There are 24 public libraries in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, England, including the famous Central Library in St Peter’s Square. The oldest community library still in use is

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulme i ...

Library in South Manchester, built in 1903. Levenshulme Library is also a Carnegie library, having been built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

, who funded the building of over 2,500 libraries across the world. Two new multimillion-pound libraries have recently opened in North Manchester as part of a major regeneration scheme, including the eco-designed North City Library in

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester in North West England, three miles north east of the city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurhey include Kingsbridge Estate, Barn ...

. and The Avenue Library and Learning Centre in

Higher Blackley Higher Blackley is an electoral district or ward in the north of the City of Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 11,688. Heaton Park Heaton Park is a public park in Manchester, England, covering an area o ...

History

There has been a public library service in Manchester since 1852, when the Manchester Free Library opened in the Hall of Science, Campfield, on the site of what is now the Museum of Science and Industry. Famous figures such as

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and

William Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

attended and spoke at its inauguration. Manchester had taken advantage of powers granted by the Public Libraries and Museums Act of 1850 to become the first local authority to establish a rate-supported public lending and reference library.

Andrea Crestadoro Dr. Andrea Crestadoro (1808–1879) was a bibliographer who became Chief Librarian of Manchester Free Library, 1864–1879. He is credited with being the first person to propose that books could be catalogued by using keywords that did not occur ...

, Chief Librarian of the city 1864–1879, is credited with being the first person to propose that books could be catalogued by using keywords that did not occur in the title of the book. In 1915 the libraries consisted of a reference library, 24 lending libraries, a foreign library, the Henry Watson Music Library and the Thomas Greenwood Library for Librarians. The number of volumes altogether exceeded half a million and the stock of the lending libraries was arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification. The library was housed in temporary buildings in Piccadilly on the site of the former

Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) is a large NHS teaching hospital in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. Founded by Charles White in 1752 as part of the voluntary hospital movement of the 18th century, it is now a major regional and natio ...

. The

Moss Side Moss Side is an inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Rusholme and Fallowfield to the east, Whalle ...

library contained special collections on

Thomas de Quincey Thomas Penson De Quincey (; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his '' Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quinc ...

, Mrs. Gaskell and the Brontës and the foreign library was temporarily housed at the

Cheetham Cheetham may refer to: People * Cheetham (surname) Places * Cheetham and Altona Important Bird Area, Melbourne, Australia * Cheetham Close, a megalith and scheduled ancient monument located in Lancashire, very close to the boundary with Greater ...

branch. The Henry Watson Music Library contained 30,000 volumes and hundreds of thousands of pieces of music; the Thomas Greenwood Library for Librarians contained about 15,000 volumes. After the vacation of the first town hall in King Street the building was reused for the public lending library.

Branch libraries

These include libraries in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147. By the 9th century, there was an Anglo-Saxon settlement h ...

Hulme Hulme () is an inner city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England, immediately south of Manchester city centre. It has a significant industrial heritage. Historically in Lancashire, the name Hulme is derived from the Old Norse word for ...

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ov ...

and

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

. The Withington Library (1927), on Wilmslow Road, was designed by Henry Price. In 1971 there were 20 branch libraries and services were provided by four mobile libraries or by caravans to a further 19 areas.

Central Library building project, 2010–13

The Central Library is closed from 2010 to 2013 for major refurbishment and expansion. During the closure its books are stored in a disused part of the Winsford salt mine. Some of its services will be available at a temporary location nearby. A new community library for the city centre on

Deansgate Deansgate is a main road (part of the A56) through Manchester City Centre, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile ...

has been provided. The community library occupies Elliott House (between Lloyd Street and Jackson's Row).

Chief Librarians

* Edward Edwards, 1850–1858 *Robert Wilson Smiles, 1858–1864 *Andrea Crestadoro, 1864–1879 *Charles W. Sutton, 1879–1920 *L. Stanley Jast, 1920–1931 *Charles Nowell 1932–1954 *D. I. Colley, 1955–1974 Kenneth W King 1975 -

Director of Libraries

*David Owen, 1980-1998 *Paul Catcheside, 1998-2000 *Lis Phelan, 2000-2003 *Vicky Rosin MBE, 2003-2005

Head of Libraries

*Nicky Parker, 2005-2009 *Neil MacInnes OBE, 2010-2015

Head of Libraries, Galleries and Culture

*Neil MacInnes OBE, 2015-

Other librarians

*Ernest Axon *George Lovell *K. W. King

References

External links

Manchester Library & Information Service
on the Manchester City Council website {{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester Library and Information Service Culture in Manchester Education in Manchester Libraries in Manchester