections Available Locally)
, 25 August 2018 (accessed 7 October 2018)

Gallery

File:Belfast Central Library.jpg, Central Library, Belfast, Country Antrim, Northern Ireland File:Belfast Central Library, Front Elevation.jpg, Central Library, Front Elevation, Belfast, Northern Ireland File:Belfast Public Library.jpg, Belfast Public Library building

References

External links

Northern Ireland Libraries
– Official government web portal for Northern Ireland public libraries.
Northern Ireland Composers
– Arts Council of Northern Ireland web site, providing listings of the contemporary/classical materials held in the Northern Ireland Music Archive.
Digital Film Archive
– Official web site, provided by Northern Ireland Screen. {{Authority control Library buildings completed in 1888 Public libraries in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Belfast Education in Belfast Libraries in Northern Ireland Tourist attractions in Belfast Grade B listed buildings 1888 establishments in Ireland

Special collections

Gallery

See also

References

External links