Coatbridge Library is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

Coatbridge Coatbridge (, ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (popula ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Original location

The building was designed by Alexander Cullen and built in 1905. It is a Carnegie library; its construction was financed by money donated by the

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (; ) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and cel ...

entrepreneur

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

. Carnegie officially opened the library on 7 June 1906 in person; he received the ceremonial freedom of burgh of Coatbridge in return. The building was

category B listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern ...

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

in 1993. It is a large, two-storey building of pink Corsehill sandstone, in the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and B ...

. The design was chosen by competition. Built on a steep hill on Academy Street, it has an imposing looming presence. The rear of the building can be seen on the Coatbridge skyline when approached from the west via the

A89 road The A89 is a trunk road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It runs from High Street, Glasgow to Newbridge in Edinburgh. It was once the A8, which has now been replaced, mostly by the M8. Within Glasgow, The Gallowgate, Shettleston Road, Bailli ...

. In 2016, and after the relocation of the library services in 2010, permission was granted to the Clyde Valley Housing Association to convert the former Carnegie library into residential accommodation. Grant funded assistance came from Historic Environment Scotland, after the library was identified by the Coatbridge Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme as a funding priority.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Coatbridge Beaux-Arts architecture in the United Kingdom Carnegie libraries in Scotland Category B listed buildings in North Lanarkshire Listed library buildings in Scotland 1905 establishments in Scotland Public libraries in Scotland Libraries established in 1905